Give this a read, and think about it!!

With Regret!

Whitney Houston's death, while a sad thing, was the direct result of very unwise life choices. It dominated the news.

Charlie Sheen is 45 and his story is all over the news because he is a substance abuser, an adulterer, sexually promiscuous and obnoxious.

Lindsay Lohan is 24 and her story is all over the news because she is a celebrity drug addict and thief.

Amy Winehouse’s story was all over the papers and shoved down our throats as she was a singer and ‘celebrity’ and a substance abuser.

Something as frivolous as Kim Kardashian's stupid wedding [and short-lived marriage] was shoved down our throats. While the following........


Justin Allen 23
Brett Linley 29
Matthew Weikert 29
Justus Bartett 27
Dave Santos 21
Jesse Reed 26
Matthew Johnson 21
Zachary Fisher 24
Brandon King 23
Christopher Goeke 23
and Sheldon Tate 27...

are all British Royal Marines who gave their lives last month for you and me. There is little or no media for them; not even a mention of their names.

Honour THEM by sending this on. I did, will you?

 

No matter how badly you feel and how unjust it is, sending on unsolicited chain e-mails like this is ... "ramming it down our throats".
.
Millions of people "read" the adult comics like the Sun, The Star The Mirror, etc. They would rather read about a pop stars nipple popping out on stage than the horrors of war.

It is the same reason that people will change channels when an appeal for money for starving or abused children appears on our TVs.

It is a sad fact of life that many people don't want to know about the bad things that are happening in our world.

Even if the details of the 11 soldiers listed did appear in these "newspapers" very few would read it.

 

I get Sky News out here. Mostly it is very repetitive headlining, but one thing that did impress me was whenever any British soldier got killed in Afganistan they showed a picture of him / her, names, age etc. Some bad days there were a few. But I haven't seen it in a while....

 

Problem is, a lot of people don't think they gave their lives for "you and me". A lot believe their lives were wasted in a futile campaign in a desert the other side of the World.

How many politician's sons are in that list?

 

Indeed, and how many innocent Aghani civilians have died for every British career soldier's death.

As regards substance abuse opium production has skyrocketed since the West invaded. For all their many faults the Taliban government had managed to almost resolve the opium poppy growing problem.

Another war of very dubious legality for the sole benefit of the western military industrial complex.

 

There is no connection between these two camps

The soldiers gave their lives, in service of their country...I honour them for that, truely I do.


But I do not honour the country that sent them to Afghanistan in war that was not our own

They're going to fight and die in another country's war
They're going die for a religion they don't believe in at all
They're die in a place they should never've been at all

NEVER BEEN AT ALL

 

NONE!! Swords, so what can I say? Some of you feel that I should not have mailed this ? maybe it pricks their conscience ? I do not care what TV or BBC news do not show as news to day BUT I do care dose not matter if they are fighting for us or anybody else, they are still our BOYS dieing for nothing!!!

 

Sadly, as always, in the name of war politicians bury their mistakes...

 

Levellers??

 

Indeed they are. Time to bring the rest home before they end up in body bags as well.

 

Yes the Levs, but they speak for many people
Our brave soldiers die in a place they should never've been at all

 

Well old IMAZ, If you feel that strongly about your people(?) why are you not over there helping them to get rid of the nasty English soldiers! Instead of living a nice easy life over here?????????????

 

Lay off James

 

Bloody hell

 

The main point here is that every fallen soul is someone's son.

Base nationality isn't the crucial part in feeling bitter about the inhumanity and loss of war.

The regimes (if they are that) and the ill-motivated and self righteous governments that attempt to topple them are no better than one another but each victim is fighting for the cause that's been sold to them and are doing what they see as their duty whether it be by free will or by force.

There are no winners in war and the soldiers and by-standers caught in the cross fire are all a sad loss irrespective of side and are unfortunately nothing more than uncaring leaders' chess pieces.

Sorry to anyone who's ever fought or has loved ones who are/have been involved if I sound pious but that's just my opinion on a very sombre and sobering subject.

 

I am DEFINITELY not getting involved in this one!!!!

 

Agree with somewhat of James's OP.....but how I see it, you sign up to the army, you take the risk of getting killed at war.

No-one forces you to join and so therefor peoples mentality towards them isnt so heartfelt.

I have HUGE respect for anyone who does it and they should never be forgotten and actually the way they are treated after serving by our government is a far bigger issue....espceially if they loose limbs etc.

Modern media are facinated by celebrities.......there are thousands/millions of people who are so fascinated by a singer or an actor that they feel like they know them or have a bond with them.....then when they die they feel as if a freind has died...unfortunetley the same doesnt ring true when some random soldiers name is read out who died last week in an explosion.

Just go on twitter and read some of the teenage girl comments about one direction and death threats to women who get into any relationship with one of them......now THAT is scary and sad.

 

There are a number of issues here.

The tabloid press will always make more of stories about so called celebrities going off the rails, quite simply because that's what sells newspapers, therefore profit.

You could also argue that anyone who joins the armed forces does so knowing he or she could be sent into any situation anywhere around the world at our governments bidding. Going back over a relatively short time, there's been Northern Ireland, Falkland Islands, Iraq & Afghanistan. That's not including any peace keeping roles they've played under the UN flag. The point I'm making is that conflict is never far away.

Whether or not they should have been placed in those situations in the first place is another matter. I don't think we are ever given the real reasons our sons & daughters are sent off to far flung corners of the earth to fight in what appears to be someone else's battles.

I will finish with this, I have the utmost respect and admiration for all our boys and girls who put there lives on the line for our country, I'm sure they do so knowing the nation is behind them. But sadly, a death in Helmand province isn't seen as newsworthy as Amy Winehouse binging on vodka!

 

I understand your good motives james and it is of course very sad, but they're hardly fighting for us as Beth has touched on

 

I don't think it's necessarily fair to say people know what they're signing up to. I'd doubt anyone enlisted with the sole intent of going to Afghanistan. I'd put it more down to patriotism, serving one's country and helping out brethren already posted.

The justification for the war itself can be seen by the apparent reduction in media coverage - it's not on our doorstep so they assume no one cares. It's not something that Britain can consistently believe in because it doesn't carry any immediate threat.

This thread, problematic as it has been (apologise James - Imaz said absolutely nothing provocative and made nothing but valid points) does highlight that people do care but can't comprehend the lack of motive (at least a wholly moral one) for fighting in the first place.