I don't accuse the poor old poppy of glorifying war. It was never meant to be that, and still isn't, quite. If the poppy is truly and purely to be a symbol for remembrance of all war dead, civilian and military, the world over, recognising that all the dead couldn't help being born where they were or, in very large part, what side they were on, then we need to strip away the "our boys," the "died for king and country," the proud cascading of medals on the breasts of generals and princes, the military parades, the fly-pasts, the cannon salutes, the marching in step and all the rest of the ceremonial stuff that's supposed to make us think that being shot to pieces then being left to rot in a field of mud is "noble." It's a rotten failure, and the people who lead the parades and make the fine speeches, the dukes, the politicians and the generals are the people who best represent those who perpetrated that failure. Lest we forget.