in thinking Anti war protesters should not have protested outside a memorial service today?

[mamazon]

went to an Armistace service today. my brother is in the sea cadets and so was marching but we go each year to pay our respects to both family members and those who we have never met but who have given us so much.

anyway i was so proud of DS. he asked lots of questions and he seemed to really take in why were there.

when we came out of teh church there were a group of about 20 anti war protestors, with plackards and banners.
they waited until the laying of wreaths before they started shouting and hollering.

I was utterly disgusted buy them. i was so angry i had tears in my eye. there were veterens there who were clearly upset by this display of ignorance.

I do not believe we shoudl still have troops in Iraq but today is not about War it is about respect for those who have given their lives in teh name of our country and all of us who live here.

im sorry but it really did make me so angry.

yummers its not your grandfather i have issue with.

as i say, today is actually a good day to protest i am sure as war and loss of life is forefront of many peoples minds.

but a memorial service full of veterans and teh families of veterens is not a suitable venue.
what did they think they would achieve? did they feel that some elderly men and families would be able to instigate a withdrawal of troops? did they think we could all have demanded Mr Brown end a war?

what did they think they could possibly have gained from protesting at a memorial service other than upsetting those who were there to remember and respect.

no shit, senorita, but why is disrupting a cermony so wrong? really? no-one gets hurt then do they?

the people who lost their lives cannot be offended, and most war veterans and their families are now anti-war for that very reason. ok, it's not polite, and it is rude but and if it gets the point across that war is wrong, and not something to be glorified then isn't it worth the risk of offending people? surely being offended is better than yet more young women and men (very often the grandchildren of ww2 vets) dying, isn't it?

priorities, people!

but why preach to a choir?

im sorry but i do not see the piont of it other than to upset people.

they are nto trying to challenge the views of people they were there to hurt and offend.

Little bit of winding up going on here perhaps, girls? Don't rise to it....

Who gets hurt?? Are you for real?

Perhaps the relatives of the servicemen and women who lost their lives.

If they want to protest,they should go to Downing street and leave the veterans and their families to remember and mourn

Well priorities differ.

Decency, rembering, reflecting , choosing your time and place are worth something I think. A bit of reflection often can do as much as shouting and screaming I find.

why "no shit"?

you're the one who seems to think that shouting at mourners/people who think it's a good idea to remember is the same thing as simply not participating (which lots of people do).

yes, they are very different things. and anyway, as I pointed out earlier, the whole point of armistice day is to remember and not to repeat the mistakes of the past. that some politicians have repeated those mistakes anyway is entirely beside the point.

i'm not saying if people make a scene at a memorial service, the government will stop creating pointless wars. But these people clearly believe something very strongly; the same thing that many war vets now believe and i don't see that it's actually harming anyone to make a stand. i can't speak for the protesters as i have no idea what they actually believe, or what motivated them, but sometimes it's worth going against the grain if you benefit believe you have to make a stand to try and change the status quo. imo, it's not saying 'let's disrespect the people who died in ww2, and make it look like they died in vain' it's a kind of 'hang on - and here we are talking about ww1 as the war to end all wars, as it was supposed to be, and am i the only person who can't see the terrible irony here?'

'if it gets the point across that war is wrong, and not something to be glorified'

going to remember loved ones isnt glorifying anything,its remembering.

olala, 2003? says it all really.

erm Kindersurprise if you think THAT's 'hurt' you should maybe talk to some of the people recovering from their injuries in iraq right now. Then you might think war is something worth making a fuss about, and you might understand what the word 'hurt' actually means.

Yummers - you make about as much sense as these prostesters today made.

ie none.

moljam - that's precisely my point. this word 'remembering'- to what practical purpose do you remember? who does it help in practical life-or-death terms?

hmm i think my nan understands hurt quite well. she grew up not even meeting her father. he died whilst she was still in teh womb.

she is very much anti war but still she would never ever feel it necessary to intrude on someones grief.

im sorry but hard as i try i just cannot understand your viewpiont yummers

paolo's girl that ain't an argument! come up with something better then - i dare ya!

It's downright disrespectful.

Did you watch some of the stuff on BBC for Armistice Day? Just now on BB3 or 4 I think - What did you do in the Great War Daddy?

Some of the half a million British children who grew up without a Dad. I think they probably know what hurt is as well as the next and its insulting to infer just because the Iraq war was totally misguided their hurt is the greater.

Its an act of remembering, not about whats wrong and right. There is a different time for that, and they should have remembered that.

mamazon it's very simple - i'll try and use words of less than one syllable (oops) my point is sometimes it's worth risking offending people if it sends a message to the establishment which stops people from dying in the future. And try as i might i can't see how being anti war can offend the family of someone who DIED because of war!

ok, very likely the protest will in all likelihood change nothing. but at least they tried!

Don't be so patronising Yummers.

Yes, there are people recovering from their injuries in Iraq, but that has nothing to do with the protesters disrupting a memorial service.

You would not think it acceptable to go to the funeral of a serviceman or woman killed in Iraq and protest loudly that we should not be involved in that conflict. It would be disrespectful to the deceased and his or her loved ones.

The people who serve our country, past or present deserve our respect and admiration.

And did anyone really believe that WW2 was going to be the war to end all wars? Is anyone so naive? There are always going to be wars, it is a fact of life unfortunately.

It's arguement, Yummers, and no, I can't be bothered to argue with someone who's havering.

so niceglasses when we attend a memorial we should leave our sense of 'right and wrong' at the gate? and what about logic and judgement and reason? how sad we have to dehumanise ourselves to participate in something which is so deeply cared about!

It's not about being anti-war - it's about protesting at an inappropriate time.

It's the equivalent of protesting at a graveside. Do you truly think that's OK?

Havering - that's in Essex, right?

Yummers, it is far from simple.

And being rude to those who disagree with you is unlikely to dissuade them of their opinion.