BBC and the burning poppy

“practical environmental studies building course”

What?

One of the officers on a recent Docusoap covering Afghanistan summed it up the most accurately, they were tasked to defend and keep open a major road against repeated Taliban IED attacks, he said, the only reason there was an IED threat on the road was to target them, if they were not there then the threat would no longer exist, a bit of a chicken and the egg scenario…..
The problem we have is too few troops on the ground, there are only sufficient to hold fortified positions and small areas, whilst the rest of the country is beyond our control. Top that off with the state of play like we had in Iraq where anyone with a grievance against any of the western powers simply hijacked the country to carry out their own little personal vendetta.

I would imagine the day the last troops withdraw from Afghanistan the next jet out will be Karzia and the rest of his cronies along with the wealth they have no doubt accumulated, as the country falls apart in front of them.

Said it before Tony, we could be there for a hundred years, and the day we pull our last guys out, the situation would revert back 100 yrs, as if nothing had changed.
Jim.
Lincoln .7

His grandfather Ronald was a merchant navy seaman who was awarded a workers’ VC for diving into icy water to try to save a sailor near the coast of Newfoundland in 1954.

Must be very proud of him if he is still with us!

A teenager arrested after posting a picture of a burning poppy on Facebook has met war veterans and serving soldiers instead of being charged with a criminal offence.

Linford House, 19, from Aylesham, was at the centre of public outrage on Remembrance Sunday when he uploaded the controversial photo.

It was accompanied by a foul-mouthed message to British soldiers.

Aylesham teenager Linford House posted a picture of a burning poppy on FacebookBut the Canterbury College student (pictured left) will not face prosecution after agreeing to speak to an ex-naval marine, a sergeant major, members of the Royal British Legion and representatives from an army-affiliated charity.

House, known as Linney, met them yesterday at an undisclosed location in Canterbury to discuss the impact of his actions and how they affected others.

His arrest sparked a debate between those who accused him of insulting the war dead and those who defended the right of people to air their views no matter how offensive to others.

House, who lives in Clarendon Road in the former mining village, was detained for more than a day under the Malicious Communications Act and had his phone seized by police.

The meeting yesterday took place under the police’s “restorative practice” programme.

House’s agreement to take part means he will not be charged.

House, who is on a practical environmental studies building course, was moved out of Aylesham for his own safety after the incident.

His grandfather Ronald was a merchant navy seaman who was awarded a workers’ VC for diving into icy water to try to save a sailor near the coast of Newfoundland in 1954.

One of the officers on a recent Docusoap covering Afghanistan summed it up the most accurately, they were tasked to defend and keep open a major road against repeated Taliban IED attacks, he said, the only reason there was an IED threat on the road was to target them, if they were not there then the threat would no longer exist, a bit of a chicken and the egg scenario…..
The problem we have is too few troops on the ground, there are only sufficient to hold fortified positions and small areas, whilst the rest of the country is beyond our control. Top that off with the state of play like we had in Iraq where anyone with a grievance against any of the western powers simply hijacked the country to carry out their own little personal vendetta.

I would imagine the day the last troops withdraw from Afghanistan the next jet out will be Karzia and the rest of his cronies along with the wealth they have no doubt accumulated, as the country falls apart in front of them.

I am sure you are right. And that is a sad reflection on the inability of the media to present a balanced view.

NATO went to Afghanistan to try to wipe out Al-qaeda. A task which has been largely successful. That response to terrorist attacks here and in other parts of the world was accepted and supported at the time. But memories fade and a generation hardly remember that period of bombings.

The second task to try to integrate the Taliban into a democratic nation has proved, is proving an impossible task. NATO is in an unenviable position. If it stays it will achieve little for further loss of life. When it leaves the country will gradually revert to a Taliban autocracy.

Though this forum doesn’t reflect it, I’m suremany in the UK think what it’s doing now, as part of NATO, is important.

Though I suspect the majority would think being part of NATO is very important, I doubt that that same number would be reflected when asked whether they believe what NATO is doing in Afghanistan to be important. More importantly, I doubt that the majority (or even a substantial minority) think that the mission in Afghanistan is worth the blood of another NATO soldier.

While it is sad to consider that any Nation or people might be considered a lost cause, I am really beginning to think that Afghanistan comes under that criteria. It might be different if there was a visible or appreciable improvement in the security and stability of the Country, if there was a quantifiable measure of improvement in the lives of Afghan people, but even if there is, it doesn’t seem to be shown by the media.

Regards,

kev35

I used the same poppy every year in the RAF, they gave me it for a parade so it cost me nothing… :p

Burning a poppy is pure ignorance, there was over 71,000 French Muslims alone killed in WW1 from various African countries, the poppy is not a symbol of the West and our beliefs, but a symbol of the deaths of all nations and creeds, regardless, so by burning a poppy they are disgracing their own ancestors.

Well actually John.
I’d be very happy if we became like Switzerland.
Neutral, non-EU, non aligned, banking everyone else’s money.
And minding their own bl**dy business in the World.
I can’t see that British foreign policy has achieved too much in the last 100 years–other than to keep stonemasons in a job.

I don’t blame you. I think the same thing…sometimes.
Sometimes doing the right thing has a high price.
But the UK is a great nation, populated by a brave peoople that have never shied away from a challenge and righting wrongs.
It could have stayed out of WWII, but as my wife likes to say “We’re made of sterner stuff”.

Though this forum doesn’t reflect it, I’m suremany in the UK think what it’s doing now, as part of NATO, is important.

ps the UK IS still a world power.

Can you say that with a straight face? :diablo:
A power in finance and culture, sure.
But I think a case could be made about being a geo-political power.
No Empire, not much a military left (I doubt the UK could retake the Falklands today if it had to) and much of your country’s sovereignty has been sceeded to Brussels, even in fairly minor items.

Hardly one of the top five that got seats on the UN Security Council.

I would love to know when and where 2 yrs ago I stated what you said. I never did. Perhaps you could tell me exactly where?.I “Complained”
Jim.
Lincoln .7

You were off an a rant….it’s here somewhere.
I believe it was in one of your early posts, it was the first time I noticed your views. As you can see, it made an impression on me. 🙂

I work with a Scotsman who has been recycling the same poppy for years, in fact it has ‘Haig Fund’ written in the centre, I firmly believe he irons it & carefully puts it away each year to save buying a new one!

So maybe we should burn our poppies each year, at the end of the remembrance period of course, just so the more parsimonious amongst us have to dig a little deeper each year for this worthy cause 😉

That’s the funniest thing I’ve read today.

A muslim colleague at work told me he had a digital copy of the Qur’an.
Things went downhill when I asked him to burn me a copy.

ps the UK IS still a world power.

I’ve been to London today. back now. A couple of things

1.Afghanistan replaces Iraq which replaced NI. The Army has had increasingly better ‘live’ training over those years. Pull out and it’s back to germany to practice for something that ain’t gonna happen.

2.Civvies think soldiers don’t want to go to war. That’s why they’re civvies and not soldiers.

Kev has a point.
Again, playing devil’s advocate….
The UK still fancies itself a world power…
Your country does not want to become a Denmark or Sweden (nice places but not in the Premier league of nations).
Yes, it’s your choice.
Please make it if for no other reason than sparing us your complaints. 🙂
Either get in the back seat, get rid of your nuclear-armed submarines and keep a token military and be content to let someone else make the rules, or try to stay relevant.
If you want to be a “player” then quit griping about doing what has to be done to stay there.
You can’t have it both ways.
Or maybe you can, let the UK become the source for pop music and let it fade into the backwaters of political and economic influence.

Well actually John.
I’d be very happy if we became like Switzerland.
Neutral, non-EU, non aligned, banking everyone else’s money.
And minding their own bl**dy business in the World.
I can’t see that British foreign policy has achieved too much in the last 100 years–other than to keep stonemasons in a job.

Kev has a point.
A couple of years ago you complained that the US didn’t forgive all the UK war debt, just 90%.
Again, playing devil’s advocate….

The UK still fancies itself a world power…
Your country does not want to become a Denmark or Sweden (nice places but not in the Premier league of nations).

Yes, it’s your choice.
Please make it if for no other reason than sparing us your complaints. 🙂
Either get in the back seat, get rid of your nuclear-armed submarines and keep a token military and be content to let someone else make the rules, or try to stay relevant.
If you want to be a “player” then quit griping about doing what has to be done to stay there.

You can’t have it both ways.
Or maybe you can, let the UK become the source for pop music and let it fade into the backwaters of political and economic influence.

I would love to know when and where 2 yrs ago I stated what you said. I never did. Perhaps you could tell me exactly where?.I “Complained”
Jim.
Lincoln .7

And Americans might say the same thing about all their young men buried in Cemeteries all across Western Europe. Have you ever been to Madingley? I think you’re really missing the point here. I think all those sent to prop up a corrupt and unsustainable governement in Afghanistan should be brought home, be they British, American, German, Dutch, Canadian etc. If young people are prepared to lay down their lives in the service of their Country then surely it behoves their respective Governments to ensure that their sacrifice is necessary and worthy of that lost life.

Regards,

kev35

No, John, and we needn’t need to help your country out as much as we have in the past and present either, did we?.
Jim.
Lincoln .7

Kev has a point.
A couple of years ago you complained that the US didn’t forgive all the UK war debt, just 90%.
Again, playing devil’s advocate….

The UK still fancies itself a world power…
Your country does not want to become a Denmark or Sweden (nice places but not in the Premier league of nations).

Yes, it’s your choice.
Please make it if for no other reason than sparing us your complaints. 🙂
Either get in the back seat, get rid of your nuclear-armed submarines and keep a token military and be content to let someone else make the rules, or try to stay relevant.
If you want to be a “player” then quit griping about doing what has to be done to stay there.

You can’t have it both ways.
Or maybe you can, let the UK become the source for pop music and let it fade into the backwaters of political and economic influence.