Forums › Life › Politics, Media & Current Events › World War III
Man we’ve been at war since the start of the Afghanistan invasion. What pisses me off these days is the lack of respect people have for Our Boys/Girls over there and serving elsewhere. It’s getting a bit better now thanks to various media campaigns but most people couldn’t care less about em. For me when i hear of a soldier or other Forces personnel being killed, it genuinely affects me cos i have enormous respect for em and believe they are all doing a worthwhile job! :love:
Anyway back to the door. I found it and am keeping it. That’ll learn em. :bounce_g:
TBH I would consider 2001-09-11 to be the start of World War III – it has changed our world totally (such as Western nations reducing the freedom of expression and movement once taken for granted) and resulted in a global outpouring of conflict (both over religion and resources) reaching as far as the Phillipines and Thailand.
there are something like 20 active theatres of war worldwide at the time I write this.
And whatever peoples political views are, here in the West we are feeding the machine simply by our current lifestyles. This is in fact why I have been partying a lot less as I refuse to travel extensively for a non-essential activity in order to reduce my personal use of oil and other resources weare fighting for.
Also the drugs we take contribute to the the corruption and destabilisation (by warlords) of democratically elected governments in some nations – OK we can blame prohibition but it was put there by consensus of the UN, so we too are fuelling a war (resulting in deaths on both sides) by bucking the system in this manner. I reckon indirectly all the pills and powders I have taken have led to the deaths of 20 or so people in 18 years
It is possible though the cost of my electronic gadgets for home and work (made from minerals found in places like the Congo) is probably hundreds of dead!)
70 years ago our grandparents/great grandparents knew they were at war due to air raid warnings, blackouts, rationing etc.
Although of course I don’t want to see these things in England (I do think rationing and power shortages could happen in the medium term) they did focus peoples minds and make them think more about such things as self-sufficiency and whether their levels of consumption were necessary..
chaff canister has also accidentally been dropped on Suffolk. It has red hatched danger markings.
if you find this just get a safe distance away and call 999 – it can blow up!
Also the drugs we take contribute to the the corruption and destabilisation (by warlords) of democratically elected governments in some nations – OK we can blame prohibition but it was put there by consensus of the UN, so we too are fuelling a war (resulting in deaths on both sides) by bucking the system in this manner. I reckon indirectly all the pills and powders I have taken have led to the deaths of 20 or so people in 18 years
It is possible though the cost of my electronic gadgets for home and work (made from minerals found in places like the Congo) is probably hundreds of dead!)
70 years ago our grandparents/great grandparents knew they were at war due to air raid warnings, blackouts, rationing etc.
Although of course I don’t want to see these things in England (I do think rationing and power shortages could happen in the medium term) they did focus peoples minds and make them think more about such things as self-sufficiency and whether their levels of consumption were necessary..
Nicely put. I sometimes think like this but I feel like I’m not gonna make a difference just by myself not buying that chocolate bar or whatever… I think sometimes, as selfish as it sounds and is, that I’m only gonna have one shot at life so to just live it to the absolute fucking max I can, even if it does destroy other people’s lives because mankind is doomed anyway. It’s one of those personal conflicts that I have… I just don’t know really.
depends how much chocolate you eat 😉 seriously though, I don’t know if South Essex has the Co-op (it seems to be more of a top brand in North Essex and Suffolk) but they have fairtrade chocolate for the same price (and sometimes cheaper!) than the mainstream stuff
thats the other aspect though, back in the day people were made to make a difference. OK most of it was self preservation, but should it really have to take threat from the air for people to realise what state this world is in?
actually its dawned on me that if the helis are being sent from Wattisham, I live and work in a target zone for reprisals. As our airspace and coasts are very well defended (lessons learned in WW II have not been forgotten), a threat would most likely come from the ground.
it would be ludicrous for Britain to let Al-Quaeda win by destabilising our society (and Suffolk is actually a really friendly multicultural area, in some respects actually better than London!) but it means we do have to be aware…
I fucking detest terrorists, Fucking coward sob’s, specially suicide bombers, who are they kidding when they think it’ll get em in to paradise. Another stupid religous belief that fucks up innocents. :you_crazy
TBH I think its sheer hate and anger – whilst terrorists may be viewed as cowards, its gone a stage further when someone hates their enemy and themselves that much to do such things as sacrifice their own life in suicide bombings.
I’ve been following war and conflict zones since 1985 or so when I was in high school and its only in the last 10 years that suicide bombing in Europe and against European targets has increased. I’d google for sources and statistics but the terrorists have damaged our freedom of speech so much that because I am British Asian I am wary to look for such things online!
There’s even a MI5 document what got leaked to the Grauniad – which points out the bleak facts that even MI5 (for all their intense surveillance) cannot work out whether or not a lad will become a terrorist, they cannot now pin it down to any racial group (both black and white lads have become terrorists) and hint that soon non-Muslims (such as the extreme right or even individual angry vigilantés) may also be taking part. They did say that it actually starts off with lads (not necessarily British Asian!) who go around in gangs committing violent crimes such as muggings etc getting bored and wanting a greater buzz and I can well believe that.
its a shame that cops/MI5 ignored the warnings from moderate British Asians 17 years ago that their youth gangs were getting radicalised..
however, one of my mates (ex HM forces) has a military history book and it mentions a incident in the Maiwand conflict (Afghanistan in queen Victorias reign) where a British private “sacrificed his life by strapping Ordnance to his belt” and “wandering bravely into enemy lines” – so that may explain where the Middle East got the ideas from!
If anything our MOD and aren’t sufficiently pessimistic. If you look at Iraq today our troops have had the SAS commander resign because they are being deployed with lightly armoured Land Rovers which are not safe against roadside bombs – this is because our last major conflict was Northern Ireland where the enemy never used roadside bombs against British troops (I think they may have done so in Europe towards the final days of the conflict but not in NI or UK)
Incidentally a few days ago an angry English man from my old town brought a incendiary on to a train at Lowestoft. Luckily he was caught, but it was still chillling as two of us on here live in the town and I visit there regularly.
hmm, interesting thread, so here’s my tuppence worth…
whilst i agree that killing people is totally wrong, and religion is one of the most common excuses for dehumanising some one u disagree with. and i detest violence at any level… :hopeless:
its an oft repeated phrase, that can be applied to many situations…
one man’s freedom fighter is another man’s terrorist.
i’m not defending any violent action, but i am suggesting that it is important to provide context (for example, in the IRA terrorism campaigns of the last 35 years, one cannot understand them without reference to the marginalisation and exploitation of the catholic majority, by the anglo-irish protestant minority, over hundreds of years), whilst adhering to certain moral absolutes (ie violence is never a solution, and is never justified, unless in self-defence).
An interesting example of the common application of double standards, which has been in the news recently, is the US special forces attack into Syria.
BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | Syria hits out at ‘terrorist’ US
the question is, was the Syrian foriegn minister correct to label the attack ‘criminal and terrorist aggression’.
I think he has a point, so who are the terrorists, and who are the freedom fighters?
so i’m basically not disagreeing with u that killing people is deeply wrong, and ought to be unconditionally condemned, and the sacrifices of the British forces ought to be respected and honoured. But i don’t remember a great deal of violence being perpetrated by people who claim(!) to be muslims, before the first gulf war (or ‘crusade’ as dubya called it!).
One more thing, if people are gonna tot up a notional number of deaths caused by their personal drug use, i think it is only fair to tot up the number of deaths caused by other types of consumption.
i think our western lifestyles are relatively selfish, and unfair to the rest of the planet, but it was ever thus. The people with the power and rescources tend to ignore the hardship others suffer to ‘provide’ for them… we are no different from the Romans!
:group_hug
From what I have seen in my life, particuarly in more unregulated / uncontrolled environments such as squats / raves / neighbourhoods with less Police presence, most humans, however right on they claim to be, will hurt/kill someone they disagree with if they would gain from doing so and/or they could get away with it (such as not seeing a risk reprisals from the victims comrades or the feds/criminal justice system) – especially if it improves their self-esteem or helps them seize control of a resource.
I think the spirit of the soldier/terrorist/mercenary/freedom fighter exists in every human and people need to be aware of it to prevent it becoming a threat to themselves and others.
yeah, i think ur right GL, we are red in tooth an claw, no matter how we try and dress it up…
there is this myth that, for example, wot happened in germany in WW2, was some how different to ‘normal’ society, but i don’t think thats true at all.
we all have a dark side…
bereaved local families forgive air traffic controller after “friendly fire” incident
EADT – No charges over ‘friendly fire’ deaths
dunno if any of you have heard of “the Goon show” but all the comedians there met in the war and many of the scripts/sketches are actually a satire on what went on during World War II.
they lampooned the absurdity of the command structure / military discipline and how people got blown up all the time (Spike Milligan constantly harangued the BBC to produce better sound effects of explosions etc…)
there was a character called bluebottle who represented a cross between a boy scout and a young soldier, and he would always get sent on a brave but suicidal mission and “deaded” ..
I think the spirit of the soldier/terrorist/mercenary/freedom fighter exists in every human and people need to be aware of it to prevent it becoming a threat to themselves and others.
Well said, I think it is quite possible for people to cooperate and respect each other and live to together and there are plenty of examples of it. But people need to to be aware of the dark side thats in them and actively work to control.
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Forums › Life › Politics, Media & Current Events › World War III
