In a way I wish I was in your position, Iv’e got to get through my A Levels and 5-7 years in university before I can even begin in the Army so I envy the opportunity but I understand how your wife would feel. Main thing is come back in one piece and enjoy it 🙂

OP.. Good call chum, stay safe, keep your head down and don’t do any more volunteering out there.

Life is full of irony and contradictions

Undoubtedly. It seems unfair that people starve to death, are denied basic sanitation and watch a select few get richer as a result of them.

Still it’s over there not over here.

OP – keep safe. Thanks.
yossarian – good to chat. Lets’s do it again.

*wonders off to prep bike for epic session at GT*

redfordrider (and yossarian) please post more like this…I really enjoyed reading your posts and it makes a refreshing change from the normal stw tit for tat rant. Its clear that you were both actually listening to each other.

Redfordrider – likewise fella

I’ve enjoyed reading this post as well.

Redfordrider: I’d very much like to read your lecture after you’ve given it, if that’s possible. My emails in my profile.

Being from that part of the world (well my parents) I’m very interested in all points of view on the future of south Asia.

As CHB said above, it’s actually nice to see some educated discussion on here instead of resulting to insults and ranting. Nice one. More please!

Despite all the gobshites opinions above I wish you all the luck you need and God speed you back to those who love you.

Stay safe.

It’s difficult to see how Muslim beliefs can be reconciled with a multitheistic culture which has produced the karma sutra.

Says who? The Ottoman Empire, for example, had a multitheistic culture (if by that you mean a culture in which many faiths existed) and Moorish occupation of Spain was not terrible for the Jews and Christians there too.

1)Extremist mass murderers already do possess Nuclear Weapons,ie Israel and the USA.
2)Sure ly Renton and the invader/occupiers are the “terrorists”.Our soon to be new best mates, the Taliban,are the resistance.
3)Britain divided all its former colonies on leaving.With the terrible consequences we see today.

Britain divided all its former colonies on leaving.

Rubbish. Go away and have a think about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Former_British_colonies

My spidery sensors are picking up Elfin in this thread. I’m sure of it.

*fires up the STW plugin*

Good morning all.

Konabunny – You make a good point. There are indeed many historical examples where Muslims have coexisted peacefully with Jews and Christians. This is not surprising. Jews and Christians are accorded special status in the Holy Koran as ‘People of the Book’. All three religions are monotheistic and recognise the Old Testament prophets. According to the Holy Koran, the Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) met to pray with Jesus, Abraham and Moses on his Night Journey via Jerusalem. Indeed, the Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) personally made an alliance with the Jews in Arabia…unfortunately, things did not work out in the end. During the time of the Caliphs and the Ottoman Empire, Jews and Christians were allowed to live in Muslim lands, but were subject to a special punitive tax. However, we must not take this too far and forget that the Ottomans were responsible for the genocide of the Armenians – a very sensitive subject for Turks today. Also, Jews and Christians living in the Ottoman Empire were subject to Sharia law. Officially, Jews and Christians were required to convert to Islam which is why most hid their faith in public – as many Jews and Christians living in Muslim states today still do. This is hardly the sort of tolerance that we should all hope for. Christians are often tolerated in Muslim societies until they begin to proselytise – seek converts to their faith. Preaching the Gospel and converting non-believers to Christianity is a requirement of the religion. Unfortunately, the punishment for Muslims who convert are very severe – sometimes, death. This also falls short of the tolerance required for a true multicultural society.

And now the Hindus… Islam and polytheism are not easy bed fellows. Although the Rig Veda introduces 33 principles deities , some Hindus believe that over 300 million gods and goddesses exist. Furthermore, Hindu culture is much more permissive and in many ways less restrictive than Islam. One only has to go to the British Museum to compare the beautiful geometric patterns of Islamic art with the full size sculptures of nude women in provocative poses to appreciate how different these societies are from each other. This of course does not stop millions of Muslims world-wide watching Bollywood films via their satellite dishes.

There is another thing which many Muslims find even harder to tolerate… atheism. But that’s a story for another time.

monkeycmoneydo –

1. The AK47 is the true weapon of mass destruction.
2. One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. It’s complex.
3. Actually, the US, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the Rep of Ireland, Hong Kong, are doing OK. Many problems in the former colonies preceded the arrival of the British and are still there 60 years after they left.

One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. It’s complex.

There’s nothing worse than a cliche that isn’t even true.

Probably didn’t come out in my earlier post, but come back safe and sound, keep your head down fellah. Politics is bollox, but someone has to clean up the mess….

Konabuddy – Nelson Mandela: Terrorist or Freedom Fighter?

Some cliches are axiomatic.

The AK47 is the true weapon of mass destruction.

No it isn’t. A WMD is a like a card trick, a feint. It doesn’t need to exist in 3 dimensions to be effective. You can achieve great and terrible things if your enemy thinks you have one and you can do great and terrible things if you can make people believe your enemy has one. Club WMD is exclusive and you need an invite (like google +), and tacit approval. Otherwise you can expect your country’s scientists to have ALL KINDS OF ACCIDENTS.

A machine gun is specific. If I shoot your children with it, it’s because I mean to. There is no mass destruction involved. It’s precise, deliberate and intentional.

A cluster bomb however….or an airstrike….or perhaps trade sanctions….

About 250,000 civilians died in Hiroshima and Nagaski. Between 300,000 – 500,000 people are killed every year by small arms. http://www.globalissues.org/article/78/small-arms-they-cause-90-of-civilian-casualties

We would save more lives by un-inventing the AK 47 than nuclear weapons.

But we would do more to unseat the inappropriate balance of power and the few who wield it by uninventing nuclear weapons.

Those stats are meaningless. One is a street level solution, the other requires state level intervention….or a good lobbyist.

Nearly 40 million people have died in conventional conflicts since WWII. Not one was killed by a nuclear weapon. Millions live under the rule of tyrants as Mao said, “Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.” Small arms allow illegitimate governments to remain in power. They empower terrorists, criminals and gangsters.

All the major political parties in the uk are the same when it comes to licking america’s arse. We do everything they want. America and the CIA are the biggest terrorists the world has ever known. 1 million people marched against the war in Iraq. What did it change? So there is no point in voting for change. We will change nothing in Afganistan but as long as america gets the oil that’s all that counts. Bombing villages from B52’s is not the way to “win hearts and minds”

Small arms allow illegitimate governments to remain in power. They empower terrorists, criminals and gangsters.

No! Tacit western support, or indifference allow illegitimate governments to remain. Our interference isn’t based on some moral code, merely on what’s good for the goose.

I’m unsure as to the point you are making about guns. What is it’s purpose in the context of the thread?

(it’s very early in the morning and I’m extremely tired, so forgive me if it’s obvious 🙂 )

Konabuddy – Nelson Mandela: Terrorist or Freedom Fighter?

Both. Read his autobiography and in particular the section where he talks about why he was in favour of the MK adopting terrorist strategy.

It’s a false dichotomy trotted out by morons.

Mudmonster – Let’s not forget that only a tiny minority of UK citizens publicly protested against the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. About 57,000,000 gave their tacit support by doing nothing to oppose the legitimately elected Government of the day. Liberal Democracies should not be allowed to be unduly influenced by small, but vocal minorities. After all, it’s still about majority rule. If you and others don’t like it then vote! It’s your right to change the system. Voter apathy is eroding the accountability of our state. We must hold the Government accountable at every election.

When someone starts complaining to me about Schooling, Tuition Fees, the NHS, RBS Bonuses, Pot Holes, Energy Bills, Transport etc I always ask if they voted in the most recent elections. If they have not, I simply tell them that that they have no right to complain – they should blame themselves for not participating in our democracy. Every night the TV news is full of images of people dying for the right to vote. Why does it mean so little to us?

yossarian – monkeycmonkeydo appears to have argued that mass murders already have weapons of WMD. I’ve argued that in fact small arms are much more lethal. This allows us to put the danger of WMD into a rational and quantifiably perspective. Even if Saddam Hussein had WMD was he a greater threat to humanity than small arms? No. Is North Korea’s AK47 factories more dangerous than their alleged (they could be bluffing) nuclear weapon? Yes. Will Iran’s internal security apparatus continue to kill more of its own people than US and Israeli WMD every will? Yes. Will Israeli small arms kill more Palestinians than their entire undeclared arsenal of Jericho II warheads? Yes.

The mere mention of WMD makes us lose our rational perspective. As you rightly described above, WMD are an illusion and a smoke screen. Let’s remember this and keep our eye on the goals: ending conflict, alleviating poverty, avoiding famine, eradicating disease and saving lives. This can only be done by putting our common humanity above our national self-interests. WMD is the least of our concerns.

konnabunny – It’s all about perception. Madiba to some was a terrorist; to others he was a freedom fighter.

For the cliche to be untrue and there to be a false dichotomy both ‘men’ would need use the term ‘Terrorist’ and ‘Freedom Fighter’ as synonyms – which they don’t.