You clearly don't have close friends/family in the Forces. Soliders never choose to go to war. No solider wants war, definitely not after they've experienced it. They want the politicians to sort things out and war should be a last resort.
Actually I do have friends who have been to afghanistan, but my outlook is clearly different to theirs, so it is not a subject I would go into depth about with them, if I want to preserve the friendship - having grown up with them.
On the topic of 'wanting politicians to sort things out', soldier or not - that's naievity if you understand the basis for conflict in the first place.
A regular solider as you think of them signs up because it has good job opportunities, teaches you skills, make life-long friends and because they want to protect these shores. They get no choice in where they go to war. If the politicians decide they want oil or to overthrow some random dictator then they have to go. Why?
1. because they want to protect their friends.
2. because they'll go to jail if they don't.
The smart soliders do what they're asked and do it well.
They have every choice on whether they go to war. It's whether or not they are willing to accept the concequences for carrying out their moral obligation as a human being, in saying 'no', when told to invade and overthrow. To partake in the invasion of a people's land in order to secure oil because you're too afraid to face jail, all whilst the price at the pump continues to rise for your countrymen regardless - I'm searching for a word other than disgraceful.
I find 'smart soldiers' a juxtaposition. There's plenty of intelligent men and women in the forces, but as I've already said, I believe the 'smart' people have never enlisted.
Smart people do not enter conflict to overthrow dictators in favor of western appeasing replacements. Neither do they enter conflict, in order to protect friends, when it is actively allowing and enabling the slaughter of millions of innocents for that precious oil you mentioned. Smart people don't fight wars so that the same people who are systematically stripping your freedoms, can increase their wealth further.
The Forces give up a lot and they deserve respect for what they do. They don't choose the environment they're placed in and they concentrate on helping their friends and getting the job done. Those blokes gave up their lives because politicians put them in that place. The soliders knew the risks but they knew what they had to do. They have families and I'm grateful for what they do.
You say they deserve respect for what they do. I disagree. I call them 'enablers' of a corrupt system. Politicians didn't put them there either. They signed up for it, and they got what they signed for. It's certainly unfortunate that they lost their lives, but no more unfortunate than the loss of any islamic freedom fighter returning fire in their direction, because he wants the force invading his country and killing his people, gone.
Actually all three would possibly be illegal in the UK, we have laws against religious hatred too. Not to mention that Jews are considered an ethnic group. Oddly you seem to think that calling someone a black ******** is wrong yet less so with Jew?
I wasn't talking about the eyes of the law. I was talking about peoples perceived view of what is acceptable. 'Jewish' is essentially an ethnoreligion, it is not the same as 'black'.
No, your line of reasoning is flawed because not all soldiers are killers, you seem to have a remarkably simplistic view of what it means to be in the Armed Forces.
It's not flawed. I understand there are many roles in the armed forces. That statement was merely to serve the purpose of debate.
Now that you have seen it you have even said you agree with the sentiment, do you honestly agree that:
That sentence has no validity to me. Hell is fictional, so I find it neither offensive nor relevant to the rest of his post. It's an irate exhaustion of anger by the poster and I find what he has to post before his 'blow off' of far more importance.