Andy K said:
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Yes we do have a long history, the difference being we in Britain are happy to examine our history and the wrongs done along the way. Unlike Georgie boy here who thinks that 'OMG that was 35 years ago...' somehow makes things ok. Unarmed kids, shot down by paramilitaries on a college campus. Followed by newspapers trumpeting 'The Scum Had It Coming!' Such an event should never be forgotten lest it be repeated.
He also disparages the allied forces in Iraq, sent there to aid the US. He shows a total disregard and lack of respect for the young people who have died in Iraq. He displays a completely blinkered and US-centric view of what is happening out there, dismissing the US closest ally as 'coat holders'. I sincerely hope this is not a common view in the US.
Whether we agree or disagree with the war is unimportant, the war is not the fault of the troops. What is the fault of the troops is how they now behave toward Iraqi civilians. As a so called 'liberating' force, they should occupy the moral high ground when combating the insurgents. However, we now have cases involving coalition troops (yes some British) where beatings and killings have taken place. How can we lay claim to being 'better' than the insurgents now? But George conveniently closes his eyes to these things. He must be a compensation attorney working for no win no fee., I bet he advertises on the ceilings of ambulances.
Btw, up until about 200 odd years ago, our history was also your history (some of you anyway).
Andy,
You are a hoot! You know nothing about me but assume everything! It such a tiresomely old exercise from the looney left of the mid-20th century. You need to neatly categorize everyone so you can "fit" them into your grand scheme of dialiectic materialism and the marxist imperative.
"Cepting that ain't the case, my boy.
I am actually quite liberal and strongly oppose the war in Iraq etc. And, yes, a million years ago I marched against the war in Viet Nam, for Civil Rights etc. and all those "good causes" of yesteryear.
But I know enough to know that life moves on and only the unforgiving still find a need to assign blame thirty or forty years after a horrible event.
If you want to talk horror, we could drag out the holocaust. Or, conversely, the firebombing of Dresden (after which I believe your esteemed PM of the day said they "deserved it").
No one wants to hear about the old man's war. You have zero creditility today with young people if you think harranguing on about My Lai (not "mai" as in the Chinese cocktail known as mai tai) will create anything more than a "yawn".
dazed,,, is correct. British history is fraught with atrocities. But they are as irrelvant today as harping about the Viet Nam War. Criminy, get over it man, your country wasn't even involved so how dare you preach to us!
As I said, Andy, you're a tired member of Old Labour (and, as you know, it was Mr. Blair who coined that phrase so as to distance himself from you and your fellows) still fighting some grand ideological battle from mid-20th century. If the US didn't exist, you'd have to "invent" it.
Well, here's an update: Capitalism won! The Left proved to be totally bereft of real ideas and technology nailed its coffin.
The Chinese have a stock market and seek to get rich (heck, they sell us just about everything we buy!). I regularly purchase Vietnamese prawns and other seafood at my local supermarket. The only thing I can get (not that I smoke) are Cuban cigars because we have a bunch of old Cuban immigrants who like you can't let go of the past (but unlike you, have a degree of political clout).
Oh, and, BTW, I work for an German bank in transactions-related matters. I don't "chase" ambulances. You watch too much television if you think lawyers are all litigators or quasi-detectives.
You'd say I sold out because I don't wave the red flag anymore. I suggest you wake up and move on. Revolution is over. That PC you're about to respond with is the capitalist tool that has empowered millions to reject the narrow "boss vs. worker" world you wish still existed!
