Libya

[Andy Collins]

[quote=arbogrunt;450202

Call me old fashioned..but that just seems...STUPID.

 

Isnt stupidity something we excel at? History shows many such faux pas by our leaders.

[tomtrees]

We dont give out aide because we are the nice the guys. we do it to get favours and we dont go helping the poor oppressed people of Libya because we are nice ether.

 

We give India a few million in aid because they spend billions and billions on arms and were do do think they buy them?

 

What the politicians really mean by protecting the people of Libya is. Our country is in the grips of a recession and looking like a difficult few years ahead. New arms contracts and a load of easy oil would help a lot.

 

Extending the length of a cival war is going to cost more lives not less and as discovered with the gulf war troops will have to go in on the ground to change the regime and regime change is the goal.

[b101uk]

Personally its about time politicians in this country had they powers curtailed in all cases bar an immediate military threat the UK so the silly police actions and the likes of Iraq and Afghanistan could only have happened with a referendum.

 

As for Libyan opposition I am afraid you lose you civilian status when you start using stolen assault rifles or mount machine guns on your vehicle or don some military clothing or tow around AA guns, thus you become a legitimate military target.

[TimberCutterDartmoor]

The populace of many of these countries may be oppressed, but they would prefer that than to be pawns in our war games, and once again we will be drawn into a "policing" role, with our forces being killed. These Middle Eastern countries have been in turmoil since times immemorial, and it seems to take a firm hand to control them, and like it or not, the likes of Hussein and Ghaddafi fill that role. If the boot was to be on the other foot, how would we feel if another nation tried to take control of us, by force?

 

Indeed. Except those blue heads aren't allowed to shoot!

 

Yes!....Yes!! We should stand up and throw off OUR dictaor - The EU!

 

Spot on! 80110X to brussels.

 

If an uprising occurred in this country, on the magnitude of Libya, how do you think our government would handle it? Dont forget, the rebels are armed too. IMO we should leave them to it, if the uprising is that popular it will succeed.

 

 

Agree 100% with Andy,that was why we left sadam in power in the first gulf war, there are to many factions and religions that will unless ruled by an iron fist just kill each other...we can't westernise them and they don't want to be westernised, if they do they leave there country and come to the states or Europe any way.

 

Again,

 

As harsh as this may sound, I think we should just leave the Libyans to kill each other. It has nothing to do with us at all:thumbdown:

As a number of people have stated, there are many more instances of dictators inflicting suffering on their own people which remain un-punished.

On the positive side, if Gaddaffi gets the boot, we'll keep our oil contracts...and we'll have to replace all their military equipment we are currently destroying..£££££££££....Hmmmm, maybe I should have been a politico!.

 

I do however, find it quite amazing that we have just retired our aircraft carriers and made a few hundred pilots redundant weeks before entering yet another avoidable war-situation.

Call me old fashioned..but that just seems...STUPID.

 

 

Personally its about time politicians in this country had they powers curtailed in all cases bar an immediate military threat the UK so the silly police actions and the likes of Iraq and Afghanistan could only have happened with a referendum.

 

As for Libyan opposition I am afraid you lose you civilian status when you start using stolen assault rifles or mount machine guns on your vehicle or don some military clothing or tow around AA guns, thus you become a legitimate military target.

 

Totally.

 

What irks me off tho is the imagination that the UK is on some sort of moral high-ground. We are a jolly immoral country if you ask me; in more subtle ways but down right twisted all the same.

[Amelanchier]

Sigh.

[Mick Stockbridge]

Sigh.

 

Ditto

[tommer9]

Sigh.

 

Ditto

 

Yep. At the whole thread and all like it.

[Paul Barton]

We are a jolly immoral country if you ask me; in more subtle ways but down right twisted all the same.

 

Do you think it would be more morally acceptable to buy their oil in the good times but then stand back and leave innocent civilians to be harmed by the despotic leader when the going gets rough?

[TimberCutterDartmoor]

Do you think it would be more morally acceptable to buy their oil in the good times but then stand back and leave innocent civilians to be harmed by the despotic leader when the going gets rough?

 

Dunno

[Taupotreeman]

Do you think it would be more morally acceptable to buy their oil in the good times but then stand back and leave innocent civilians to be harmed by the despotic leader when the going gets rough?

 

Is the UK still buying gas from Russia and cheap goods from China? May not have the typical despotic leader but China has one of the highest rates of poverty in the world. You can't win really.