Forse's sweethearts section

You didn't understand my post, Pan, let me rephrase it:

If you don't see the value in being able to defend oneself
ask the Bosniaks for clarification.

The trouble with your latest round of backtracking
is that your previous statements are there for all to see:
'just well,...it's the being paid to kill children, and mothers and fathers. Not very Mumsnet it is?? And being subsidised whilst doing it. just curious.'

That statement is a personal insult to all men and women in the forces.

You are feeling awfully sorry for yourself.
Trouble is, you reap what you sow.

TnOgu I love you

Whatever my personal views I would be hard pushed to take issue over this section.

It's a public forum and it's made up of people from very different and diverse walks of life, that's what makes it so interesting and often frustrating at times

I don't know anyone in the Armed Forces, and infact don't live in the UK, but I couldn't feel that 'Forces' Sweethearts' was inappropriate on a talkboard aimed at support and the sharing of experiences for men and women in all areas of their lives.

I can still retain my own private views regarding war, this doesn't mean that I should lambast those who have a different perspective on the subject.

Can I just point out that people on this site have, in the past, given a great deal of support, quite rightly, to someone whose husband was serving a prison sentence. Presumably commiting a crime is also inconsistent with MN values...
Except look - here is it in a nutshell: "Our mission is simple - to make parents? lives easier by offering the most useful, fun and supportive community for parents on the web." (copyright Carrie and Justine)
I am not in the army which you hate even though it defends your freedom - my husband is.

Just read this thread with interest.

I could go on and on about all the humanitarian work my dh has done in the 16 years he has been in the navy but I fear that will fall on certain deaf ears.

What I suggest is that those who question the FS section should spend 6-9 months a year EVERY YEAR for the next 10 - 25 years apart from their significant other.

During this period, they should face constant worry about their other half coming home in a wooden box or that, every time the doorbell or phone rings, for an instant they fear the worst.

They should be forced to live in (often appalling) rented accommodation, miles from friends and family and be forced to move every 18 months, oh, and if the worst did happen, they have just SIX MONTHS to sort out their lives and move house.

Dont forget, they also have to deal with huge separation anxiety from their children, whilst putting on a brave face for all around.

I fear they may need some of the spectacular and often sanity-saving support that Mumsnet has to offer.

Walk a mile in our shoes, then condemn the FS section.

just had to say something

and the award for stating the obvious goes to......

blimey this thread isn't very nice!

Islam is not a race, I am not a racist or an Islamophobe
(your antennae are malfunctioning)
and as SG pointed out this is not about Islam anyway.

You and your ilk would like it to be about Islam but - it isn't.

I am having a chuckle at your expense. That's true.

What do you expect, though, when you come on MN
suggesting that the FS section might offend the
sensibilities of Mrs. Bin Laden or Mrs. Karadzic?

A serious debate? Hardly.

Complain away - I, and the other fs on here, know our loved ones are doing a really hard job as well as they can and that's all that can be expected of them.
I'm now assuming that religion comes into this hatred of the armed forces somewhere. Still no comment on the Muslim soldiers in the forces then?

daddyj, you are clearly a person who judges by rude stereotypes. Yes, everyone from muslim countries lives in a tent. Are you a racist by any chance?

scootergirl - when have I said I wanted a thread to complain about the armed forces? there is quite a history of doing that all over mumsnet, if you look. as I said, I ignore the FS section as much as I can in the circs, considering that it is the first thing that you see when you open the talk.

NN, you seriously expect me to sympathise with the Taliban?
You feeling a bit hot under your tent, I expect.

Pan, if you have an issue with armed forces per se
ask the Bosniaks, the Palestinians, the Tibetans
what life is like when you don't have a powerful military to protect you.

NN - please feel free to ask MNHQ for a thread of your own to complain about the forces.
We fully appreciate that not everyone agrees with the role of the military, particularly given the current climate, which is why a special topic was requested so people wouldn't have to acknowledge it if they didn't want to.
And FYI, there are Muslim soldiers serving in the British Army - one, Lance Corporal Jabron Hashmi, was killed in Afghanistan last year.

just popped in to say hi to squonk [waves]

well, we will just have to agree to disagree about your last line, squonk

EffiePerrine - are you American? Just asking cos judiciary and executive/legislature are indeed legally and constituionally separate in the US, but this is not so in the UK. Indeed, they are intertwined at many levels.

Sorry for the supreme (and tardy) pedantry...

NN - I can appreciate how you, and a lot of people may feel about the British forces, however, they are here and there is nothing we can do about that.

This topic is merely for the partners of servicemen/women to whinge/chat about things that affect them specifically.

I don't think that it is a topic about the job that the forces do.

I am maybe being naive, but I think it is a worthy topic for a talkboard like this to have.

ll, I have supersensitive antennae for any giveaways about a particular nationality, therefore I am reasonably sure that none of you are of the nationality that I am speaking about. (although at least one other mumsnetter is...) So I dont think that I am presuming anything.

my "educational superiority complex" is nothing more than reading the quality of the posts on this thread.

squonk - maybe you dont realise how one sided the FS section comes across as? (by the way, please read this in a very non-aggressive voice [little flowers emoticon]) My reservations about FS are merely that - it makes me feel uncomfortable, because it is the acceptable tip of a very unacceptable large iceberg of aggression towards Iraqis and other people in the middle east.

Just to clarify what I meant by sayinh NN and I were the same nationality...

What I meant is that even if we were, we would still be miles apart ideologically and facing very different things in our day to day lives.
I might well have more in common with the partner of an Iraqi soldier than I do with him or her.
And if by mentioning Guantanamo, NN is implying what I think (s)he is, then that explains much of the agression directed at the FS on here.

did I miss the bit where it said that you had to be partnered to a British serviceman/woman in order to be allowed to post on this topic?