Surfing in the Army
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I certainly dont judge the merit of joining the forces by whats going on in Iraq, no more than East Timor. Governments change as do policies, in the end up to Aussies to decide if they accept the govt policy. Anyway thats how I look at in when considering the army as a career (or navy), I dont think this is some dumb ass approach.
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bonusbeats
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the war in iraq is about securing oil reserves.
i've been in a terrorist attack and lost two friends. i was attacked by, and they were killed by, a bunch of saudi's who had been living and training in afghanistan.
but whatever, violence begets violence. nobody did me or my friends a favour by invading iraq. it's clearly just made things even worse.
argue all the fuck you want about it from the sidelines.
i've been in a terrorist attack and lost two friends. i was attacked by, and they were killed by, a bunch of saudi's who had been living and training in afghanistan.
but whatever, violence begets violence. nobody did me or my friends a favour by invading iraq. it's clearly just made things even worse.
argue all the fuck you want about it from the sidelines.
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The Oracle
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DAC2000 - just wanted to chuck in my 2 cents and say goodonya and good luck. I'm full of respect for those that sign up to risk their own lives defending the rest of us.
And to all those knocking our armed forces - why? These are normal blokes like the rest of us who have decided to do something meaningful and somewhat selfless with their lives. When you say "we shouldn't be in Iraq, Afghanistan etc" just remember that the decision to go there was made by a select few, not the thousands that are actually under attack over there. And what makes you an expert anyway?
I'd wager that many here wish they had the balls to sign up but are held back by more than just the trivial excuses and barbs being thrown around in this forum.
And to all those knocking our armed forces - why? These are normal blokes like the rest of us who have decided to do something meaningful and somewhat selfless with their lives. When you say "we shouldn't be in Iraq, Afghanistan etc" just remember that the decision to go there was made by a select few, not the thousands that are actually under attack over there. And what makes you an expert anyway?
I'd wager that many here wish they had the balls to sign up but are held back by more than just the trivial excuses and barbs being thrown around in this forum.
In the past, WW1, WW2 it was an honourable thing to do.The Oracle wrote: I'd wager that many here wish they had the balls to sign up but are held back by more than just the trivial excuses and barbs being thrown around in this forum.
Vietnam was not our fight and neither was Iraq (ever) or Afghanistan.
Soldiers are no more than politicians puppets now, pandering to the interests of right-wing voters blinded by fear of terrorists and other idiotic notions.
I respect anyones commitment to defend the country but you will not defend what is morally right but what is right for financial and political security. In this current climate that is energy.
And yes that even includes East Timor, they had some very good natural gas reserves I heard.
No worries mate.DAC2000 - just wanted to chuck in my 2 cents and say good on ya and good luck. I'm full of respect for those that sign up to risk their own lives defending the rest of us.
And to all those knocking our armed forces - why? These are normal blokes like the rest of us who have decided to do something meaningful and somewhat selfless with their lives. When you say "we shouldn't be in Iraq, Afghanistan etc" just remember that the decision to go there was made by a select few, not the thousands that are actually under attack over there. And what makes you an expert anyway?
I'd wager that many here wish they had the balls to sign up but are held back by more than just the trivial excuses and barbs being thrown around in this forum.
this is truly the most infuriating thread i have ever read on this forum. some people have put forward some extermely small minded opinions with out really explaining or coroborating what they are saying. nothing is ever as it seems, especially in international relations.
do not some of the posts made in ignorance here some how belittle the sacrifices made by servicemen and thier families?
if someone flew 3 planes into sydney killing 3000 of YOUR countrymen what would you feel or do? would it be different? if your feeling of safety and assuredness in the sanctity of your home country was taken away, would you think differently.if you could stop 95% of the drugs coming into your country at the source, would you think different?
do some research into what is occurring in these countries before you go ahead and slag it all off.
and as i said earlier in this thread, regardless of whether the war is just or what it is for, look at why and what australian service men and women are doing and there. these wars are not all about killing.
do not some of the posts made in ignorance here some how belittle the sacrifices made by servicemen and thier families?
if someone flew 3 planes into sydney killing 3000 of YOUR countrymen what would you feel or do? would it be different? if your feeling of safety and assuredness in the sanctity of your home country was taken away, would you think differently.if you could stop 95% of the drugs coming into your country at the source, would you think different?
do some research into what is occurring in these countries before you go ahead and slag it all off.
and as i said earlier in this thread, regardless of whether the war is just or what it is for, look at why and what australian service men and women are doing and there. these wars are not all about killing.
http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/terrorists/terbinladen.htm where does it mention flying planes into anything?
You guys have let this thread go to the shit. A guy asks for some advice on a genuine topic, and people just come and criticise anything constructive that is said, i have found myself in the same position and wouldnt mind hearing more, so if you tossers wouldnt mind keeping your political opinions to yourselves, can anyone in the 'know' please get back to the topic!
Of course this topic turns to politics. We are dealing with a young bloke considering joining a military force on behalf of, and paid for, by us.
My 2 cents is that the young bloke should get to go surfing, and pursue other employment options that will let him stick to his surfing more so than the army will.
BTW:
Democracy is kept alive through dissent, says Associate Professor Lynch, and people who refuse to buy into the official line are dissenters who highlight the "disconnect" between government policy and public opinion.
Professor Lynch, a former journalist and war correspondent, is the director of the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies (CPACS) at the University of Sydney, and last night he gave a lecture to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Sydney Peace Foundation.
"In a few weeks you will see news pictures of activists being carted off by robocops guarding delegates to the APEC summit," said Professor Lynch. "But remember they are the guardians of democracy and the hope of a safer world that we could now create".
Professor Lynch examined the claim that the war in Iraq is keeping the West safe from terrorism and that terrorist plots have "nothing to do with the mess we are making in the Middle East". But time and again, public opinion surveys showed that people believe the war in Iraq is making the countries of the Coalition of the Willing less safe and more of a terrorist target.
In fact, said Professor Lynch, most people in most countries would prefer a non-violent solution to conflict, but the majority acquiesce to the military/industrial response.
"We need to stop acquiescing. We need to wake up. Sometime, somewhere, the fighting and the destruction has to stop," he said.
The "dissenting voices" at the APEC summit will be protesting against the world's biggest military machine and its commander-in-chief President Bush, he said.
He said these same activists recently protested "valiantly" against the "idiocy" of Operation Talisman Sabre, the biggest military exercise on Australian soil, which has just taken place in Queensland and the Northern Territory.
Professor Lynch said: "Australia's interests are better served by playing to our traditional strengths of UN peacekeeping and diplomacy."
Keeping an open mind and a healthy cynicism for the official line is crucial, he said. A real war on terror would address the root causes: hopelessness, injustice and oppression.
"CPACS's part in this is to insist that social conflict and even violence are intelligible phenomena. They can be understood and explained, without excusing or justifying them.
"The proposition that we can make any useful observations about them without context is absurd. With context - an understanding of how conflicts arise out of injustice and unmet human needs - we can begin to divert them along non-violent paths."
from: http://www.usyd.edu.au/news/84.html?newsstoryid=1832
My 2 cents is that the young bloke should get to go surfing, and pursue other employment options that will let him stick to his surfing more so than the army will.
BTW:
Democracy is kept alive through dissent, says Associate Professor Lynch, and people who refuse to buy into the official line are dissenters who highlight the "disconnect" between government policy and public opinion.
Professor Lynch, a former journalist and war correspondent, is the director of the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies (CPACS) at the University of Sydney, and last night he gave a lecture to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Sydney Peace Foundation.
"In a few weeks you will see news pictures of activists being carted off by robocops guarding delegates to the APEC summit," said Professor Lynch. "But remember they are the guardians of democracy and the hope of a safer world that we could now create".
Professor Lynch examined the claim that the war in Iraq is keeping the West safe from terrorism and that terrorist plots have "nothing to do with the mess we are making in the Middle East". But time and again, public opinion surveys showed that people believe the war in Iraq is making the countries of the Coalition of the Willing less safe and more of a terrorist target.
In fact, said Professor Lynch, most people in most countries would prefer a non-violent solution to conflict, but the majority acquiesce to the military/industrial response.
"We need to stop acquiescing. We need to wake up. Sometime, somewhere, the fighting and the destruction has to stop," he said.
The "dissenting voices" at the APEC summit will be protesting against the world's biggest military machine and its commander-in-chief President Bush, he said.
He said these same activists recently protested "valiantly" against the "idiocy" of Operation Talisman Sabre, the biggest military exercise on Australian soil, which has just taken place in Queensland and the Northern Territory.
Professor Lynch said: "Australia's interests are better served by playing to our traditional strengths of UN peacekeeping and diplomacy."
Keeping an open mind and a healthy cynicism for the official line is crucial, he said. A real war on terror would address the root causes: hopelessness, injustice and oppression.
"CPACS's part in this is to insist that social conflict and even violence are intelligible phenomena. They can be understood and explained, without excusing or justifying them.
"The proposition that we can make any useful observations about them without context is absurd. With context - an understanding of how conflicts arise out of injustice and unmet human needs - we can begin to divert them along non-violent paths."
from: http://www.usyd.edu.au/news/84.html?newsstoryid=1832
ok, on topic. my experiences are that if you choose your postings wisely in the army you can be near the beach. you may be away from home a bit, but when you are home you will get heaps of time for surf during the week, you get more, and its easier to take, holidays than in a civvy job, and its great life experience and a leg up into the world. as a young fella it rocks, so go for it!! but you will ou grow it, reference my 1st post in this threadTombo wrote:You guys have let this thread go to the shit. A guy asks for some advice on a genuine topic, and people just come and criticise anything constructive that is said, i have found myself in the same position and wouldnt mind hearing more, so if you tossers wouldnt mind keeping your political opinions to yourselves, can anyone in the 'know' please get back to the topic!
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bonusbeats
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mudguts, i guess you didn't bother reading my previous post. i was in the 9/11 terrorist attack, and two mates died in it. i didn't have the luxury of just watching it on tv like you. it completely turned my life upside down, so much so that i moved half way around the world and lost my home, career and friends.mudguts wrote:...
if someone flew 3 planes into sydney killing 3000 of YOUR countrymen what would you feel or do? would it be different? if your feeling of safety and assuredness in the sanctity of your home country was taken away, would you think differently.
....
so according to you, i'm best suited to talk about what should happen - and here's what i've got to say. STOP KILLING PEOPLE. it was saudi's who were trained and/or lived in afghanistan that kiiled my friend's and screwed my life up. not anyone in iraq.
my girlfriend was also in the attacks, and she feels the same way.
so don't presume to talk for me or anyone else that has been attacked by terrorists.
i was in the 9/11 terrorist attack, and two mates died in it.
mate, seriously. Hope you and your girl are coping.
Loss and trauma like that, and you turn around and call for compassion and understanding.
I tip my hat to you sir.
[sorry, bad turn of phrase, but didn't know how to express my admiration without gettin' all soppy hehe]
Mudgut: do you reckon your experience is the norm or the exception? Glad you got out OK too
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Mrs Kreepy
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bonusbeats
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i was on the pointy end of the pineapple. couldn't really see what technique they were using to hold it.Mrs Kreepy wrote:The sun arose and appeared to many.i was in the 9/11 terrorist attack, and two mates died in it.
you say you were "in" the terrorist attack, should i be calling you for any information on jihad techniques??????????
on the upisde, my girlfriend became an australian citizen today. we're sharing an anzac biscuit at the moment. thanks for taking her.
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Mrs Kreepy
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