tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4203110337754630589.post5066361438999103143..comments2024-03-23T06:43:45.246+10:00Comments on 1735099: A Poor FitUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4203110337754630589.post-5518158392549966092018-04-27T17:31:30.519+10:002018-04-27T17:31:30.519+10:00Your position is clear Robert.
I truly hope your A...Your position is clear Robert.<br />I truly hope your ANZAC day was notable and that you enjoyed catching up with some of our mates who served in 7.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4203110337754630589.post-3593548408854593032018-04-27T10:10:15.533+10:002018-04-27T10:10:15.533+10:00Continual references to "I was conscripted&qu...<i>Continual references to "I was conscripted" indicate that you have a belief that you were compelled without any real choice</i><br />"Continual references" as you call them are necessary. The memory of the history is already fading. If we don't learn from our history, we are compelled to repeat it.<br />And you're right, I did not have any "real" choice.<br /><i>We have a military force of 45 to 50 thousand and rely on the US for military equipment weaponry and munitions</i> which is, when you consider the implications of an isolationist USA, untenable. Talking history again, the USA came to our aid in WW2 only after they were attacked, and they saw Australia as an unsinkable aircraft carrier. Care to predict how they might react if we were under existential threat and they weren't - with Trump as POTUS?<br /><i>Get used to it, it isn't going to change in our life time</i><br />I can assure you, I won't "get used" to strategic stupidity whilst I'm still around. I've lived the consequences. 1735099https://www.blogger.com/profile/17945140949290600423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4203110337754630589.post-77694775726315863902018-04-26T19:09:22.365+10:002018-04-26T19:09:22.365+10:00"As for I was forced, show me where I have wr..."As for I was forced, show me where I have written that"<br />Continual references to "I was conscripted" indicate that you have a belief that you were compelled without any real choice and you constantly reiterate that your overseas trip could not be avoided due to coercion by people who had overall control of your travel arrangements. You constantly allude to your inability to get an audience with the leader of your tour group to cancel your booking. Although this may not have been force as in the physical sense, applying todays understanding of coercion you perceived that you were "bullied" into making the trip with your fellow travellers.<br /><br />We are an important listening post for US intel. We are strategically placed for a staging platform for the US in the event of a major conflict in the Pacific region. We have a military force of 45 to 50 thousand and rely on the US for military equipment weaponry and munitions. If the proverbial dirty stuff were to hit the fan we would need fuel in amount the yanks would find difficult to supply. We do not have the necessary military or border force ability to defend this island in the event of a much larger force moving in against our collective will. The US is happy to be our protector but it comes at a price.<br />Of course we will cosy up to the yanks and do their bidding in wars not of our choice, to give the appearance of assisting in a global decision to take action against "bad guys".<br />Labor and the Coalition both kiss the cheeks of whatever US president is in power at the time. We are "forced" to do so by necessity. Get used to it, it isn't going to change in our life time. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4203110337754630589.post-78178463893143846392018-04-24T15:33:16.605+10:002018-04-24T15:33:16.605+10:00You are a bitter old man, who repeats his tale mor...<i>You are a bitter old man, who repeats his tale more often than necessary to impress others with your "I did it, but I was forced to" narrative.</i><br />In the first place, I have written consistently on this topic over the years not to impress, but to urge the necessity for reconciliation - https://independentaustralia.net/australia/australia-display/reflections-on-the-fall,4404<br />The first step towards healing and reconciliation is always an apology, something that the Kiwis have done as a bipartisan exercise, but apparently beyond the capacity of those currently occupying the cabinet benches in this country - http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10513012<br />As for <i>I was forced</i>, show me where I have written that. My motives (self-preservation and a future teaching career) were always clear and honestly expressed. What is completely dishonest is to claim that "every Nasho who went to Vietnam was a volunteer," a claim still made by some (who <b>are</b> your actual bitter old men). There's a vast gulf between making the best of conscription and volunteering to serve. Anyone unable to appreciate that distinction is, to put it politely, as thick as two short planks.<br /><i>You speak of conscription often so you should be speaking out about how we get roped into these conflicts with little or no choice as a nation rather than complaining about your singular experience.</i><br />We got roped into Iraq and Afghanistan because for years our foreign policy has been determined more by events in Washington than Canberra. We need to observe the behaviour of the Kiwis who have always displayed a pragmatic approach to alliances, whilst at the same time building a self-reliant component into our defence policy, rather than embedding it into US strategy. With the current psychopath in the White House, no US alliance is worth the paper it's printed on. <br />1735099https://www.blogger.com/profile/17945140949290600423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4203110337754630589.post-32181306607280183642018-04-24T11:22:58.934+10:002018-04-24T11:22:58.934+10:00Old school teaching Bobby. Teaching by rote. Say...Old school teaching Bobby. Teaching by rote. Say it often enough and it becomes the truth.<br />You are a bitter old man, who repeats his tale more often than necessary to impress others with your "I did it, but I was forced to" narrative. People are beginning to care Bob, about the role the military plays in their lives, in a way that is more positive today than the old days as you and I remember them. Let them feel good about their parents' and grandparents' service for their country.<br />You and I know our blokes are serving more as a mercenary group, back by governments, and in areas we could well avoid. We seem to have become part of the UN global "force for good" rather than protectors of our own borders. You speak of conscription often so you should be speaking out about how we get roped into these conflicts with little or no choice as a nation rather than complaining about your singular experience.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com