I've just been there today for the first time.
The message was what I expected; war is a terrible thing and it should never happen again.
Some of the stuff is very interesting, e.g. a T34 tank and the original writings of soldiers, civilians etc.
But the one person who stood out for me was Nurse Edith Cavell. Due to a special exhibition on WW1 Cavell had two walls dedicated to her in different rooms. The IWMN tells you (twice) that Cavell was executed by Germany for helping 200 British soldiers escape back to Britain.
But what the IWMN fails to tell you is that Cavell had discovered that funds and aid raised supposedly for Belgium were being channeled to Germany to help continue the war. It was then that Cavell was shot. Apparently MI6 chief William Wiseman asked Germany to arrest her. The head of German Intelligence was Max Warburg, who arrested Cavell. The normal punishment for the 'crimes' that Cavell had committed was several months in prison, but Cavell was sentenced to death!
Wiseman later played a role in releasing Trotsky from detention in Canada and took up a top post with Schiff's Kuhn, Loeb & Co. Warburg sent Lenin into Russia, and played major roles in creating and guiding the Nazi economy, eventually abandoning Germany in 1938, just in time.
Considering the building in which the IWMN is located (a very distinct and harsh grey pile of shards) I was disappointed at the contents within, but I'll probably go back again, even if it's to talk with the director about the real motivation for the wars he finds abhorent.
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