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Fearless Fijians Fighting In Afghanistan And Iraq Alongside Brits ...
Fijians?From Fiji?
From Fiji in the South Pacific?
Those teeny-tiny, flippin' little Fijian Islands?
Fijians fighting in flaming Afghanistan? And Fijians fighting in flaming Iraq?
Fighting for we Brits' lying effing leader Tony Blair?
And his lousy, lying, layabout, leader mate, George W. Bush?
Officially fighting (and killing and dying) for (and in) the British Army?
Over 2,000 of them?
As well as all 'our own'?
And still we can't sodding sort anything out?
Yep. 'Fraid so, friends. You'd better believe it.
No wonder we hear the term 'clusterfuck' hurled around so often, eh?
We've known full well, ever since G.W.B. bragged about 'mission accomplished' -- then, Elvis-like, left the carrier -- that he'd lied through his teeth and that things weren't anything like he said they were. But the more we find out the more we realise exactly how bad a hell-hole it is that our boys in uniform are stuck in.
It's become increasingly obvious of late to even the most casual of observers, that there simply aren't enough British soldiers available to do the job they're being asked to do. So, surely this latest realisation should set some serious alarm bells ringing -- somewhere.
But will it?
We doubt it.
It absolutely boggles our bloody minds when we wonder just exactly how horrendous a state the British Army actually would be in, without fellows like these -- and various other foreign, fighting friends.
Get yourself a good gander at this.
Wages and pride draw Fijians to UK army
Two Fijian soldiers serving with the British army have been killed in the last week. But their deaths show no sign of deterring the large number of fellow countrymen prepared to enlist.
Then, think on this.
Faced with high unemployment at home, the British army is an obvious draw.
Almost half of Fijians are reported to live below the poverty line, earning an average of about £2,500 a year.
As Commonwealth citizens, Fijians are entitled to pay and conditions similar to those of British soldiers.
And before anyone tells us that this kind of thing is not really anything new -- there's no need to bother -- we know.
The point is that even with this sort of assistance we are now so obviously overstretched (with a capital "O"), that surely something's got to 'give' -- 'give' somewhere or other -- and 'give' soon.
Here's a last little clip & paste on which to ponder.
The risk of death appears to be less of a discouragement to would-be soldiers than other factors.
Scraping together the money for flights to enable completion of the army selection process in the UK can be difficult for many.
Sad isn't it? That 'the system' stinks so strongly.
Read the rest of this report right here.
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posted by Richard at Friday, September 08, 2006
18 Comments:
Our back-door draft here in America is getting so bad that hotlines are cropping up to help GI's avoid endless tours of duty. Here is one example.
I fear we are a breath away from a national draft, especially if Bu$hCo gets their way with Iran. I'm sad to hear things aren't much better in the UK.
That's why you have empires, mate...... and poverty
When one thinks about it, things have changed a lot since the 'press-gang' times, have they?
Pam, isn't a full frontal, front door draft looking like it's getting closer over there?
Btw, I've also been reading that both the US and UK desertion rates are pretty alarming these days.
Ooops! I meant "Things have NOT changed a lot"
It's a modern day, extremely sophisticated and subtle form of slavery. And that's what I really believe. And I'm not exagerating when I say that's what I sincerely believe. I chose the word slavery - very carefully.
Admittedly, we are better housed and fed than the slaves of old. We're even allowed 'entertainement' nowadays - in the old 'bread and circuses' way. Nevertheless, we are still 'owned'. Whether we want to admit it or not.
I couldn't agree with you more, Rex. You forfeit your civil rights and liberties when you join any military force (i.e. you become a slave). I could never understand why anyone would want to do that.
The slavery in civil life is much more subtle but there, never the less. If you 're not free to decide what you will do today when you wake up, you're not free.
Here's an excellent article that manages to say a lot in a short space:-
Free in our Time…
By Bill Noxid
I couldn't agree with you more, Rex. You forfeit your civil rights and liberties when you join any military force (i.e. you become a slave). I could never understand why anyone would want to do that.
Not in fact true Griffon. Don't let the fact that your experience of life has been purely civilian blind you to the realities of modern soldiering. To be effective the modern soldier needs to be capable and willing to engage in independent thought and action.
In a liberal democracy (and I use that expression in its technical sense) they subsume their private political beliefs to the government. Those countries where they do not do so are called military dictatorships.
PS: Absolute personal freedom is called "the state of nature" by Hobbes who called it "Bellum omnium contra omnes" - "the war of all against all"
"To this warre of every man against every man, this also is consequent; that nothing can be Unjust. The notions of Right and Wrong, Justice and Injustice have there no place. Where there is no common Power, there is no Law: where no Law, no Injustice. Force, and Fraud, are in warre, the two Cardinall vertues. Justice, and Injustice are none of the Faculties neither of the Body, nor Mind. If they were, they might be in a man that were alone in the world, as well as his Senses, and Passions. They are Qualities, that relate to men in Society, not in Solitude. It is consequent also to the same condition, that there be no Propriety, no Dominion, no Mine and Thine distinct; but onely that to be every mans, that he can get; and for so long, as he can keep it. … …"
No thankyou.
Sorry, but Hobbes doesn't know his arse from his elbow!
Little children know what's fair and what's just. You need only listen to them. It is inborn, as is our conscience. As a christian, Mark, you should know that. Read Romans ch 2, if in doubt. It is what we will be judged by.
Hobbes presents the only choices as being imposed order from without i.e. by authority backed by violence (courts and prisons) or chaos. This is dishonest of Hobbes.
I have no doubt you have seen chaos in the sudden absence of imposed order. But one is the cause of the other. Neither are natural states. A minor example of this is kids let out of school, particularly if the school is an oppressive one (i.e. religious. Ironic, isn't it?)
Most of human existence (100,000s of years) has been in societies that have had no police, no courts and no prisons and no slavery. Our so called civilised societies (last 5 or 6000 years) require them to function. This should tell us all something.
And another thing!!! (little joke)
For further reading on this (and much more), I can thoroughly recommend Thom Hartmann's "Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight".
I have just finished Michael Parenti's, "The Assassination of Julius Caesar" and can thoroughly recommend that too.
The parallels with the world today are uncanny. But then again, human nature has not changed one bit in the meantime so one shouldn't be surprised, I suppose.
Griffon, I have to disagree that fairness and justice is inborn. Do you have kids? I don't actually, but I have many nieces and nephews, and watching them develop intellectually is fascinating to me. One thing that I have observed to be true is that children must be taught the concepts of fairness and justice (and they don't take to it very quickly, either).
Mark and Hobbes ;-} make an interesting point. However, there are some things I would like to say in response. First, to fully accept Hobbes' notion that the natural state of humanity is the war of all against all is, in some respects, to deny the nature of humanity. Because it is also in our nature to change nature (including our own--though we may be failing on that front). Also, "common power" and the rule of law is really just a modification on the war of all against all. They are merely rules of engagement.
When Hobbes says: "To this warre of every man against every man, this also is consequent; that nothing can be Unjust. The notions of Right and Wrong, Justice and Injustice have there no place" he is semantically correct, but conceptually wrong. Even is the absence of human civilization and its rule of law, there is still the instinct for survival, which manifests itself in specific behavior patterns which can be interpreted as a sort of de facto morality. The concepts of right and wrong become painless and painful, while justice and injustice have analogs in beneficial actions and detrimental actions. For instance, a human in it's "natural state" would probably feel it was wrong to put his foot in the fire, and that it staking a territorial claim near food and water is just.
But all of this is really just sophistry and not what I wanted to say. Because I think Rex is right. And not just about the way the Fijians are getting sucked into the UK military. This sort of mechanism exists in virtually all facets of society. Those that hold power rig things so that those who have little or no power have no real choice but to do the bidding of their "masters." I say 'real' choice, because no matter what happens you always have a choice. It just that more often than not your choices are: evil, eviler, or death.
Pam, isn't a full frontal, front door draft looking like it's getting closer over there?
Yup. The veterans groups sure think so. Example: http://www.votevets.org/
Quick replies: I wouldn't describe myself as an out and out Hobbesian but he was IMO more right than he was wrong. Conscience is indeed inborn - but so are all sorts of other things including the territorial imperative and all it leads to. Which is why I agree with Stiff Mittens - conscience has to be developed and strenghtened, taught if you will.
But then as I've remarked before I take a somewhat bleak view of human nature :-)
Kinda like Hispanic recruits and green card promises in the US.
I am not surprised to read about the Fijians (sorry if mispelled) fighting with the Brits in Afghanistan and Iraq - were not the Gurkhas similarly employed? Is their rate of pay, benefits and pension the same as British troops - or is it the 'brown' rate? I think Griffon's comment sums it the whole sorry situation.
Yep, Rosemary, the Ghurkas (as usual) are with us. It's only very recently that they've gotten a reasonable rise/raise, though still not full parity.
What a sorry bunch of twits. I wouldn't have any of this lot protecting my family or friends.
The Fijians serving in the British forces are admired, well paid and glad to be with us. They are defending your right to winge but don't over do it, mate.
Anonymous, no they're not. They've been conned by our lying politicians.
In the past the Brish army have protected my rights but they're not this time. Here's some info for you though "mate" ~ in the past I have protected you and your right to talk about things you don't understand. So have most of my family. We're third generation military. See what I mean about talkinmg about things you don't understand?
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