Norman Kember-honourable and brave or a bit of a pompous arse??

[moondog]

I'm plumping for the latter.....

I agree. I don't think anyone should be going out there, but he went with the best of intentions. It would have been a tragedy if his rescuers were hurt or killed but they weren't thankfully so it's not an issue.

Well, the British and US forces shouldn't be there either but let's not get into that, eh?

lol

Seems like a perfectly well intentioned man to me who's just had a dreadful ordeal - was probably not in a position to think about what he SHOULD be saying until the press release; too busy being glad to be on the way home; but it seems to me that he DOES say thankyou. Find it hard to see why people are saying horrid things - would he need to have been murdered by the kidnappers then in order to gain people's sympathy????

don't see anything pompous at all in that and there are numerous 'thank yous' in there too.

There seemed to be far more sympathy for the unfortunate kidnap of Ken Bigley on these boards. His reasons for being Iraq somewhat different to Norman's though.

probably wouldn't have even got it then. Some people are very hard hearted.

I agree bijouxdeux - NK was there solely to help others. I think it's a disgrace people can be so nasty about an old man.

I agree with Bijouxdeux. There was alot more sympathy for Ken Bigley and his reasons for going were motivated by money of course he didn't deserve to be killed. Kember went with all the best intentions and as far as I know he has acknowledged the soldiers who aided in his rescue. As for blaiming him for putting the soldiers lives at risk should we not be looking at the bigger picture here and seeing who is really to blame for the soldiers being there in the first place.

Whether his best intentions were necessary or worthwhile is however debatable.

Thanks Mercy
Happymum,how exactly do you think this helped??

Ken Bigley...no that was an arse of a man.
We live near Iraq (Turkey) and my dh regularly gets offered jobs that pay a great deal of money to to go there (in fact he did go there prior to the war).

Anyone who is so swayed by greed deserves to be shot in my opinion.

agree with beansprout and happymumof2. If you want to slag someone off, whay not slag off NK's kidnappers? how some of you can possibly call this evidently humble and peacable man pompous is beyond me.

It's beyond me how you think you can tell people what to think Donnie!

Is it a humble man who believes he can visit a war-torn, poverty stricken, divided country for a few weeks and 'make a difference'.

I think pompous is quite generous to be honest.

moondog what is the matter with you?

peace and love man

I agree with the article by Bruce Kent in that:
"Some go because they think armies are the best way to keep peace - I'm not judging their motives. But why shouldn't people who have a different approach towards justice and peace also take risks? "

I think some of you are really horrible. He is a shy man - you can see that. Okay, he didn't thank his resucers straight away - big bloody deal. He probably was dis orienated and didn't have a clue what was going on.

moondog - how you can call KB an arse of a man is beyond me. That is disgraceful. You should be ashamed.

' an arse of a man' - very nice moondog. You say Ken Bigley deserved to be shot?

the way KB was treated was appalling. I wouldn't treat a dog like that

Ledodgy, my take on that is that it has cost money to rescue those individuals who take it upon themselves to show their solidarity. Maybe the Christian Peace Movement should pay for the costs involved

I'm not ashamed at all.
Bigley was greedy.
Kember was/is pompous.

Lets hope none of our army guys get killed rescuing the next "peace activist" that goes out there eh!!

Could not believe a woman on the TV yesterday saying she was goingout to Iraq against government advice and if she was kidnapped and anyone was hurt in her rescue it would not be her fault - no it wouldn;t be her fault because no one would get hurt I would wait for the video and send a message from all the squaddies wives and familes saying do what you bloody well like with her because none of our soldiers should have to be put in a position of danger by these publicity seeking idiots!!

And I had no sympathy for Ken Bigley either!! No amount of money would put me over there.

Sorry for all you guys who don't know me but I was here long long ago and am used to be shouted down for my less than liberal views - I just think that there are a few better ways of getting your fellings across than going toa war zone and then having to be rescued by soldiers who have shit loads on their plate as it is.

O

has this kicked off yet?

the soldiers don't have to be (and shouldn't be) out there either

And I hate all this ghastly sentimentalism...tracking his progress like he's fecking Father Christmas,candlelit vigils,cheering neighbours.

Shocking waste of time,energy and resources.