Look out for talk of the drums of war, and Australian leaders summoning the sacrifices of the dead to justify their strategic decisions

As the commonwealth stops for a minute’s silence on Thursday to remember its military personnel killed in the line of duty, beware any politician who gauchely evokes the memory of war dead with allusions to the beating drums of another supposedly imminent conflict.

You don’t need astounding powers of political insight to pick up on the none-too-subtle hawkishness that has imbued federal government rhetoric this year as tensions heighten between China and Taiwan.

Continue reading...