BSG – that made me smile. How strange that there appears to have been silence following “that” soccer match. I fully expected to be regaled by dozens of happy soccer fans revelling in a wonderful match. But perhaps the wrong side won…….;);):diablo:

That’s a fair criticism as I did not make the point clearly. I meant to say that if an object has been observed and it is clearly not a speck of dust on a photograph then that UFO exists as an object, albeit unidentified. I then tried to separate that fact, for which no belief is required, from the belief that such objects are alien.

Does that make my point clearer now?:)

the big difference between this and Iraq and Afghanistan is that there are no troops on the ground and that option has been explicitly ruled out

Good point although, one of the main arguments people used against both Iraq and Afghanistan was that civilians are also being killed (never intentionally from the coalition side although it’s war so innocents will be killed…doesn’t make it right, but it is true).

In the case of Libya that has certainly happened, so my question is the following: Are British people (and those in mainland Europe) not opposed to something that creates a situation where innocents might be killed? That certainly seemed to be a big part of the outcry in the other situations.

I cannot not speak for the “British people” but no one can ever be relaxed about innocent people being killed. However it happens in war – it is simply unavoidable. I would say that the evidence is strong that it is NEVER the intention to kill innocent people and great steps are taken to avoid it and modern weaponry makes it far more possible than it was a decade or more ago.

Tornado – the inevitable consequence of your first paragraph is C.!!!

Spare us the details, if you don’t mind;) – we can imagine it…….:diablo:

Reading through this thread there seems to be a basic misunderstanding of the terms used. You can neither believe or not believe in UFO’s. If an object has been observed but not identified it is by definition unidentified, but observed. It has nothing to do with belief. Whether or not people believe that UFOs are alien craft is quite another matter.

I have no doubt whatsover that there are thousands of other planets in the universe populated with “beings” of some description. I do not believe that any of these alien beings has visited or is likely to visit our planet in the forseeable future.

In answer to the main thrust of your questions I think the low key response is partly because the big difference between this and Iraq and Afghanistan is that there are no troops on the ground and that option has been explicitly ruled out. So the likelihood of the now ritual ceremony of the bodies of British servicemen being returned to the UK, is remote.

We can all see Gadaffi’s resources slowly but surely being diminished and that sooner or later he will either be killed, intentionally or unintentionally, or he will flee to Zimbabwe, which is probably the only refuge he has.

Belated best wishes Blue – hope Airbase and Brunty lived up to all your expectations.:D