Season's Greetings to...

[Stingo]

...all the amazing people of Wooton Bassett. Seldom in one's lifetime do you see whole communities offer support to those unknown to them irrespective of belief/politics/colour/creed etc etc. A shining example to any community in the UK today. If I could afford a pint a pint of the best for everyone there, I'd get the round in - but they'd probably turn it down.

*Tips hat*
*Nods*.

Don't know what your talking about but a very good friend of mine lives there. What's going on?

[Stingo]

Originally Posted by BigApe

Don't know what your talking about but a very good friend of mine lives there. What's going on?

It's the town near the airfield where all the bodies of those that die in Iraq/Afghanistan are returned. Every time the dead are brought back, the whole community line the streets as the hearses pass through...

Originally Posted by Stingo

It's the town near the airfield where all the bodies of those that die in Iraq/Afghanistan are returned. Every time the dead are brought back, the whole community line the streets as the hearses pass through...

Ah I see. And unfortunately they are quite practised at it.

Originally Posted by Stingo

It's the town near the airfield where all the bodies of those that die in Iraq/Afghanistan are returned. Every time the dead are brought back, the whole community line the streets as the hearses pass through...

Very nice to hear.....

Originally Posted by Stingo

It's the town near the airfield where all the bodies of those that die in Iraq/Afghanistan are returned. Every time the dead are brought back, the whole community line the streets as the hearses pass through...

oh man, that must be aweful. If I lived there, I'd be sure to step out of my house and pay my respects.

To all those in the forces reading this, merry christmas

Yes - they are amazing folk.

Sadly I cannot say the same of the Iraqis. It wasn't long ago that Prime Minister Maliki belittled the achievements and sacrifices of British forces, and their parliament's vote on Saturday not to extend the operational time span for British forces beyond December 31 was disgraceful. It was reversed - but nonetheless the message is clear.

These selfish people do not deserve the bravery of our forces. 178 of our finest sons and daughters did not come home alive. I don't know how many came home wounded.

I think that the people of Wootton Bassett can teach the Iraqis a thing or two about humility.

Originally Posted by Ed

I think that the people of Wootton Bassett can teach the Iraqis a thing or two about humility.

This is very much the wrong thread for this but I can't help myself, fish bite hooks

I suspect Wooten Basset's populace, like any town's populace would have a different perspective on *any* miltary force if their civilians had died in tens of thousands, if their infrastructure was bombed to smithereens, if they had limited power and clean water since a military invasion.

Now none of this is the military's fault, they have done the job asked of them admirably, but the Iraqi civilians have suffered terribly since the beginning of this war, only some of that can be attributed to military action versus that caused by instability and the power vacuum left. But it is plainly understandable for a whole chunk of the civilian populace to take the logical leap of "we weren't being slaughtered in our tens of thousands before western militaries arrived". That sure as hell ain't to say it was a picnic under Saddam Hussein. But this war was never fought on behalf of the Iraqi civilians (remember them weapons of mass destruction?), but the Iraqi civilian population has suffered massively as a result. It will take a hell of a long time for any long term benefit to outweigh the pain. One hundred and seventy eight brave servicemen and women of our nation's forces have died in Iraq since occupation. Between eighty and one hundred THOUSAND civilians have died in violence in the same period. That's more than were killed in Hiroshima. This is not to belittle in any way the work the forces are doing over there but please don't think that the civilian population aren't bearing a tremendous burden.

Telling Iraqi civilians to be more humble, from your nice warm house with running water and electricity, situated on a street which doesn't get bombed on a daily basis is perhaps a little rich?

[timwilky]

Originally Posted by Stingo

...all the amazing people of Wooton Bassett. Seldom in one's lifetime do you see whole communities offer support to those unknown to them irrespective of belief/politics/colour/creed etc etc. A shining example to any community in the UK today. If I could afford a pint a pint of the best for everyone there, I'd get the round in - but they'd probably turn it down.

*Tips hat*
*Nods*.

I saw the article on TV yesterday. Big respect to them

Originally Posted by MiniMatt

all good stuff...

Telling Iraqi civilians to be more humble, from your nice warm house with running water and electricity, situated on a street which doesn't get bombed on a daily basis is perhaps a little rich?

Matt you are eloquent as ever. And I can't and don't disagree with anything you say.

I remember when that statue of Hussein was toppled.

I acknowledge the suffering of the Iraqi people. But a great deal of that is caused by hatred and feuding between Shias and Sunnis, not by British or United States forces.

Iraq is a sovereign nation, it has a right to self-determination, so it's up to their parliament to make the rules.

The fact is that if it weren't for what our armed forces have achieved, these ungrateful people wouldn't have their self-serving and ungracious parliament in the first place. Instead they'd still have the likes of Chemical Ali gassing the hell out of the population.