to wonder what's so heroic about being in the British army?

[poppylongstocking]

Both my brother in laws are in the army and spend 6 months at a time away from their wife & kids in a country we are under no direct threat from fighting a war which was started on dubious grounds. They are risking their lives, yes, but I don't see it as heroic, I see it as a bit stupid to be honest. I could understand the label 'hero' if we were under direct threat and having our homes bombed as in WW2, but it's very different nowadays, aibu?

midori1999, do you have any evidence to back this assertion up?

The only poll I'm aware of that attempts to reflect Afghani opinion is the one undertaken by the Asia Foundation. The latest version found that Afghanis overwhelmingly backed talks with the Taliban and peace-building efforts such as programmes to help Talibs get jobs and housing. So far as I can see on a quick scan, it didn't specifically ask about levels of support for coalition forces.

asiafoundation.org/resources/pdfs/KeyFindingsAGSurvey2010.pdf

Of course, re nation building etc -- all of this would have a bit more credence if a material fraction of the blood and treasure that has been expended on the conflict had been put towards nation-building efforts instead.

The only evidence I have is accounts of my DH's experience in Afghanistan interacting with the Afghani people who he says assist our British Forces at every opportunity and are friendly towards them.

Have you ever spoken to a solider out there about what it is they do?

Aside from which, we are at very real threat of terrorism from Ireland, but maybe our forces/security services shouldn't get involved in that either?

Genuine question:

Why is it that British soldiers who invaded Iraq are heroes but German soldiers in WW2 who invaded Poland were war criminals?

YADNBU -
I could admire those people, especially the conscripts fighting in the 2 WWs
But not soldiers now.The British Army are little more than mercenaries fighting illegal wars serving dubious American interests.If you think the Americans are fighting on human rights grounds you are living in cloud cuckoo land!!
As for soldiers fighting in Afghanistan-yeah REALLY heroic to help the richest country in the world kick 7 bells out of the poorest.Have you ANY idea how many civilians have been killed ,maimed, orphaned or widowed in Afghanistan and Iraq
being a deep sea diver or working on oil rigs are hazardous occupations, I would rather admire them than the thugs fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan

sihilly, not aimed at you at all - it's not all about you my love. Merely a comment (an assertation) based on the fact that many of the posters here have no ties with the Armed Forces. What they know about Afghanistan is based on news reports, and it would be ridiculous to think that everything is reported - in fact I would suggest that the general public hears maybe 5% of what goes on and why.

Coalition, unfortunately for me to post what I know would be a breach of the values I pledged to uphold. That sounds pompous, I know, and I dont mean it to be, but a lot of the reasons are of a classified nature, and I dont mean sneaky beaky spy stuff - I just mean the plans that are in place and the reasons behind those plans - people and places that are involved.

But then, I am not a decision maker either. I understand what I have been told, and I agree with the things I have to do, and the reason behind them. I don't blindly follow, but neither do I question, when it is obvious I do not know the whole story.

For example. A troop may be told to go to a specific house and bring in a specific person. They will be told he is wanted for questioning, and he will be. What the troop wont be told, because they dont need to know, will be that someone in that house is in real danger from the person that they have bought it. By bringing that person in, the other person can get away. Does that make sense?

I think slhilly's commment I'm sure there are lots of reasons for our being there. Not one of them is valid (my bold). A very silly statement - if you dont know all the reasons how on earth could you know they were all invalid.

YABU.

Words fail me.

"The greatest risk to the lives of people in our nation at the moment is from terrorism." Er... I don't believe that for a second. Try obesity, heart disease etc.

.. and do you think the men on the ground know what's going on ,don't you think they are lied to and fed propoganda

Iwoudlnot Personally I hold regular german soldiers (not the SS) less responsible as they were unlikely to have a choice at being in the war or a genuine understanding of why they were there, in the middle of a propaganda fueled war where the average guy really didn't know what was going on.

People who join the army today chose to be there and are much more informed than the WW2 fighters would have been

'"The greatest risk to the lives of people in our nation at the moment is from terrorism." Er... I don't believe that for a second. Try obesity, heart disease etc'

Actually the greatest risk to health is poverty, but you don't hear the govt spouting that do you when they are wasting billions on illegal wars.

YABU
Pop yourself to Headley Court or along to a Remberance Sunday parade I'm sure you'd be made very welcome there.

Nice that you make these comment hiding behind your MN name, and not to your families faces. They would be devastated if they knew what you thought? Here's hoping you never need any help from any uniformed service hey! I include in that police/fire/ambulance etc etc. Many of whom are made up of ex-serving people. You are cowardly in writing this thread annonmously and deliberately inflaming peoples feelings. You knew this was emotive and you did it anyway.

I really feel that by propagating the idea that soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan are 'serving their country' (as opposed to serving American corporate and/or political interests) people are validating unjustifiable wars and, even more terrifyingly, makes it more likely that we will be involved in the next one. (Yemen? Who knows).

Useful idiots.

I'm surprised at some of the bile being directed at the soldiers who risk their lives to help keep the country safer.

So aibu if I hold similar thoughts as the OP except with out the "stupid" part?

As in I don't think they are heroes or attach any greater respect to them based solely on the job they chose. I think no more or less of them based on the fact that they are in the army and have no particular respect for the armed forces as distinct from other groups, nor do I agree with the hero worship they receive from people.
But I wouldn't run them down on the basis of being in the army or call them stupid, just that I'd be quite indifferent to the fact that someone is in the army and certainly wouldn't see it as something particularly worthy of praise ahead of any other job.

I'm sorry locoitis but could you please explain to me HOW us being in Iraq is keeping us safer? Because I really don't understand it.

Are you seriously saying that poverty and persecution has only existed in Iraq since the invasion?

"practising", not "practicing"...

"description", not "discription"...

"whether", not "weather"...

"their", not "there"...

Apologies for the nit-picking but it damages your credibility somewhat if you can't express yourself clearly.

Guardianreader.....I think I love you.

bit shitty GuardianReader

One recurring theme seems to be that we are more at risk because our Forces are, for want of a better phrase, occupying, another country. Are the holders of this belief really that naive to think that the Taliban, or any fundamentalist terrorist organisation for that matter, would not class Britain as a target if we weren't in Afghanistan? On the contrary, we are a target by virtue of the fact that this country does not live by their fundamentalist beliefs, as is any other democratic society with the freedom of choice.

And to the OP, should they decide to make an appearance, no, not all members of the Armed Forces are heroes, but they are far from stupid. And just because they hold certain values in higher esteem than you does not make them stupid for doing so. Rather than deeming it your place to comment on the mental capacity of your relatives I think you would be better placed supporting your sisters while their DHs are serving away from their homes and their families. I would definitely recommend keeping your ignorant, ill-thought through comments, to yourself unless you want to hurt their feelings really badly. I would bet that no-one is more proud of the job that your BILs do than your sisters and their children and, when they are living on a daily basis with the thought that this might be the day they get that knock on the door, they need to know that they have family that support them and that they can rely on.

I've veered off topic somewhat so I'll leave it there suffice to say YABU.

Guardianreader- correcting spelling and grammar would seem to imply you have run out of arguments.You remind me of english debating lessons, where the class would be engaged in a lively interesting discussion, and some thicko would put up their hand and ask to go to the toilet!

As has been discussed before, dyslexia, eyesight, keyboard skills, general rubbish spelling means many of us aren't brilliant with our spelling.

It makes you look like a prick tbh to pick on spelling over content

TheFeministParent - thank you!

theevildead2 - you may well be right. That said, I'd be more concerned with your moral relativism concerning German soldiers of WW2 than my pedantry, if I were you.

Why make an exception for the SS?

Or rather, why prevaricate with regard to the actions of regular Army personnel? The inhabitants of countless cities, towns and villages throughout Europe and North Africa have testified to many, many atrocities committed by such "non-SS" soldiers.