alpine_saint

Mmmmm. Within budget constraints, of course. I would like to know their status in terms of airframe lifetime. Thats not a part that can simply be replaced.

Yep. I dont understand all this sentimentality about them surviving. They are a boil on the arse of football that needs lancing.

Isnt calling Iran a "democracy" pushing the boundaries of the use of the word ??

Definitely the inital cause was just, but it was just sweeping the problem under the carpet for a while. Afghanistan is ungovernable, and as soon as we all leave, matters will probably be worse than in 2001.

The problem is, who else is going to police the world ? The UN and EU have never had the power and gravitas to do so. Any attempt to build international consensus is undermined out of sheer spite towards the US or from national interest in resources and influence. Take Syria as an example. The leaders of China and Russia are not interested in anything except wealth and power in an Orwellian way; they dont even give a sh*t about their own populations, so its hard seeing them taking up the mantle of benevolent world policeman. India ? Maybe, but at the moment I would categorise them with Russia and China. Nature abhors a vacuum, so until someone else comes forward, its going to be dwindling imperial / capitalist nations like the US, UK and France.

Yes, but the US getting Bin Laden makes it clear that even if this is the case, its still open-season.

And in the case of smaller bombs, not so optimally positioned ? Are you saying the Warrior improvement project isnt going to save anyones life ? Ever ? I dont believe you. I am glad your friend/acquaintance is OK, and I feel for him that he has probably lost dear colleagues. But give it a rest with the "engage brain" and "crass and insensitive comments" routine. You are trying to twist my words (just like you did last night trying to make out I slagged off RAF maintenance technicians and the quality of their work) and make out I am saying something tasteless when I am actually furious at the penpushers and politicians for letting our men down. You may well be ex-service (curious as to where you have served on the front line though), but I am getting fed up with you trying to distort what I am saying with this "I know it all because I've been there, you know nothing" emotive b*ll*cks.

Superb.

Congratulations on your first post after nearly 5 years

Either that or remove the women and children and nuke/anthrax the place so that it stops being the pimple-on-the-arse of the world once-and-for-all.

Rubbish.

how do you know it would only have been a handful ? Al Qaida (or however you f**king spell it) killed over 3000 (and it could have been worse) on one day in New York when given the chance, and over 200 in Bali.

So what energy / natural resources has Uncle Sam secured in Afghanistan ? Ok there is a unsubstantiated rumour about Lithium deposits, but that hasnt been proven. Sorry, I know its not very PC, but the US, UK and other nations genuinely went into Afghanistan to ensure our security.

Wow, small world. Which district ? My brother-in-law (tw*t) lives in the 10th (Favoriten)

Yes.

What about the 67 killed during 9/11 ? Very easy to say it isnt worth it when its impossible to estimate how many lives have been saved by the interruption in lanning by terrorist groups based in Afghanistan.

I dont think so. If you directly translate that into German and say it in a restaurant over here, you get the answer (translated) "Yes" followed by an impassive face and no action, or if the waiter is REALLY polite, he might say "Yes, should I bring it, then ?" "Can I have/get" is a question about possibility over here, not intent, so one doesnt use it to order, and as a result I never say it in English either.

42. Live in Southern Austria First game at home - drew 2-2 with Hull City in 1977 (I think). Stood in Archers First game away - when we lost 2-5 to Sheffield Wednesday in the yellow kit and Glenn Cockerill made the ball go backwards in front of about 150 of us.

Compounded by a series of ridiculous procurement/deployment decisions, like Gordon "Tw*t" Brown withdrawing our own sovereign air cover for our soldiers. Wonder if the Army will ever get the upgraded warriors with attitudes like Jock Stirrups, when 4 soliders killed in a Warrior in 2007 he put it down to "bad luck". Probably the worst Chief of Defence Staff the nation has ever been lumbered with.

Erm, I read the article and found it unacceptable, as did the author, who has served ? Your point is totally non-sensical. And I would rather rattle around in the back of a Bedford truck than get on a plane whose undercarriage fails or develops an air leak 6miles up over enemy territory....

Erm, Narcissistic ?

Sounds like a normal night for me. And that is usually interrupted twice by the little one waking for a drink. And my wife went hypoglaecemic last night once. More like 4 hours, I reckon.

Unfunny Unoriginal Pathetic.

Oh, very well done for having such patience and tolerance that you've only ever ignored 2 people. Have we got time to get Sue's name on the Queens Birthday Honours list ?

And if we had the FL defending 6 of our points with a frankly against-their-own-rules propping up of a club that is trading insolvently.