I wonder why the Northern Ireland PPS is prosecuting two Paras who allegedly murdered an IRA man in 1972, while the murders of 185 soldiers in 'the Troubles' will not even be investigated. It could be something to do with the fact that the PPS is headed by a lawyer who used to work for Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness. We certainly know how to treat our soldiers.

 

IRA Scum

 

Hi,
This is just ridiculous.
After all this time and following the good Friday agreement (where loads of terrorists were released early) - how the heck can they be considering prosecuting old soldiers.
Maybe they should look at prosecuting Adams and McGuiness - from their IRA days?
Cheers
Steve

 

Absolutely ****ing stupid.

 

War is basically two sets of people murdering each other because someone else told them to, just because one side has a uniform doesn't make the acts they commit against the opposition any less abhorrent, killing people is wrong no matter what side you're on.

 

For the most part Ditch soldiers DON'T Murder people they defend the rights of the civilian population.

 

Depends who's making the rules, you only have to look at Syria to see that.

 

One mans terrorist is another mans freedom fighter.

Not saying I agree with what went on over there, because I don't on either side, but at the end of the day the British were an occupying force in their country, and as neil says "it depends who's making the rules" As I said in another thread Just because we dress ours in matching clothes (uniforms) and tell them the other guys are bad, it doesn't make them right.

I think Captain James Blunt wrote in one of his songs something about seeing his enemy and they looked just like me.

 

Very very well put

 

This thread should be deleted

 

This.

Adams and McGuiness are terrorists and always will be terrorists. They only do what they do now to avoid facing trial for their crimes. The pair should be serving life in prison or even better have been shot by the SAS in the late 70s.

 

Not really true in 'some' circumstances.

Makes me sad to see the guys being witch-hunted. First Iraq, now N.I......going to be Afghan (on a larger scale than Sgt Blackman) next. Then why not move into WW2 vets? All this after the government made a pledge to protect us from this sort of thing. I especially like how Adams and Mcguiness are free to do as they like and probably won't ever have to answer for what they did. Scum.

 

 

Why?

 

This thread could run for years just as the troubles in NI have, there is no answer to this post, the thoughts will range from the sublime to ridiculous

Fact:
without the presence of the British Army in NI, the place would have been a forerunner to Aleppo, a bombed out shell of a place
Those Uniformed people risked their lives on a daily basis for us and the good people of NI and the UK mainland

The witch hunt of ex Army personnel is disturbing

 

as part of the peace settlement, was there not a version of a

"truth and reconciliation commission"

as in SA etc

 

I thought this, along the lines of 'any crime committed before the NI peace settlement was absolved and there would be no prosecutions'

 

Spot on. Ditchy I have seen a number of comments from you regards your views on the military, and still can't decide whether you are just trolling, or living in cuckoo land....

 

And therein lies the problem - there is no single version of the truth. It is harsh, but the past needs to be consigned to the past, raking it over, and siphoning off public funds to resource the next inquiry is just ridiculous, and is draining resources that could be used to make things better for the post Good Friday Agreement generations.

Republicans will carp on about Bloody Sunday, Loughgall, Strabane and other indicents where they took losses, Loyalists will rake over Bloody Friday, La Mon and other events were the IRA carried out atrocities I could write a list that would take this post to the 3rd page, but it is time to consign all of this to the past - it is harsh, but it needs strong leadership to make it happen. There remains a small but dangerous minority who are motivated to drag NI back 30 years in pursuit of an ideology, there is a very real risk that these kind of events will reopen old wounds, and play into their hands, which will not be a good outcome for anyone.

 

Yes, but remember there is quite a difference between a professional (voluntary) army, and one made up of conscripts.

 

And no doubt you're something to do with the military.

My opinion is that the vast majority of people live in cloud cuckoo land, a place where they are given their opinion by those in control and conditioned to believe they can do no wrong and it's the rest of the world that is at fault, it happens all over the world not just to those mental religious nut jobs, we are as much victims of this as they are.

If you can't see that we too on our little island are also victims of propaganda and brain washing then there is no point in me conversing with you.

The military is the means by which they go about their clandestine activities, hood winking young men into believing they are a force for good, when in my eyes they do just as much harm as the so called bad guys, except when we do it it's called collateral damage and we say how sorry we are, which I'm sure goes a long way towards making the dead feel better about it.


And in the end what's it all about, money and control, then when they've finished bombing the hell out of somewhere who gets the contracts to rebuild everything, oh yeah the members of the coalition.

So like I said, it's all about the money honey.

If you go poke a bear with a stick you're going to get mauled, then someone comes along and shoots the bear and he's the hero.

Think about it.

 

Good post.

It has to stop someday and as you say there are loses on both sides, put the guns down and call it quits.

 

yes, I am inclined to agree

the future is where it's at!!

we have too much of harping back to the past

that's not to belittle the past, but a recognition that we all must move on

 

It's not that long ago that the British army was made up of mostly conscripts.

 

Off the top of my head it was approx 40-50 years ago. But that isn't the point as you well know. Thankfully not everybody lives in the past. I was going to respond to your previous post, but I can't be bothered having seen this. You appear to have some serious hang ups / warped views.

 

No hang ups or warped views here mate, quite the opposite in fact.

I look at situations from BOTH sides of the argument and form my own opinions, not take on the ones that the powers that be would have me believe so as to maintain control and the status quo, I'm not so naive as to think that we in the west can do no harm and it's everyone else that's in the wrong.

I'll also add, I wouldn't expect you to understand and refer you back to my previous statement,"most people live in cloud cuckoo land" content to believe everything that has been drip fed them their entire lives.

If you dare to hold a different view from the establishment you're lambasted as some sort of nut job with warped views.

The Earth is flat, no it's round, and now it's apparently flat again.

 

Ditchy, do you have ANY 'direct' experience of the Armed Forces? Have you ever served (reserve or regular), parents ever served, any brothers or sisters etc?

Considering you seem to constantly preach about being drip-fed what we apparently need to hear by those at the top and live in what apparently seems to be a modern-day matrix, I fail to see how you can come to such conclusions about military personnel / the military in general when all you actually know about it is what you've read / heard in the media, which would be completely hypocritical?

 

you don't have to have served in the armed forces to understand Ditch's point

being that right / just etc are just subjective terms based on your side of the trench

if that wasn't so then Syria / Yemen would be easy to solve

just pick the "right" side, the just side - but we know its not that easy

like most things it is quite complicated

 

You do when you make sweeping generalisations like "hood winking young men into believing they are a force for good"

 

You seem to forget your history
The atrocities committed by the British on our island for 400 years
Stole murdered raped and pillaged , starved us in the name of your king and queen
Excuse me if I don't give a flying **** about your paras