Harleyman Posted June 13, 2010 Share Posted June 13, 2010 It may matter to the mothers of the 295 UK military personnel that have been killed in Afghanistan since 2001, helping out their ally. It's a NATO operation more than just "helping our an ally" and there are many soldiers from other NATO countries also involved in the operation. No disrespect towards the British dead that's for certain. I dont know what the casualty rates are for US personnel but I'm sure they're pretty high in mumbers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harleyman Posted June 13, 2010 Share Posted June 13, 2010 OOOOOH! 'Happiness is a Yankee headin' North!' (typical bumper sticker where I live [when I'm not here ]) When I moved to Vicksburg, MS I found I was readily accepted - they thought I was a Brit and when I explained where I originate from I was treated as a sort of 'harmless idiot' . As one of my friends said: "Foreigner is OK, - we do like tourists. 'Brit' isn't a real problem, but since you're not really one of those, you're 'fahn, jes fahn' ... Jes' as long as you're not a dem Yenkee!:hihi: I suspect that there are more than one or two people in the South who are not particularly impressed with 'that Yankee President's' performance. - Nor are they too impressed with his calling them 'folks'. Obama isn't a real Yankee (he's a pineapple) but he's spent a lot of time in the North and - somehow - I don't think he's going to impress too many Southerners by pretending to be 'a good ole boy' - 'Bubba Barak' somehow doesn't cut it. The Brits may not be able to vote, but an awful lot of people in the South can vote. If they lose their jobs, if they lose their homes, if they can't feed their families and if they think he's patronising them then perhaps he may lose their votes. Well let's see. We've had four presdients from the south. Jimmy Carter.... Oh jeeez George Bush senior : thumbsup: Bill Clinton George Bush junior....... If you cannot learn to say Nuclear instead of "Nukular" what the hell were you dong in the Whitehouse ? Who do you mix with when you're in the south? Moonshinin' Ridge Runners ? They're not all "crackers" you know Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFKvsNixon Posted June 13, 2010 Share Posted June 13, 2010 It's a NATO operation more than just "helping our an ally" and there are many soldiers from other NATO countries also involved in the operation. No disrespect towards the British dead that's for certain. I dont know what the casualty rates are for US personnel but I'm sure they're pretty high in mumbers You are right, but we are fighting a hard fight in Afghanistan instead of policing quiet areas as other NATO countries are doing. I have no problem, in fact I am proud that we are doing this in aid of an old and trusted ally. The point I was trying to make is it would leave a very bad taste in many peoples mouths if the US took and anti UK approach after so many personal sacrifices were made for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harleyman Posted June 13, 2010 Share Posted June 13, 2010 A little perspective is in order. Missing documents are not the same as missing safety standards. Now we all seem to agree that the industry opinion of American standards is pish poor but the people who rely on the industry directly or indirectly can take no comfort from shutting down a crucial sector of an industry in case a one in a million incident happens before things are straightened out. Katrina should be remembered. The hurricane caused untold damage, but the real deep and lasting harm was caused by the follow up action. The damage to people will far exceed any contingent theoretical damage from another incident. Load of biased rubbish as usual. You're info on Katrina is half a**sed. Everyone on Nawlins was warned of the approach of hurricane Katrina. The smart ones packed up and left, the dummies stayed behind. Attempts were made to supply mediicine and food to those who were in the Saints arena but a bunch of idiots went around robbing gun stores in the city after the hurricane passed and were firing on police and paramedics trying to get the supplies to them by chopper The mayor of Louisiana was a near idiot. Never used hundreds of school buses to ferry out those without cars, They were left idle in their parking areas and ended up under the flood waters..... just good for scrap metal You need to get your facts straight before sounding off on your Yank hating rhetoric. That barley wine addles your brain Tony boy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordonb Posted June 13, 2010 Share Posted June 13, 2010 Strange how the "Special Relationships that the USA have" have worked over the years. Britain and France create Concord which is a world leader so the USA immediately slaps a ban on it and keeps it limited to a small service landing at 1 or 2 Cities. Japan creates a car industry that is technically superior to anything that the USA has and Toyota become the worlds largest car manufacturer. First time there is a problem and the USA is baying for blood looking to sue the*** off the Japs. No one mentions the problems that they have had over the years with their cars. USA goes out to tender for new inflight re-fuelling planes for its airforce which Airbus wins hands down. Cries of unfair in the Senate so it goes back out to tender and an American consortium win it. P&O ports (A British company) own some of the Eastern Seeboard ports in the USA. One of the mid -east countries buys P&O ports but is then forced to sell the USA ports because the Yanks will not let an Arab nation own their ports. Free trade anyone?? Need I go on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harleyman Posted June 13, 2010 Share Posted June 13, 2010 You are right, but we are fighting a hard fight in Afghanistan instead of policing quiet areas as other NATO countries are doing. I have no problem, in fact I am proud that we are doing this in aid of an old and trusted ally. The point I was trying to make is it would leave a very bad taste in many peoples mouths if the US took and anti UK approach after so many personal sacrifices were made for it. There's a lot of hot air being blown around by this spill. The British tabloids are screaming in protest over Obama's "unkind words" and there have been reports here that some people have been trampling on British flags....all very childish. As far as I know BP is about 40 percent British owned, 39 percent US and the remaining 21 percent by others. Whose to blame and why it happened remains to be seen. Tony Hayward is having three minute taped messages run on American TV apologising for the catastrophe, saying BP is to blame, reassuring people that they are doing everything possible and that BP will "make it right" whatever that means, given the colossal damage to the ocean, coastal areas and wild life so far Fine just so long as my taxes are not going to be used to "make it right" We've had to bailout enough corporate giants already without adding BP to the list Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordonb Posted June 13, 2010 Share Posted June 13, 2010 Did hear on the radio this week that BP's dividend contributes something like 7% of all pension funds in the UK and the same in the USA so the pension funds of both countries will not want to see BP go down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppins Posted June 13, 2010 Share Posted June 13, 2010 Did hear on the radio this week that BP's dividend contributes something like 7% of all pension funds in the UK and the same in the USA so the pension funds of both countries will not want to see BP go down. 7% I read 15%. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordonb Posted June 13, 2010 Share Posted June 13, 2010 I stand corrected Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harleyman Posted June 13, 2010 Share Posted June 13, 2010 Strange how the "Special Relationships that the USA have" have worked over the years. Britain and France create Concord which is a world leader so the USA immediately slaps a ban on it and keeps it limited to a small service landing at 1 or 2 Cities.Japan creates a car industry that is technically superior to anything that the USA has and Toyota become the worlds largest car manufacturer. First time there is a problem and the USA is baying for blood looking to sue the*** off the Japs. No one mentions the problems that they have had over the years with their cars. USA goes out to tender for new inflight re-fuelling planes for its airforce which Airbus wins hands down. Cries of unfair in the Senate so it goes back out to tender and an American consortium win it. P&O ports (A British company) own some of the Eastern Seeboard ports in the USA. One of the mid -east countries buys P&O ports but is then forced to sell the USA ports because the Yanks will not let an Arab nation own their ports. Free trade anyone?? Need I go on. Concord a world leader? I doubt it. More like a white elephant even if it was a remarkable aircraft in it's own way. It was excessivly noisy which is why many cities banned it, a real fuel guzzler and had a maximum capacity of something like 150 passengers which was ridiculous considering it was built for international routes. British Airways and Air France were forced to buy 6 or 7 each and no other airline wanted them. I wouldn't want an Arab nation owning US ports either...not these days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.