I'm not so sure that I like the idea of sending troops out onto the street to harangue folk for money for their mates in Afghanistan.



Not unless I can take my German Shepherd out onto the streets to bite people if they don't donate to The Dogs Trust.

The Irony is that these troops understanding of Freedoms is inconsistent in terms of the actions they are asked to undertake..



The right to national self determination is a fundamental right but much of the poppy appeal now is about supporting the troops who prevented people having the right to national self determination.



Whether you agree with going into Afghanistan or not the reality now is that the game is up and it is time to go. If that means the afghans end up with the Taliban back that is there choice BUT they also nee dto know that if they let it be used as a base for military actions against other nation states ( ie letting al Queda back) then they will have to face the consequences in the future,

That's only going to happen if you smear all your victims in cake.

Couple of faults;

1/ Al qaeda do not exist. Another American bogeyman, as were the native Americans ( Indians), nn11ggers ( not my word) aliens and communists. 20 years time, there will be something else.



2/ were the tali(e)ban a terrorist organisation in 1979, or were they a politically elected party governed by their beliefs? When did they become terrorists?



Getting back to the OP. I don't wear or buy a poppy. thats my choice, I have a mind of my own, and I certainly don't need to be influenced by everyone on tv wearing 1 because they have been told to do so.



The poppy is fine, and I would wear 1 if it was to remember the great war and ww2, but, not for Irag/ Afghanistan of which has hijacked the whole ideal in the 1st place.

I can't say that I can. It's not like he was caught endangering life by burning a poppy or that the poppy belonged to someone else and so he was guilty of criminal damage. To arrest someone because they posted an image of a burning poppy on a Facebook page is not only ludicrous but also quite sinister.

How about incitement to hatred.

Hardly.

I don't believe that we should ever have gone into Afghanistan (again), but this is somewhat disingenuous, in that (approximately) 50% of the Afghan population would have no such choice in meaningful way.



This is, in essence, the same Taliban that thought it appropriate to get on a school bus with the sole intention of assassinating a 14-year-old girl who wanted nothing more than an education.

It may well be distasteful and the action of a fanatic etc, but I'm struggling to see how it incites.

So, you are now the spokesman for the entire armed forces. Great. Also, there is no irony in the role of a soldier, it's a simple role, obey the chain of command. You can't have every soldier debating every decision, for reasons rather obvious.





You say so, but in reality in many places in the world for many centuries, the determination has been done not by democratic wish but by imposition from those with the strongest force and the biggest appetite for blood and killing. Unless of course you consider that wiping out whole sections of your society with whose views you fundamentally disagree is a legitimate form of self-determination.





... so whatever the troops may or may not have done, to say they have "prevented people having the right to national self-determination" is plainly not it. more to the point, Remembrance Sunday, of which the Poppy Appeal is a part, is plainly not any such thing, it is about remembering the fallen and the wounded and helping them or their families.





I disagreed with it then, and disagree with it now, but the game is less "up" now than it was when the escapade started. If you actually want to read and digest the hard facts of what has been done to the Taliban's operational structure, as opposed to ignoring it. Was the game worth the candle? In my opinion, absolutely not, for several reasons but that ultimately it isn't a fight that we could ever have "won" in terms of a military victory and leaving behind a stable and strong unified country, or any other sort of "victory" remotely along those lines.





For those who are faced with that, the choice is though basically between not opposing the Taliban, when it arrives, or a bullet in the head. Which would you choose, and do you think it would be any sort of a "choice" in the sense you just implied?





Er, [iwhat[/i consequences? You want us to pull out, but issue a blunt threat that if they "let al Qaeda back" then we will invade? You wouldn't consider that as preventing these people having the right to national self determination a tad at all?

I struggle to see how burning a book or flag incites, but we know it does.

Burning of things often incites others to violent actions, as seen on many occasions.