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| brianmcewan.co.uk |
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brianmcewan.co.uk
Brolly Dolly
Joined: 25 May 2006
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 Posted: 16:25 - 18 Dec 2006  Post subject: From The Troops In Iraq... |
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An email i received today and it struck acord with me and im sure it will with a lot of the members of this forum.
T'was The Night Before Christmas, He Lived All Alone,
In A One Bedroom House, Made Of Plaster And Stone.
I Had Come Down The Chimney, With Presents To Give,
And To See Just Who, In This Home here Did Live.
I Looked All About, A Strange Sight I Did See,
No Tinsel, No Presents, Not Even A Tree.
No Stocking By The Mantle, Just Boots Filled With Sand,
On The Wall Hung Pictures, Of Far Distant Lands.
With Medals And Badges, Awards Of All Kinds.
A Sober Thought, Came Through My Mind.
For This House Was Different, It Was Dark And Dreary,
I Found The Home Of A Soldier, Once I Could See Clearly.
The Soldier Lay Sleeping, Silent, Alone,
Curled Up On The Floor, In This One Bedroom Home.
The Face Was So Gentle, The Room In Disorder,
Not How I Pictured, A lone British Soldier.
Was This The Hero, Of Whom I'd Just Read?
Curled Up On A Poncho, The Floor For A Bed?
I Realized The Families, That I Saw This Night,
Owed Their Lives To These Soldiers, Who Were Willing To Fight.
Soon Round The World, The Children Would Play,
And Grownups Would Celebrate, A Bright Christmas Day.
They All Enjoyed Freedom, Each Month Of The Year,
Because Of The Soldiers, Like The One Lying Here.
I Couldn't Help Wonder, How Many Alone,
On A Cold Christmas Eve, In A Land Far From Home.
The Very Thought Brought, A Tear To My Eye,
I Dropped To My Knees, And Started To Cry.
The Soldier Awakened, And I Heard A Rough Voice,
"Santa, Don't Cry, This Life Is My Choice.
I Fight For Freedom, I Don't Ask For More,
My Life Is My God, My Country, My Corps."
The Soldier Rolled Over, And Drifted To Sleep,
I Couldn't Control It, I Continued To Weep.
I Kept Watch For Hours, So Silent And Still,
And We Both sat & Shivered, From The Cold Night's Chill.
I Didn't Want To Leave, On That Cold, Dark Night,
This Guardian Of Honour, So Willing To Fight.
Then The Soldier Rolled Over, With A Voice, Soft And Pure,
Whispered, "Carry On Santa, It's Christmas Day, All Is Secure."
One Look At My Watch, And I Knew He Was Right,
"Merry Christmas My Friend, And To All A Good Night."
This poem was written by a peace keeping soldier stationed overseas. The following is his request. I think it's reasonable.
"Would you do me the kind favour of sending this to as many people as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to our British service men and women for our being able to celebrate these festivities."
Let's try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe by getting people to think more about them.
____________________
Kawasaki Z1000 '05
Honda Fireblade 954 '03 |
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| craigie b |
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craigie b
Citizen Smith
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| Ahmato_ |
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Ahmato_
Crazy Courier
Joined: 03 Jun 2006
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Posted: 16:45 - 18 Dec 2006  Post subject: |
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It was originally a yank:
https://www.snopes.com/holidays/christmas/soldier.asp
____________________
SavageKymco wrote: lol yea yea, im just gettin food here, keep my strength up you know. all this killing takes a lot out of a guy Ha ha |
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| Mister James |
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Mister James
I want to believe!
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| bazza |
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bazza
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| h00dwink |
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h00dwink
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| dainesefreak |
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dainesefreak
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| Posted: 20:22 - 18 Dec 2006 Post subject: |
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Typically American. The lads I know are out there to for the cash.  |
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| owdamer |
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owdamer
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| Suzuki |
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Suzuki
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| Posted: 21:46 - 18 Dec 2006 Post subject: |
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| dainesefreak |
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dainesefreak
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| killa |
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killa
Won't Shut Up
Joined: 18 Oct 2004
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| Posted: 08:34 - 19 Dec 2006 Post subject: |
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My mate and his road check team laid around 300 rounds into a Iraqi guy on a moped taking down information on their position.
Merry Christmas fuc* face.  
____________________
Cleverly disguised as a responsible adult.
Bike:- Yamaha TRX850 | Killas Biking History | Killas Gaming History | Killas autmotive history |
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| angryjonny |
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angryjonny
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| craigie b |
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craigie b
Citizen Smith
Joined: 26 Jul 2004
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| Posted: 10:43 - 19 Dec 2006 Post subject: |
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An interesting snippet from an article, stating the difference between the yanks and the rest of us....
| Quote: | NICK BICANIC: Yeah, I think I did. It wasn't "I think I'm going to die," but it was definitely a distinct surprise.
Once you start hanging around with guys who use guns for a living and who are, I guess — what is the polite way of putting it — rough around the edges, if you wish, then you slowly get accustomed to it. So simple things, the barracks humor and all that stuff, don't surprise you.
But the kind of thing I was surprised about the most is that I was amazed by the extent to which different nationalities perceive themselves in different ways. I'll give you an example of that because it might sound a little odd out of context like that.
Although there are a huge amount of security contractors working in Iraq, the overwhelming majority of the ones that you read about are Westerners. Although the bulk of them are made up of Americans, there are quite a few Brits and South Africans and Australians working in Iraq. I talked to a number of nationalities about this and the thing that struck me the most is that the Americans perceive themselves as an extension of the troops.
This is understandable because in many instances, they once were the troops. A lot of the American security contractors are ex-American Special Forces or ex-Marines. So it's natural for them to see, given that they are in the same environment, using similar equipment, operating in a similar fashion — it's natural for them to see themselves as part of these guys.
What's odd is the ideology. The Americans seem blinded by ideology; the Brits and the South Africans don't care what they are doing. They are there to do a job. It's about the job. It's about the contract. It's not about the greater purpose.
For example, if you asked an American security contractor why they were there, they would probably give you a similar reason to what a US soldier would give as to why they were there. If you asked a Brit security contractor why they were there, they wouldn't care in the slightest. They would just say, "It's the contract. It's the money."
In a way, because of that, it actually makes them more efficient. They don't bother wasting time thinking about if they are right or wrong; they just act. Whereas the Americans, because of the fact they feel, "Why are these guys attacking us? We're the good guys," it gives them a false sense of security. It makes them feel like, "Really, we are trying to save these people." Whereas, the Brits and South Africans are way beyond that.
Possibly, this is because the Brits have a long history of interaction in an imperial fashion. So because of that they have gone beyond caring about the environment that they are in: "This is the job. We're going to go from point A to point B. These guys might attack us, but we don't care who they are. Let's just defend against them."
Whereas, the Americans sit there and twist themselves into a knot thinking about how they are really doing the right thing.
I was amazed that I found the Americans consider themselves to be right, whereas the Brits and the South Africans don't care.
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https://hotzone.yahoo.com/b/hotzone/blogs16008 |
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| Mister James |
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Mister James
I want to believe!
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| craigie b |
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craigie b
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| craigie b |
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craigie b
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| dainesefreak |
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dainesefreak
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| Mister James |
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Mister James
I want to believe!
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| Posted: 17:47 - 19 Dec 2006 Post subject: |
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| craigie b wrote: | BTW MJ, the guy in the interview is a yank, so I find it hard to believe he is try to stir up british and south african patriosism. |
Ok, I'll reverse it then, it's a Yank trying the old trick of appearing trendy and intellectual by screaming "I'm not a blind patriot, I'm terribly cynical don't ya know?!".
| Quote: | I don't actually think that is what he says....He says that the Yanks have believe in a higher sense of purpose whilst other nations just get on with it.
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That's not what he said at all, for a start, he wasn't talking about nations, but nationals of the various countries.
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You see Bush using ideology all the time so why is it wrong to think that it isn't a trait shared by many americans?
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Errmmm, surely everyone uses ideology? Bush's christian faith is only highlighted because it contrasts so starkly with those with liberal/atheist/muslim viewpoints.
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>Soultrader Mister James, I bet you are a copper
>Bazza Wow. Eyes like a shithouse rat, you... |
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| craigie b |
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craigie b
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| Mister James |
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Mister James
I want to believe!
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| Posted: 06:12 - 20 Dec 2006 Post subject: |
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| craigie b wrote: | | Quote: | hat's not what he said at all, for a start, he wasn't talking about nations, but nationals of the various countries. |
Speak about being pedantic. Well, yes, he was talking about SA and the UK if you want to be that specific.
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Actually, he was talking about South African and UK mercenaries/contractors, and makes a point of saying that even they separate themselves from their home states in an idealogical sense.
| Quote: |
| Quote: | Bush's christian faith is only highlighted because it contrasts so starkly with those with liberal/atheist/muslim viewpoints. |
Bushes christian faith contrasts so starkly becuase in Europe we don't have politicians citing god every time they make a speech. How often does tony blair refer to his catholic god?
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That's partially my point. It contrasts so starkly because you have chosen politicians from a totally different social structure to compare it against. The second part (that you missed) is that ideology is a lot wider-ranging than being an evangelical Christian. Your anti-American, anti-God principles are an ideology, Europe's snobbish anti-Americanism is an ideology, even Blair's social chameleonism is an ideology of sorts.
Ideals are simply people's beliefs, and belief goes a long way beyond whether you believe in an all-powerful chap in a white beard or not.
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You really need to remove your tongue from the yanks arses...they've done very little for us over the past few years yet at any given opportunity you jump to their aid as if any negative opinion about the US is obviously wrong....
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I criticise America when I see fit, and criticise shoddy criticism likewise. I don't have my tongue up anyone's arse, I just disagree with you. Looks like you have a fixed 'ideological belief' that anyone who disagrees with you must be a little snitch kissing Yankee backside.
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you displayed this by immediatly assuming a negative stance on an article even though you knew nothing about the author...there is the high chance he is making an educated opinion from actually being embedded in Iraq rather than trying to paint a negative image of his own fellow people. |
There is an equally high chance that he is simply following the same old trend of Bush-bashing that most media sources do, because it's easy and populist. I saw nothing in the article to suggest otherwise, and thus expressed my opinion, as I believe is still my right?
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>Soultrader Mister James, I bet you are a copper
>Bazza Wow. Eyes like a shithouse rat, you... |
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| dainesefreak |
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dainesefreak
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Old Thread Alert!
The last post was made 19 years, 29 days ago. Instead of replying here, would creating a new thread be more useful? |
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