Remembrance Poppy

exactly what i was going to write, but couldnt be arsed....
well said....!

Rob - the voice of reason and free-thinking

I haven't bought a poppy and won't be, same as last year

but they don't, so get over yourself an buy a poppy!

also jus because some1 is in the army an is willing to fight for what we have now, but there are no attackers to the country, does that make them less of a 'good soldier' than those who happened to be in the army when our country was at risk?


also my grandad sells them so every1 has to buy them

an he fought in the polish army but was relocated here after the war, so who should pay for him rob?

jus like to point out that i agreed wi what yo said but was saying that we don't live in a perfect world...

i think was the best statment made in this thread.

so who decides what is and isn't a moral war

good stuff...

but its not jus our country that its about (in terms of where the money an help goes) a lot of people from eastern europe who fought for their our countries moved here after the war, as either thats where they ended up, or they didn't want to go home in fear of what was there waiting for them (ie most of there friends and family murdered by the germans)

they did the same as those in our country, but did not have the home to come back to...

oil isnt a great cause???

are you saying the same should be said for firemens trusts etc?

but these people were still fighting for their country.

and for that they should be respected and praised.

they didn't make the decision to go in there and fight, they were asked to fight for their country and they did.

the british legion is about much more than the second world war though...

it was set up twenty years before the end of ww2...

i was jus giving the reasons why i give to them...

may be selfish but i like to think that is where my money is going, as appose to the gulf veterans, cos i think they deserve it more...

not saying those who fought in the gulf don't, but they are finding ways to make the government pay them.

I'm not diagreeing im merely pointing out that the focus of this thread seems to be around ww2 and the gulf wars and their 'morality'...

yet the british legion's views are not bordered by wether a war is moral or not, it was formed as a voice for ex-armed forces personnel to oversee their welfare and interests...


however, on the case of soldiers fighting in morally deficient wars-

if you apply the thinking that money from the poppy appeal today shouldn't be given to Gulf War veterans...

is it the opinion that ex-non-allied soldiers should not recive funds (from similar projects) in the same way our ex-servicemen do, because they fought in a war for a 'side' that was not considered morally or ethically sound?

I'm still not sure exactly where the money goes though. In principle I'm not against supporting widows of servicemen who have died in combat (I was gonna say died defending our country there but of course that doesn't apply in the gulf wars) but maybe we should ask the US company Halliburton (who have just picked up a very nice no-bid multi-billion dollar contract in Iraq) for acontribution. I'm sure they could afford more than a quid.

In the case of the world wars it's clearer, but to be blunt I don't see why I should be asked to support widows from a war that was nothing to do with defending our way of life and liberties. In practise though it's impossible, and unfair, to make the distinction.

It's typical of government's hypocrisy that they lament the death of servicemen then largely turn their backs on their widows and dependants.

same here, and isn't it good to have an adult debate/disagreement without being called a plank or a clown