keeping our own records straight

"The world's leaders appear to have lost touch with life down here on the ground, to have forgotten the human beings they lead. Or perhaps the led - so numerous and so mute - have ceased to be quite real, not living people but calculated casualties. For we are led and must follow whether we want to or not; there is no place to secede to. But we need not follow in silence; we still have the right and duty, as private citizens, to keep our own records straight. As one of the millions of the led, I will not be herded any farther along this imbecile road to nothingness without raising my voice in protest. My NO will be as effective as one cricket chirp. My NO is this book."

Martha Gellhorn, The Face of War (1993:376).

More information:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/features/martha-gellhorn.shtml