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British war veterans have thrown down medals in disgust at UK operations in Syria

Raja.Pakistani

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Tuesday 8 December 2015 21.43 GMTLast modified on Tuesday 8 December 201522.22 GMT


A group of British military veterans have discarded their service medals at Downing Street in a symbolic protest against RAF airstrikes in Syria.

One by one, and in front of waiting media and supporters, the members of theVeterans for Peace UK group expressed their opposition to the bombing and to previous operations in the Middle East as they threw the medals to the ground.

The gestures were led by Daniel Denham, who served in the RAF. Holding up his medals, he told those gathered around: “If you look close enough at these medals, you can see the reflections of dead Iraqis. You can see the embers of Libya. And you can see the faces of the men and women of the British armed forces who didn’t return and also those who did with lost limbs and shattered souls. I no longer require these medals.
Britain has the most dynamic veteran's movement in the world in @vfpuk #Syria #Iraq #Afghanistan #Libya

CVuJP_pWsAAGE1U.jpg



Others taking part included Daniel Lenham, who served in the RAF from 2002 to 2014. He said bombing was never a solution.

“These invasions, occupations and attacks have caused great destruction, killed hundreds of thousands of people and have led to the destruction of societies. Bombing is never a solution; it is time to stop,” he said.

Veterans For Peace UK describes itself as a voluntary ex-services organisation of men and women who have served in every war that Britain has fought since the second world war.

It says it works to educate young people “on the true nature of military service and war”, as well as resisting “war and militarism” through non-violent action and standing in solidarity with others doing the same.


David Smith, who served in the Royal Green Jackets, said he wanted to express “utter disgust” at what he described as the unlawful bombing of Syria.

Kirk Sollitt, who served in the Gulf War, said: “By bombing in Syria, we are killing innocent, vulnerable, sentient beings, men, women and children. You cannot sow bloodshed and reap peace. I no longer want these medals.”

Source : Forces veterans protest at Downing Street against British airstrikes in Syria | UK news | The Guardian
 
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We haven't killed anybody yet, just struck oil fields. It's debatable whether we ever will given the state of our air force.
 
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It's not disgust at the operational consequences but disgust at the senseless war. Nobody understands what the objectives of multiple interventions by different nations(some allies some enemies) in Syria will achieve. It got out of control, I don't think foreign policy planners of international community were expecting this.
 
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Look at these quotes from General Sherman
’I am tired and sick of fighting –its glory is all moonshine; even success the most brilliant is over dead and mangled bodies with the anguish and lamentations of distant families, appealing to me for sons, husbands and fathers. It is only those who have never heard a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded and lacerated … that cry aloud for more blood, more vengeance, for desolation. War is hell.’
And a few years afterwards, to graduates of Michigan military academy:
‘I’ve been where you are now and I know just how you feel. It’s entirely natural that there should beat in the breast of every one of you a hope and desire that some day you can use the skill you have acquired here. 'Suppress it! You don’t know the horrible aspects of war. I’ve been through two wars and I know. I’ve seen cities and homes in ashes. I’ve seen thousands of men lying on the ground, their dead faces looking up at the skies. I tell you, war is Hell!’
 
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We haven't killed anybody yet, just struck oil fields. It's debatable whether we ever will given the state of our air force.

Thanks UK for creating a lot of polution in such a short amount of time... Facepalm...
 
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UK is not the only country that fields EF-2000.

Many Arabs nations do, so chance of EF-2000 vs Su-35S might be closer to reality than you think, although still far away.

Meanwhile, joint training between UK and India with EF-2000 and Su-30MKI is probably as close as we can get:crazy_pilot:
Indradhanush5.jpg
 
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It's not disgust at the operational consequences but disgust at the senseless war. Nobody understands what the objectives of multiple interventions by different nations(some allies some enemies) in Syria will achieve. It got out of control, I don't think foreign policy planners of international community were expecting this.

The purpose of the new bombing campaign is to weaken the Syrian government and support proxies to establish a Syrian Kurdistan.
 
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The purpose of the new bombing campaign is to weaken the Syrian government and support proxies to establish a Syrian Kurdistan.

My opinion is obviously internal political reasons being one factor. While the other isn't necessarily to make Kurdish state but to have presence on ground under guise of aiding Kurds against ISIS to ensure the war remains a stalemate and that government/Russia can't retake all territories or ISIS expanding , vice versa.
 
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My opinion is obviously internal political reasons being one factor. While the other isn't necessarily to make Kurdish state but to have presence on ground under guise of aiding Kurds against ISIS to ensure the war remains a stalemate and that government/Russia can't retake all territories or ISIS expanding , vice versa.

It is amazing how the public are so gullible. That their government goes to war officially for aggressive purposes and there is hardly any resistance ( except for a brave minority).
 
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Kiddo, you have matured over the past year. Well done!

It's not disgust at the operational consequences but disgust at the senseless war. Nobody understands what the objectives of multiple interventions by different nations(some allies some enemies) in Syria will achieve. It got out of control, I don't think foreign policy planners of international community were expecting this.
 
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UK is not the only country that fields EF-2000.

Many Arabs nations do, so chance of EF-2000 vs Su-35S might be closer to reality than you think, although still far away.

Meanwhile, joint training between UK and India with EF-2000 and Su-30MKI is probably as close as we can get:crazy_pilot:
View attachment 278218
Su-35S is the designation of production Su-35BM version for the Russian Air Force: not deployed to Syria.
 
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