[SOC] Ambassadors' letter to Blair (???)

Tue Apr 27 20:29:52 2004

Chris,

Amen...well put.  And for the record, I love the Australian's as well.  As
you say, they've proven their mettle on many a battlefield and a great
number of them never made it home.  (They also brought us Foster's...and
you've gotta love 'em for that as well.)  Same for the Brits (and a whole
lot of other folks from scores of other countries).  May God (whichever one
you choose to believe in) bless them all.  For those of you who don't
believe in a God or some other higher being...that's okay too.  (Ain't life
grand when we all play nice in the sandbox?)

In all seriousness though...the world would be a hell of a lot better place
if we could all discuss our opinions and respect each others beliefs and
differences the way I've seen it done here.  Maybe we ain't so SOC after
all.

74,

Mike
KG8L

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf
Of Chris Redding
Sent: Tuesday, April 27, 2004 7:54 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [SOC] Ambassadors' letter to Blair (???)

Nice One.

There must be a few 'Nam vets on the group, but I am perhaps the only Brit
here who has actually sniffed cordite.
I agree that nobody loves peace more than a soldier (or in my case a sailor
- I was a humble radio op in the Royal Navy during the Falklands conflict,
not really a full-blown 'war' as the British know the word, but close
enough).

Nobody likes war, especially the soldier...war is evil...the lowest form of
humanity...a collapse of reason, where we try to kill each other, and then
rejoice in the deed.  The soldier fights for the peace that will result from
his actions.  I know that sometimes 'fighting for peace' is the same as
'f***ing for virginity, but that's the world we live in for the time being.
We cannot choose our enemy...we do not know his motives.

It all revolves around what you believe will (eventually) result from your
actions.

I do not have any malice against pacifists - especially Australian pacifists
- I know history, and it teaches us that (due to their -  and your -
ancestry) they have a backbone of steel, and I cannot bring myself to offer
one word of criticism against any of them.

Maybe someday the entire world will be pacifist...I sincerely hope so, and
we can all bathe in the sunshine of a common humanity.

But in the meantime, there remain evil men...(discuss)

Chris G4PDJ.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike Besemer (KG8L)" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, April 27, 2004 11:56 PM
Subject: RE: [SOC] Ambassadors' letter to Blair (???)

> I've always pondered the question "How would things be different today 
> if instead of NYC and the Pentagon, those planes had struck in Paris 
> or
Munich
> or Sydney?".
>
> It's arguable (by both sides) whether or not Saddam was tied to bid 
> Laden and the A.Q./taliban mob and whether or not Saddam had WMD or not.
> Personally, I believe there were ties and there were/are WMD in Iraq.
Right
> or wrong, the U.S. and its allies made the decision to go into Iraq 
> and
it'd
> be a damn sour note to just walk away from the Iraqi people now.  
> We're
also
> a heck of a lot better off with 'boots on the ground' (and hence 
> 'eyeballs on the scene') then we were when we stood back and lobbed a 
> few cruise missiles at some empty tents.
>
> What I find interesting is that it is the military members (American 
> AND allied nations) who are getting maimed and killed over there, yet 
> you
don't
> hear the military complaining about the wrongness of the war.  Those 
> folks are spilling their blood and they SUPPORT the war, because they 
> can see
the
> difference being made.  It's rather presumptuous of the neigh-sayers 
> to be calling for an end to another 'illegal and immoral war' from the 
> comfort
of
> their easy chairs.
>
> Nobody hates a war more then the soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen 
> who have to fight them - each of them pray for a day when their 
> occupation
will
> become obsolete.  But they also recognize that evil, left to its own 
> devices, will fester until somebody finally recognizes the danger and 
> does something about it.
>
> Now, if you ask the question 'Is it ever going to end?', the answer is 
> (at least for the middle east), certainly not.  The great wars of our 
> time
(WWI,
> WWII, Korea, and (to some extent) Vietnam were fought over land.  In a
fight
> like that, at some point one side is going to say 'I've had enough... 
> I quit'.  It ain't like that in the middle east.  Nobody is going to 
> say 'Ya know what?  All this Allah stuff just ain't worth fighting 
> for.'...and on
we
> go.
>
> The whole trouble with the whole damn world nowadays is that we've
forgotten
> that ALL of us have the right to coexist together...BUT... (and this 
> is a BIG but)...everybody also seems to think that not only do they 
> have the RIGHT to do XYZ, but their right to do XYZ is allowed to 
> infringe upon MY right NOT to do XYZ.  CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG?
>
> Okay... Soapbox deactivated.  As for me, I'm going to tip a pint to 
> the
lads
> over in the sandbox who can't tip one for themselves.  Then I'll tip
another
> in remembrance of those who won't have the satisfaction of tipping one 
> for themselves ever again.
>
> 74,
>
> Mike
> KG8L
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On
Behalf
> Of Ian C. Purdie
> Sent: Tuesday, April 27, 2004 5:07 PM
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: Re: [SOC] Ambassadors' letter to Blair (???)
>
> Paul Bartlett wrote:
>
> > Jeez, what a mess.
> >
> > Ok, I'm biased but it seems to me that much of the reason that the 
> > Brits seem to be doing better down South is that when suddenly 
> > confronted, a Squaddie (British soldier) is much more likely to say, 
> > "Good morning" than to empty a magazine in the general direction of 
> > the
> stranger.
>
> Yes, a vastly different approach. Also no snipers shooting children.
>
> > Wish I knew where to go from here.
>
> Home.
>
>
> Ian
>
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