Practical Responses to War
This is a difficult area - we cover practical responses against war in the Pacifism section, but there aren't really pro-war groups or organisations. Some people think war is always wrong, and protest against every war. Others think war is sometimes justified, but because they don't always agree about whether a specific war is justified, there isn't an organisation that reflects their views. No-one believes war is ALWAYS justified, because if you support one side's justification for going to war, you probably don't support the other side's justification for fighting!
Iraq
At the time of going to war in 2003, the major British political parties supported the decision to go to war. However, even at the time there were voices of dissent within every party, and since then there has been a lot of criticism of the justification given and the reliability of intelligence.
As well as government, the military is also seen as a supporter of war, although with Iraq, there have also been many examples of individuals within the military who have spoken out against the war.
Pro War movies
There have been films that have been seen as pro-war. For example, Kilomètre zéro (2005), set in Iraq, highlights the brutal treatment of Kurds at the hands of Saddam Hussein.
When pro-war films are made during the conflict, they are often seen as propaganda. For example, The Green Berets (1968), a John Wayne film about the then-current Vietnam War. Many films were made after the conflict, but they were all anti-war.
A very recent example of a pro-war film is Rambo (2008) - the film that unexpectedly revived the First Blood series. First Blood featured a soldier returning from the Vietnam War, psychologically damaged and rejected by the society that sent him to fight. After being hunted down by local police, John Rambo is cornered and killed in an ending that was reshot due to negative audience reaction. Rambo became the title of the second film, First Blood Part II, and the Rambo franchise has become associated with a pro-war position. Ironic, given the message of the original movie. The new movie deals with the horrific human rights violations in Myanmar (formerly Burma), but the issues around the world's longest-running civil war are, according to reviews, brushed aside to make way for "a torrent of killing, blood and violence".
