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the culture of military obsession

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Comments

  • #122
    Manic Moran
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 16,195 Mod ✭✭✭✭Manic Moran


    MikeMichael wrote: »
    What are you one about? Would I win your respect if I went to Thailand for a month and started kicking the **** out of the locals for not having the same values as me? I could show courage and sacrifice in teh process, honourable traits.

    I'd rather get on with my life here at home, travel when I can and try and do my best to learn about other cultures and enjoy our differences. Not go to war with them so I can have cheaper fuel for my car.

    Concern, WHO, and MSF are organisations which kick the **** out of the locals for not having the same values as them?


  • #123
    Local-womanizer
    Registered Users Posts: 3,798 ✭✭✭Local-womanizer


    MikeMichael wrote: »

    They should just leave and let the locals sort it out themselves. You can't force a country in change from the outside. Not without a permanent and intrusive military prescence. If that is there aim then surely they should be in half the world spreading their democracy and western infrastructure to all the third world countries.

    The Taliban would have more than a little influence in what goes on there, as is evident. The locals couldn't exactly march for change there, I mean the Taliban would stone a women to death for looking at another man.

    The events in Afghanistan have a direct influence in the Middle East as a whole. Keeping the place stable will hopefully calm things down on the whole.

    It seems a worthwhile project with the number of countries involved in ISAF.


  • #124
    gbee
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,388 ✭✭✭gbee


    MikeMichael wrote: »
    They should just leave and let the locals sort it out themselves. You can't force a country in change from the outside..

    True, just pipe in 90210, Fashion Weekly and the women will overthrow the men.


  • #125
    MikeMichael
    Site Banned Posts: 42 ✭MikeMichael


    Local-womanizer wrote: »
    The Taliban would have more than a little influence in what goes on there, as is evident. The locals couldn't exactly march for change there, I mean the Taliban would stone a women to death for looking at another man.

    The events in Afghanistan have a direct influence in the Middle East as a whole. Keeping the place stable will hopefully calm things down on the whole.

    It seems a worthwhile project with the number of countries involved in ISAF.

    Ok so you'd be in favour of pouring into North Korea to sort things out there. And things are pretty bad in Russia and China. A lot of human rights abuses going on there. You intend to take your World Police into these places to sort them out.

    The only time a foreign force should invade another is through a UN co-ordinated effort in repsonse to genocide and ethnic cleansing. That is it.


  • #126
    Flynn Careful Teaspoon
    Posts: 50,630 ✭✭✭✭ Flynn Careful Teaspoon


    MikeMichael banned


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  • #127
    Local-womanizer
    Registered Users Posts: 3,798 ✭✭✭Local-womanizer


    MikeMichael wrote: »

    Ok so you'd be in favour of pouring into North Korea to sort things out there. And things are pretty bad in Russia and China. A lot of human rights abuses going on there. You intend to take your World Police into these places to sort them out.

    The only time a foreign force should invade another is through a UN co-ordinated effort in repsonse to genocide and ethnic cleansing. That is it.

    You have to weigh the pros with the cons. If you think going into N.Korea or Russia is the same thing as Afghanistan then you are rather naive.

    Whatever an international force decides to do they are damned. The EU intervened in Libya and they were accused of oil mongering etc. if they didnt they were inundated with cries of "how could you let this happen?!"

    People like yourself will always criticise those who step into places like Afghanistan carrying out these so called "massacres" you are on about, but then you are happy to see ISAF forces killed in IEDS that more often than not kill and maim afghan civilians and ANA and ANP.


  • #128
    asherbassad
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 1,869 ✭✭✭asherbassad


    gbee wrote: »
    .303 Full Metal Jacket. My unit was security, we had the weapons and millions of rounds as the regular lads got the .762 ~ happy dazzzzzzzzz :)

    Millions of rounds? I thought the Irish armed forces only had enough ammo to hold a few gun salutes.


  • #129
    9959
    Registered Users Posts: 1,785 ✭✭✭9959


    Local-womanizer wrote: »
    You fail to acknowledge the total lack of care shown by the government towards soldiers well being back then.

    The army deafness claims was totally avoidable, if the DoD had any cop on.

    You're probably right.
    My initial post was humorous in nature, it was only when you questioned my figure of 300 million Euro that I felt the need to give you the numbers.
    I don't have strong views - either way - on the issue.
    Obviously my joke 'misfired'.


  • #130
    Local-womanizer
    Registered Users Posts: 3,798 ✭✭✭Local-womanizer


    9959 wrote: »

    You're probably right.
    My initial post was humorous in nature, it was only when you questioned my figure of 300 million Euro that I felt the need to give you the numbers.
    I don't have strong views - either way - on the issue.
    Obviously my joke 'misfired'.

    I didn't question ya!

    But my point is that people use it to beat the Defence Forces with when they were the ones treated like crap. Any member who was entitled to claim would prefer they never had too, and they had full use of their hearing.


  • #131
    gbee
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,388 ✭✭✭gbee


    asherbassad wrote: »
    Millions of rounds? I thought the Irish armed forces only had enough ammo to hold a few gun salutes.

    OK, so there should not be an s at the end, we had about a million to play with, and we did. :) I was on the all Ireland Bren Gun team too. :)


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  • #132
    strangel00p
    Registered Users Posts: 284 ✭✭strangel00p


    gbee wrote: »
    My military career spanned five years, circa 1972, 23Bn Signals/Collins Bks, Cork. There was a lot of changes, we were expecting to reinvade the North, we had a President resign and soon after die and we had a defence minister sacked.

    Same minister, in preparing us for our upcoming role said we were "paid assassins!" and we got briefly equipped with the latest new weaponry. During my time five members of the FCA were shot and killed in various actions, some accidents some in exchange of fire.

    I was not indenting to give details of my service here, just to outline that I was, and it was great, all of it, the fear, the cold, the wet, the hunger, the food. Food never tasted better.

    "Paid assassins!", "FCA were shot and killed", "exchange of fire". Sounds like you've been playing too much xbox :pac:
    With respect, this is the biggest load of fantasy nonsense I've read in quite some time. You have more chance of being killed crossing the street than you would in the Irish army.


  • #133
    af_thefragile
    Registered Users Posts: 7,171 ✭✭✭af_thefragile


    Because they're brave solders fighting for our freedom!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VovRTt0hAPk


  • #134
    gbee
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,388 ✭✭✭gbee


    strangel00p wrote: »
    "Paid assassins!", "FCA were shot and killed", "exchange of fire". Sounds like you've been playing too much xbox :pac:
    With respect, this is the biggest load of fantasy nonsense I've read in quite some time. You have more chance of being killed crossing the street than you would in the Irish army.

    The deaths are real, my story is real we were constantly on guard against IRA units, don't forget the period. I was ordered to open fire on a suspected movement, the regulars arrived to sweep the area.

    We had a number of attacks on camps, soldiers tied up and weapons taken, and we guarded ESB stations and damns, sadly most of the shootings were blue on blue.

    I was called out to Fort Camden once even, ten of us loaded weapons and a bandoleer of 50 live rounds. A unit was enroute from Collins Barracks and a Cavalry Unit coming from Fermoy after security was breeched.

    One of our instructors at the time was of a hero from the Congo, 26 Irish peace keepers had been killed during that deployment and 11 alone in one ambush.


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