Finished with the War-A Soldier's Declaration

Sassoon makes his statement 'as an act of wilful defiance of military authority'.
When considering that the declaration will be read by 'military authority', this phrase not only suggests that Sassoon is a courageous man, but seems to be rather provocative.
Later on Sassoon even blames military authority to have 'deliberately prolonged ' the war.
The entire first sentence of Sassoon's declaration is very direct and leaves the reader with no doubts that Sassoon has a very strong view concerning the war and the people in power.
It does however also result in him being immediatly disliked by 'military authority', which will make them less sympathetic towards his cause.
This let's me conclude that Sassoon's aim in writing the declaration is not to address the problem and wait for the response of the people 'who have the power to end' the war, but rather to get the country's attention by officially speaking against this 'war of aggression'.

Sassoon states that he is 'a soldier' 'acting on behalf of soldiers'.
By addressing himself and all his companions as simple soldiers and not mentioning his military rank (platoon commander), Sassoon suggests that on the battlefield ranks, and thus maybe pride and status, do not matter, since everyone get's heavily affected by the fights.
Sassoon has taken the glory out of the war, by showing that war only causes suffering.
The fact that 'defence and liberation' are no longer the aims of the war, only reinforces Sassoon's statement that the war being fought is not glorious, but seems to be 'evil and unjust'.

The main issue Sassoon has with fighting the war are it's aims.
He believes that 'men are being sacrificed' for 'a war of aggression and conquest'.
He also implies that there seems to be a large gap between the people in power and the soldiers and the reality of war and what 'the majority of those at home' think of it.
Those at home 'regard the continuance of agonies' with 'callous complacence'.
These phrases show how naive Sassoon thinks most people who stayed at home are and also suggests that it is unjust for them to feel any complacence at all, since they can not even imagine the 'agonies' of the soldiers.

In conclusion, Sassoon's declaration has the purpose of getting public attention and opening people's eyes to the horrors of war.
Sassoon is not relying on military authority to make a responsible decision, but rather decides to protest against the war publicly.