It is arguments like those put forward by Teribus that will probably deter me from wearing a poppy for the rest of my life
Teribus is an extreme jingoist - the war he depicts was one of a just war, good leadership and obedient men - Remembrance Sunday is still a watered down version of this.
In fact, WW1 was a war between Empires for control and expansion of their territories - a war for power and profit.
The jingoist claim of a well- conducted war is a lie - it was a war of attrition where the only 'tactic' was to acquire the greatest number of men possible and send them over the top until the other side caved in.
The leaders couldn't even get that right - the military couldn't agree with the Government and constantly fell out, recruitment was put in the hands of Arthur Bottomley, who became a millionaire by his profiteering, military leaders were constantly falling out among themselves and fiascoes like 'the wrong shells' incident and Gallipoli were causing many thousands of avoidable deaths.
Loos was a shambles of misjudgment, The Somme and Passchendaele were acts of simple and prolonged butchery.
I have little doubt that if flag-waggers like Teribus were given access to the soldiers' diaries housed in The Imperial War Museum, he would happily blue-pencil out any adverse comment on the war and its leadership.
We've just come through a year of celebration of the Easter Uprising (typically denigrated by Teribus and Keith in distinctive flag-wagging fashion)
It has been a year of self-examination and analysis for the Irish - one where the Rising was put under the microscope and re-examines - warts and all.
It produced a mass of fresh information and evidence, and has given rise to a landslide of books on the subject - an open and healthy examination of a great achievement, largely without jingoistic nationalism.
Sure - there has been national pride of a great achievement - why wouldn't there be - that's what it was?
When WW1 and other such conflicts are treated in this way, maybe I'll wear a poppy - but I doubt if it will ever happen in my lifetime.
This does not in any way diminish my respect for those who fought and died - far from it.
I feel it is time for a proper examination of how they died and for what.
Denigrating soldiers, as jingoists like Teribus do, in order to protect the reputations of the Military and the politicians, is one of the barriers to be surmounted before they can come anywhere near what was achieved in Ireland this year.
Jim Carroll