Come on, give me your opinion.....

[Hayleypink]

well said martin well said. i think martin should be prime minister!!!!!!!!

[LDunlop76]

There's an article in today's Guardian discussing whether there are historical parallels between the current situation vis a vis Iraq and World War 2/ Suez. It's interesting to see the perspective different historians give on how the land lies.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,360...41,00.html

[Hayleypink]

oh great link linda thanks xx

[David]

It's surprising how differently the Brits living in Britain view themselves,compared to the way the Brits living in the USA view Britain. I posed the same question on another page where Ex-patriated Brits visit here in the USA, and they, on the average, thought that both France, Germany, and Israel were viewed as the most hated countries...strong word to use, but there is a lot of hatred in this world [][]

[Caroline]

Good link, Linda . Noel, I'd've been with you on the march........containment is always better than war.

[LDunlop76]

Another Guardian link - this one's on possible anternatives to going to war:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/0,6957,178327,00.html

[noel]

quote:

---

Originally posted by rocketmanjohn
[ What Sadam does to his own people is nothing to do with us.Noel, surely by your statement you are condoning mass murder. If we know what is going on, then surely we have a responsibility to stop it. How many more Kurds will be slaughtered if we stand back and do nothing.As I said before, there are many parallels here. Millions of Jews died because too many nations said it was no business of theirs.John

---

John forgive me for dragging this up again. I felt strongly anti-war at the time, I think it's been one of the worst decisions ever made by an American President . The argument was not to prevent Kurds and Shi-ites being murdered it was to rid him of his weapons of mass destruction.Where are those weapons? And how would you feel if one of your kids, heaven forbid, was out there now being shot at by Iraqi militants.The war has not been worth losing one British life. We can't be expected to police the world.There are going to be more and more coalition lives lost each day. Not just in Iraq, around the world. We have made ourselves the British and American civilians the targets for these terrorists

[Kath smith]

What I want to know is why, yet again. two HOMISIDAL Bombers have been called SUICIDE bombers?
If they only killed themselves OK, but they killed others and injured loads of people. What on earth posesses them to go for that kind of death baffles me. As for 7 virgins etc, waiting in paradise for them, would you?
I wonder what sort of torture and drugs they are forced to take before they go along with their master's wishes and kill themselves and others.
Its a scary thought that even Big Brother had a security alert this week.
I remember the IRA threats in the 70's and early 80's. We even got evacuated from school one day because of a bomb scare. When I worked for the DHSS we were constantly being evacuated for fear of bombs in Preston.
I was in Preston when the Anthrax scare in Preston after the 9/11 events. To see all the fire and rescue men in full suits and the set up they had in Charnley street to decontaminate themselves in was a bit scary to watch. If there are any chemical weapons we will be like sitting ducks in this country, you never see a police man, (unless you are a motorist)

Customs officer's didn't even stop us coming back from France on a ferry, my daughter flew in and out of Liverpool a few weeks ago and none of her group was stopped. My parents and aunt and uncle all have names which could be suspect, something Smith! they have all been stopped and searched at Manchester.

Its looking like Iraq might turn into another Northern Ireland, with only military patrols keeping the peace, and they are not getting far this week, we can only hope that there is a peaceful solution soon.

That's why the game Chess was invented because two kings didn't have enough money to raise armies to fight, so the legend I was told goes.

I am reluctant to go into city centres and large shopping centres at the moment, though I also feel that if I let it worry me too much the bombers have won.

In any case talking has to be an option at all times. One life lost is too many and it'll be a long job, let's just hope everyone gets sorted and those soliders get out in one piece.
I am in agreement that Britain should not have to police the world, but for some reason we always seem to end up being there. The US and Britain are seen to be the main instigators of the action and we will all end up paying for this mess one way or another. Other countries who were unsure what to do just sat back and most are still sitting there waiting for us to sort it out. We should have known France wouldn't join in, but other countries have been a bit of a surprise.
I know a lot of people will say the talking is over. Well we haven't seen any fat ladies singing.....yet......!

[noel]

I just get so angry Kath when I see the bloodshed of innocent civilians, I am convinced if a democrat had been President of America,this would not have happened despite September 11th. Hadn't heard the legend of chess. A good pacifist way of settling arguments.

[LDunlop76]

You could tie your brains in knots trying to sort out the rights and wrongs of the war and the continuing peace-keeping activities. I didn't like the way things were handled and I reckon it's left us as a bigger target for terrorism, which is especially worrying now my husband's working at Heathrow. Anyone who's been following events in Iraq might be interested in this Guardian article written by an Iraqi describing the different ways the US and UK troops are handling things over there:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,360...84,00.html