yes it is a forum and it isnt personal, but sometimes i think people can be too patronising from a keyboard, and maybe a good rule of thumb would be, if you wouldnt say it to someones face and risk getting a smack in the mouth, maybe you shouldnt say it on a forum, or maybe im wrong, just my opinion
And yes I would have no issue in saying the same to a persons face. I have met many people on here and no doubt will meet many more.
How much would have changed if everyone refused to go to Vietnam? Other than the waste of life the war achieved absolutely nothing.
How much would have changed if everyone had refused to fight the Germans. As much as I dont believe in war Im afraid it is here to stay. It generayes too much money. Strange when we sell weapons to Saudi we are supporting British jobs. We mere mortals will never discover the money makers behind it. Its here to stay Im afraid.
FWIW I wouldnt want that kind of job for anything. Joining up now is so much more risky than when I left school and many mates went onto the navy knowing its very unlikley serious conflict wild materialise. Just a jolly, piss up and travel. Army still had NI tho so those guys did expect some kind of tour with risk. Now its different. And for the 95% I have utmost respect. For the 5% like this idiot I don't. Still hope he rests in peace tho
Me too bradders. Joined the Navy in 78 never thinking I would be in the Falklands. I would try to discourage my children from joining any of the services. Too many medals and heroes with forgotten names to the general public. Not many, if any of our politicians suffer a family loss in the services. Strange that.
I started the process of joining but never really fancied it, was family pressures . Tbh I regretted it later when I relaised 22 years in and I can retire with 2/3 pension, large lump sum and having been cured of 4 STDs along the way lol
It would be interesting to check the current situation, but that certainly hasn't always been the case. Many previous politicians lost family friends and colleagues in various conflicts.
Lets face it, there hasn't been a valid war since WW2. Not one that I'd fight in or send my kids to fight in anyway. The rest have been political and or financial bullshit. I fee bad for the military members. They sign up thinking they're doing good and defending their country. And then get sent off to fight in some f*cking bullshit war. My advice: don't sign up unless there's a war you feel is justified.
How will we ever know what would have happened if the Taliban were still in power in Afghanistan hosting OBL or if Saddam were still in Kuwait would he have been emboldened and gone further? Who is to say what's a 'valid war' and what isn't. If you don't sign up until there's a 'justified war' who is going to train you, who is going to carry out the defensive elements performed by the armed forces of any country. If you are arguing to spend less on an offensive capability then I understand, I think I'd prefer not to be spending so much on Trident and it's delivery systems. However our world view might well change, who knows what will happen in Iran, Pakistan and North Korea?
Are you kidding me? This is how much difference the Afghan war, killing of OBL and Hussein will make. F*ck all mate. Those countries will descend into absolute chaos all over again until another crackpot dictator seizes power. We'll then support him for a while (us being UK/US) until he turns on us. As we did with Hussein, OBL and the Taliban. And the whole cycle will begin again. Waste of money, time, and more importantly our kids lives. And like all the wars since WW2, changed NOTHING. I'm expecting Pakistan to nuke India at some point and I'm hoping we'll stay the fuck out of it. Which is what we should have done in all the other wars since WW2. Alas that's probably impossible and our US arse-licking govt will drag us into that too. Fair point re the training required in advance though. Maybe we give all forces members the option to withdraw their services if they think the war being fought is a complete pile of sh1t.
The only difference is more oppression for us (restricted travel conditions) and more draconian, undemocratic laws and rules to control the masses
