h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Are people here trying to censor me and shout me down?

SWL you have added that people who sign up aswell as being pawns in the game of untrustworthy people are badly paid and poorly housed.

Thank you for addding more weight to the assertion I made.

how can joining the British army compare with joining the Army or the SS during WWII Germany?

Get a bit of perspective! (they were conscripted anyway)

It lies with the individual soldier: you don't have to follow an illegal order although I very much doubt that any orders have been given, let alone in writing, along the lines of "torture that rag-head"

And while I disagree with the ill-treatment of the prisoners and others, I can fully understand how it can happen. I thought show trials were for dictatorships anyway.

(Well said Whisky, I was going to sty right out of this but Nazi Germany.... )

I can understand how ill-treatment happens, but that doesn't mean it can always be ignored as stuff that just happens any more than the police beating up suspects can be.

Don't show trials generally end up with the person on trial being convicted whether they are guilty or not?

Aren't trials generally open to the press? So that justice can be seen to be done? I'm not sure a court martial, by comparison, would even allow that?

Think comparisons to show trials are every bit as silly as comparisons to Nazis.

You're right Sho, I was sloppy in using the example I did even though I doubt that the german forces would have been made up exclusively from conscripts. I should have looked for or thought of a better example but in my mind WWII is the elephant in the corner that is so hard to ignore.

Perhaps a beter support for my somewhat contentious point is this:
http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/owen1.html

one love

Of course war is wrong.

And because so many men from this country were prepared to be dumb and trust their leaders we can all posture and write tosh like this.

Freedom isn't free, everyday you have to be prepared to die to keep it.

Urgh.

I probably agree with the sentiment ultimately, but is there any poetry in the world worse than WWI poetry?

Bouncy -

Emily Dickinson -

Im not an expert on Poetry but why is war poetry seen as bad or is that just your opinion?


McKay i cant disagree with what you have said but I dont think you can disagree that if "no one" were dumb enough to sign up to be the hired killers for potential despots then we'd be free anyway.

Leaving aside the rather crass evalautions of the War Poets and Emily Dickinson, I'd like to ask a series of questions about this little incident;

1) Who is it suggested would benefit from a 'show trial' of Col. Mendonca?

2) What makes anyone here think they are in a better position to assess the evidence than whoever decided to bring the charges

3) What makes anybody think that 'the political process' is capable of bullying the military into holding a Courts Martial that was utterly without merit in the first place.

4) Is it the case that every criminal in this country who is found not guilty did not commit the offence alleged?

5) Will this wretched wwar be over by Christmas?

My assesment of Emily Dickenson was considered.

1). I think people are suggesting it was a "wash our dirty sheets in public, to show how clean we are." exercise. IE We must be good and clean because look how we're punishing someone who was naughty. (Sorry about the 100,000 dead)

2) Arrogance I think.

3) Well it's probably all a conspiracy.

4) There's a bit of pre-judgement there - "every criminal in this country" - however can I answer this one after the Irawq war enquirey ?

5) No it won't and the soldiers they're shouting about bring home, will be in Afghanistan instead. Sorry.