"Armed forces day"

[Pete]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/8121131.stm

An event in Glasgow to remember and recognise the armed forces turns into a farce. Sectarian nutters always have to hijack such events and ruin it...what's wrong with this country when we can't even do something like this without trouble?

After watching the scenes at Luton where a homecoming event for troops was ruined by "islamist" bampots I'm beginning to wonder if it's worth it.

I dread the day we stop recognising our forces bravery but if it's stirring up this much ill-feeling amongst certian people then is it worth the embarrassment? It makes our country look stupid and weak and can't be good for the morale of the soldiers themselves.

Nobody seems to be coming down hard on these nutters so should it be events such as this that go?

[McHibby]

I just saw this on BBC web and knew as soon as I read "Arrests at Armed Services Event" what it was going to be. I really wish it didn't reflect on the whole of Scotland as I don't think this is something you'd see in Dundee or Inverness or Aberdeen or Edinburgh etc etc.

But unfortunately it does reflect on us all. Totally embarrassing.

[Future17]

Absolute joke.

If Britain were attacked tomorrow, who would these protesters expect to put their lives on the line to defend us?

I know what you mean PD, but stopping these sorts of events would just be letting the pathetic minority win.

Out of interest, was there an event in Edinburgh? If so, it can't have been very well publicised.

[da-robster]

This seems a bit like the RIP threads to me.

You have the majority saying goodbye respectfully and then there's the small miniority protesting and arguing which makes the saying goodbye people angry and they fight back untill the admins (police) have to interven.And yet thecentral figure of the dead person(veterans) are ignored as it descends into yet another pointless slog.

For what it's worth I think that these "islamist bampots" as you call them have every right to say what they think but this is not the place nor the time.

[Betty Boop]

http://news.stv.tv/scotland/105352-s...ed-forces-day/

[Phil D. Rolls]

I think people are right to express dissent about how the British Army is deployed, but I think they are totally wrong to have a go at the troops. It reminds me of one of Nathan Jessop's speeches in "A Few Good Men" -

You don't want the truth because deep down in places you don't talk about at parties you want me on that wall, you need me on that wall. We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use then as the backbone of a life trying to defend something. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom I provide and then questions the manner in which I provide it.

Admittedly, Jessop was a deranged ********, and it's a shame that he is trying to justify something that is unacceptable in this speech (the murder of Santiago). At the same time though, I think people often have double standards about the military.

[Sir David Gray]

If people have a problem with what our troops are doing, they should be protesting against the people who send them to those places.

The members of the Armed Forces do not choose where they go. I think it is incredibly sad that we cannot have a day like this without people on both sides of the divide ruining it and causing trouble.

I am personally extremely proud of the vast majority of the men and women who lay their life on the line every single day for this country.

We would be in a very sorry state without them.

[PeeKay]

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I am personally extremely proud of the vast majority of the men and women who lay their life on the line every single day for this country.

Like the ones sent to train at Deepcut?

[Phil D. Rolls]

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If people have a problem with what our troops are doing, they should be protesting against the people who send them to those places.

The members of the Armed Forces do not choose where they go. I think it is incredibly sad that we cannot have a day like this without people on both sides of the divide ruining it and causing trouble.

I am personally extremely proud of the vast majority of the men and women who lay their life on the line every single day for this country.

We would be in a very sorry state without them.

[Sir David Gray]

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Like the ones sent to train at Deepcut?

That's why I said the "vast majority".

[khib70]

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This seems a bit like the RIP threads to me.

You have the majority saying goodbye respectfully and then there's the small miniority protesting and arguing which makes the saying goodbye people angry and they fight back untill the admins (police) have to interven.And yet thecentral figure of the dead person(veterans) are ignored as it descends into yet another pointless slog.

For what it's worth I think that these "islamist bampots" as you call them have every right to say what they think but this is not the place nor the time.

Yes, they do have that right. They (and we) have it because of the sacrifice of those who served their country.

Where they don't have that right is in the kind of state they want to force upon the rest of the world.

[Tomsk]

I am never entirely comfortable with the sentiments and even the logic expressed in the following poem, but it came to mind reading this thread. Make up your own minds.


It is the Soldier, not the reporter
Who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the Soldier, not the poet,
Who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the Soldier, not the campus organizer,
Who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.

It is the Soldier, not the lawyer,
Who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the Soldier, who salutes the flag,
Who serves beneath the flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the flag,
Who allows the protestor to burn the flag.

[hibsbollah]

Its hard to know whats the motivation for going on a protest like that Still, it sounds like there were only 12 of them, hardly representative of anything except gross stupidity.

[steakbake]

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I am never entirely comfortable with the sentiments and even the logic expressed in the following poem, but it came to mind reading this thread. Make up your own minds.


It is the Soldier, not the reporter
Who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the Soldier, not the poet,
Who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the Soldier, not the campus organizer,
Who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.

It is the Soldier, not the lawyer,
Who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the Soldier, who salutes the flag,
Who serves beneath the flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the flag,
Who allows the protestor to burn the flag.

An interesting post as ever, Mr T.

I suppose one question is when were UK forces last involved in a conflict in which our territory was genuinely threatened? You could argue the Falklands, where UK sovereign territory was invaded, but my gratitude to service personnel extends to WW2.

Anything since then has been fought as the military wing of overriding UK foreign and diplomatic policy interests, certainly not as defence and my gratitude turns to sorrow.

Unfortunately, it's those who sign up to the army who are the pawns in the political games our government and are ultimately sacrificed by our national delusions of grandeur.

[The_Todd]

I'm not saying the guys who put their lives out on the line don't deserve some credit for doing so, but I'll be (possibly) contraversial here and say that they've been used.

Gordon Brown has been banging on for a bit now about "Britishness" to

a) Counter the threat of the SNP up here
b) Counter the threat of the Tories to counter his "Scottish" image down there

Along with "Armed Forces Day", we've had an aborted attempt to create a "Britishness Day" and various Union Flag waving exercises. What's more British than the British Army in full pomp marching in big cities in uniforms? Apart from the Queen and a nice cup of tea not much.

Now, again I'll say the ordinary Private Bloggs out on the front lines could do with our support, but I think it's all a part of Gordo's Britishness Drive and I'm slightly(!) cynical. I don't think they care two hoots about the ordinary soldier or they certainly would have put them into Iraq in the first place.

I'm probably wrong, I'm just cynical like I say.