It is. I never served but a massive part of my family have so I've got a shed load of respect for them and everyone who does sign up. In an absolutely selfish way I'm glad my 2 lads didn't. Doesn't take away my respect for those who have. I can do hypocrisy on this subject no problem. Anyone having a pop at me on that is entitled to. I found my uncle's grave in Normandy. I'm named after him. Finding it was incredibly and surprisingly emotional.
Agree. If the Iraqi army dropped a bomb and the worst happened to my child, I'd be prepared to go to Iraq and suicide bomb myself right in the middle of the biggest pray gathering they have, then even more innocents will have been killed. Wars dirty and I totally understand why 'some' (probably very little) terrorists, do what they do. I wouldn't go after the pilot that dropped the bomb though. I just see it as that country dropped the bomb by ordering the pilot to do it, so I'd strike their innocents to hurt them. It's the guys at the top that need taking out. Everybody is fighting each other, because of them.
My mate gave me this a few weeks ago. I'd lost everything from my time there in a house move somehow. I was only 17 back then, look at the state, a little rag doll at that age
When I was about 11 I met a guy in Kashmir who was part of the "mujahideen" (when IG was a good thing). What struck me and does to this day was that he was just a normal guy but has seen his kids and Mrs killed by Indian forces. When I met him I don't think he cared for religion or country etc he just killed any guy in an Indian uniform. Had he not witnessed what happened to his family he would have been a farmer and a bit of a scaredy cat His young daughter had been raped by Indian forces before being killed. She was something like 6 years old
There's always a retaliation when violence or oppression is used against somebody. It's a natural instinct that we all have built inside of us. That's why this fighting is a constant merry go round. There's always somebody pissing someone else off and there's always going to be conflict. Billions of people on the planet and people will never settle for what they have, they always want more, sooner or later. I don't know how, or think, they'll ever be a world without war.
Most people just want a peaceful existence, to raise their families and get along with their neighbours. Whether you live on a council estate in Runcorn, A Tibetan village in the mountains, a desert community in the middle east, a mud hut in the Congo or a trailer park in the states. There is more about us that is alike that is different. The problem as I see it is more of a class issue than anything to do with religion, tribalism, or what other people have. Those who hold the power have used the same tactics of divide and rule for centuries, to pit people against each other by feeding them a pack of lies about how the 'enemy' will destroy them and their way of life unless they fight. When in fact the wars are being fought so that the ruling class can maintain power and grab, land, money, resources, power and influence.
Propaganda always makes things appear different. My barber is a Kurd from Iraq. He suffered under Saddam and told me that Kurds were treated like second class citizens. Do they could run a business but not own the property. They could rent houses to live in but not buy. Him and his family hated Saddam. Here is the thing though he only came to UK once "western" forces went in, and although initially happy with the thought of getting rid of Saddam not a day goes by when his father (who remained in Iraq) and he don't regret wanting Saddam gone. He says he wishes everyday Saddam was back
Saddam was an brutal dictator, make no mistake. But there are plenty of brutal dictators around the world that have come and gone, some still in place and some closer to home that the Western Allies would like to admit, that are 'allowed' to get away with murder, literally. The plan to remove Saddam Hussein wasn't done on humanitarian grounds, it was done as a geopolitical move by the west to influence Iraq and establish control in the area when Iran was the emerging big threat to the US. The result of that action has left Iraq and the surrounding area in complete turmoil. They did the same in Lybia, when they removed Gaddafi and it's the same issue all over again with Syria. Bashir Assad was the new 'evil dictator', so Western forces moved in to remove him, although now look like they are backing him once again. In all scenario's they have simply caused a vacuum of power that is then fought over by squabbling internal factions, which the West doesn't know whether to support and arm to bring down the established Govt or to order air strikes on as being 'terrorist groups' The whole thing is a bloody mess. And whilst the West urges the international community to fight these 'evil dictators' with their atrocious human rights records, they openly sell arms to Saudi Arabia who have an awful record of brutality and are currently pummelling Yemen, the poorest country in the Arabian peninsula, into oblivion.
And as I'm sure you're already aware @thefanwithnoname The Mujahideen in Afganistan were also armed to the teeth by the US, when they were fighting the Soviet Union in the 70's. That group then fractured to form the basis of Al Qaeda and the Taliban.
It's in our blood. Celt, Pict, Saxon, Viking. Blood and guts, death or glory. If there's one thing these islands has consistently produced for centuries, it's warriors - and adventurers. That and poets; and Shakespeare's best moments came when depicting love, war, or both. As for the yanks - well, they tamed a wilderness, didn't they?
The really stupid thing was to firstly think that they would lay their hands on all this cheap oil, and more importantly, to not seem to realise or care that they would be opening up a Pandora’s box of troubles. Any idiot could have told them that Al Quaeda would fill part of the void and that all the old religious divides would be reopened. Sunni vs Shia, etc... In other words, it’s turned out to be the clusterfuck that anyone with half a brain could see coming. Americans! You gotta love em. They **** everything up everywhere they go!
