Author Archive for Joe90

Principles over practicalities…….

Published on September 6, 2010 in Uncategorized. Closed

written by Joe90 from You want to be a hero?

CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES

'On Tuesday night I gave the order for British forces to take part in military action in Iraq. Tonight, British servicemen and women are engaged from air, land and sea. Their mission: to remove Saddam Hussein from power, and disarm Iraq of its weapons of mass destruction.'

One quality you admire in a person and respect, is the ability to make a decision, a difficult decision, and then once made, despite criticism, hindsight and public protest, to stand by that decision, to brave the storm. In 2003 Tony Blair was The Prime Minster of the United Kingdom, and therefore the responsibility, was laid squarely at his feet. What some people forget, is that the decision was not his alone, the decision was brought before the UK Parliament and the issue was voted on, it returned a vote count of: 412 - 149 in favour.

'I know this course of action has produced deep divisions of opinion in our country. But I know also the British people will now be united in sending our armed forces our thoughts and prayers. They are the finest in the world and their families and all of Britain can have great pride in them.'

Saddam Hussein was a dictator, a tyrant, a danger to those on the side of justice who would oppose him. By March 2003 he had ignored seventeen United Nation Resolutions, he was an outlaw in the international community, he had previously illegally invaded Kuwait in 1990 and had to be removed from that country by Operation Desert Storm, even after being defeated and being sanctioned by the United Nations, he still appeared on live television and claimed victory.

'My fear, deeply held, based in part on the intelligence that I see, is that these threats come together and deliver catastrophe to our country and world. These tyrannical states do not care for the sanctity of human life. The terrorists delight in destroying it.'

You know many people believe different things about whether nor not Military Intelligence was fabricated, whether or not Attorney General Goldsmith was pressurised to come to his conclusions, whether or not the situation in Kosovo should have been used as a precedent for the actions in 2003, or whether or not, and this is one of your favourite conspiracy theories, oil was the reason for the invasion of Iraq.

'So our choice is clear: back down and leave Saddam hugely strengthened; or proceed to disarm him by force. Retreat might give us a moment of respite but years of repentance at our weakness would I believe follow.'

What most 'Anti War Protesters' are to ignorant to see, to self righteous to take in, is that Tony Blair was willing to follow the principles, of morality and compassion. To look at what he believed, and to take action, to produce such a brilliant and passionate plea, that he brought about a 263 majority vote, the backing of the democratic parliament of the United Kingdom. Then when it all went sideways, when people turned against him, when he became the target of those who would use hindsight as a weapon, he stood by his decision, and that, for you, makes the man worthy of great respect.

'I hope the Iraqi people hear this message. We are with you. Our enemy is not you, but your barbarous rulers.'

You did not serve in Iraq, but you know a lot of people who did, be that in Basra, Baghdad, or other parts of the country. You are only too aware that Service Police Officers died in that country, but Tony Blair, for all his faults, had one of the hardest jobs in the world, he knew the consequences that could ensue and he knew what had to be done. The men and women of the British Armed Forces were ready to do the job they had trained for, and he bravely and morally made the decision to send them to do it, because he had faith in their abilities. Despite the odds against them, the equipment shortages and other obstacles, they did the job and they did it well.

'That is why I have asked our troops to go into action tonight. As so often before, on the courage and determination of British men and women, serving our country, the fate of many nations rests.'

The original post can be found http://hero90.blogspot.com/2010/09/principles-over-practicalities_06.html

Principles over practicalities…..

Published on September 6, 2010 in Uncategorized. Closed

written by Joe90 from You want to be a hero?

CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES

'On Tuesday night I gave the order for British forces to take part in military action in Iraq. Tonight, British servicemen and women are engaged from air, land and sea. Their mission: to remove Saddam Hussein from power, and disarm Iraq of its weapons of mass destruction.'

One quality you admire in a person and respect, is the ability to make a decision, a difficult decision, and then once made, despite criticism, hindsight and public protest, to stand by that decision, to brave the storm. In 2003 Tony Blair was The Prime Minster of the United Kingdom, and therefore the responsibility, was laid squarely at his feet. What some people forget, is that the decision was not his alone, the decision was brought before the UK Parliament and the issue was voted on, it returned a vote count of: 412 - 149 in favour.

'I know this course of action has produced deep divisions of opinion in our country. But I know also the British people will now be united in sending our armed forces our thoughts and prayers. They are the finest in the world and their families and all of Britain can have great pride in them.'

Saddam Hussein was a dictator, a tyrant, a danger to those on the side of justice who would oppose him. By March 2003 he had ignored seventeen United Nation Resolutions, he was an outlaw in the international community, he had previously illegally invaded Kuwait in 1990 and had to be removed from that country by Operation Desert Storm, even after being defeated and being sanctioned by the United Nations, he still appeared on live television and claimed victory.

'My fear, deeply held, based in part on the intelligence that I see, is that these threats come together and deliver catastrophe to our country and world. These tyrannical states do not care for the sanctity of human life. The terrorists delight in destroying it.'

You know many people believe different things about whether nor not Military Intelligence was fabricated, whether or not Attorney General Goldsmith was pressurised to come to his conclusions, whether or not the situation in Kosovo should have been used as a precedent for the actions in 2003, or whether or not, and this is one of your favourite conspiracy theories, oil was the reason for the invasion of Iraq.

'So our choice is clear: back down and leave Saddam hugely strengthened; or proceed to disarm him by force. Retreat might give us a moment of respite but years of repentance at our weakness would I believe follow.'

What most 'Anti War Protesters' are to ignorant to see, to self righteous to take in, is that Tony Blair was willing to follow the principles, of morality and compassion. To look at what he believed, and to take action, to produce such a brilliant and passionate plea, that he brought about a 263 majority vote, the backing of the democratic parliament of the United Kingdom. Then when it all went sideways, when people turned against him, when he became the target of those who would use hindsight as a weapon, he stood by his decision, and that, for you, makes the man worthy of great respect.

'I hope the Iraqi people hear this message. We are with you. Our enemy is not you, but your barbarous rulers.'

You did not serve in Iraq, but you know a lot of people who did, be that in Basra, Baghdad, or other parts of the country. You are only too aware that Service Police Officers died in that country, but Tony Blair, for all his faults, had one of the hardest jobs in the world, he knew the consequences that could ensue and he knew what had to be done. The men and women of the British Armed Forces were ready to do the job they had trained for, and he bravely and morally made the decision to send them to do it, because he had faith in their abilities. Despite the odds against them, the equipment shortages and other obstacles, they did the job and they did it well.

'That is why I have asked our troops to go into action tonight. As so often before, on the courage and determination of British men and women, serving our country, the fate of many nations rests.'

The original post can be found http://hero90.blogspot.com/2010/09/principles-over-practicalities.html

Out on a limb…….

Published on August 12, 2010 in Uncategorized. Closed

written by Joe90 from You want to be a hero?

You were sat in the crew room with a witness, making conversation, you heard Pete, a fellow Special, on the radio:

'Assistance required........suspect making off......white male.......six foot four.......white hoody.....blue jeans, he's wearing only one trainer.....heading towards ASDA.......'

Pete was out of breath and trying his best to give a good description to the control room, you could hear in his voice that he was out of breath, a little scared, and that he knew that if he caught the suspect he would have trouble restraining him, you also knew that the he was shouting for assistance because he was 'Single Crewed'.

As you listened to the commentary you realised that other Officers were saying they were along way away from assisting, you also realised he was heading in your direction, towards the front of the Police Station. You knew no one else was in there except you, the Sgt and two other PCs were in custody, about eight miles away. You realised at that point that you would have to go and help out, you thought about the witness, and took her out into the foyer and asked her to wait there. You made your way out of the front door and started running down the street:

'He's running past Argos.........towards Coptill Lane.....onto Pretrail Road....I can't keep up with him....I've lost sight'

There was a long silence, you were about two hundred metres away from McDonalds, on your own and scared, when you saw him, you pressed the button:

'Bravo Whisky two three, I can see him, he's outside Mc Donalds, Pete he's outside Mc Donalds, facing Pretrail Road, turn around.......turn around'

You ran, as fast as you could, towards Pete, who was shouting and pointing at the man:

'Stay there.....don't move.....stay there......!'

Seconds later you and Pete had the male down, then you heard the sirens and saw the blue lights, back up had arrived, all be it a little too late.

Single Crewing is a bad idea, a very bad idea, one day someone will get seriously injured, and this incident and one other always comes to your mind when you think about it. What if you hadn't been able to leave the witness in the foyer, what if you had been too far away on foot to help Pete, and what if he had had to arrest the male on his own. When you knew Pete he wasn't a fighter, he certainly didn't like violence, actually he did whatever he could to avoid it, to even put hands on a suspect, and most of the Police Officers you have worked with, are exactly the same, they usually just want to get home on time.

You remember other Officers telling you, when you first joined up that you should not worry, because our gang is always bigger than their's and that back up is only a short distance away, now you know that that is not the case, back up can be far off, and when Officers are being Single Crewed more and more, someone is going to get seriously hurt, and it's going to upset the public at the breakfast table, but it will upset the familes of serving Police Officers a lot more, because let's face it, it's not a fucking game out there......

'Bravery is the capacity to perform properly even when scared half to death.'

Omar Bradley

The original post can be found http://hero90.blogspot.com/2010/08/out-on-limb.html

It’s not always a happy ending………

Published on July 10, 2010 in Uncategorized. Closed

written by Joe90 from You want to be a hero?

You've seen quite a lot of hurt and pain, even at eighteen years of age you were delving into domestic violence and the effects of rape, but still, sometimes, you look out the Police car window into the dark and you find yourself unable to comprehend what you witness. You see the nameless, random girls, they stagger along, intoxicated to the point of being catatonic, they are wearing skirts that are hiked up almost to their waist line, they laugh and shout, smiling as the effects of the last glass of wine kick in, the alcohol stimulating their confidence to another level. A few hours down the line:

** They may find that they are in the room of a man they do not know, a man they have just met, a man that isn't their boyfriend, have sex with him, forget to use a condom and catch HIV or Syphilis.

** In another club, or the next pub, or a house party, they take it to another level by taking Cocaine, Ecstasy or LSD.

What you think, as you look at them, feeling superior, self important, and sometimes a little self righteous is that, for the majority of them, it is their own fault, no one forces the alcohol down their throat, no one puts a gun to their head and tells them to drink it, or to take a tablet or to take their clothes off (or not in some cases) and open their legs.

No matter how much people dress it up, saying that they are only having fun or having a good time, the cynic inside of you, the immoral side of you, the apathetic side, built from seeing what you have seen, can't see it that way, you can't help but say to yourself that they are fools, deficient in judgement, lacking in common sense and they will at some point, be left to dwell in the sewer for which they have created with their own actions. But then, you hear about people like Robyn Bennett who was, that's past tense, an 18 year old girl, 'bright, happy, intelligent, outgoing and friendly young woman.' On the day she died, she went onto her 'MySpace' page, and edited it with a poem entitled: 'Every day is a party', she also proceeded to name the model Kate Moss as one of her heroes.

As you put a name to a face, to a random girl, it becomes a little harder to judge, to condemn, to feel superior, because like it or not, wanting to have fun is not a crime, it's just what young people want to do, is it an excuse? No, it's not, and they must answer for the actions they take when they bring themselves to a state where they do not know what they are doing.

When you see the girls walking by the window, sometimes you want to get out of the car, take hold of them and tell them about Robyn and that if they are not careful, if they don't heed the advice of those who have seen it, have been involved in it, that they will end up just the way she did. You want to tell them that no one deserves to die like she did and no father should ever have to give his daughter CPR and then watch her die in his arms. Taking drugs, becoming intoxicated to the point of being unable to control their actions will lead to them becoming another victim of drugs, violence, rape and worst of all, their own mortality.

It's not a fucking game, and you know that if you did try to talk to them, you would be laughed at, as just another person in a uniform, dull, boring, lifeless and out to spoil their fun, but if you could, you would plead with them, to be careful, because if they had seen what you have seen, that if they had watched a fourteen year old sprawled out on the floor of a house with paramedics over her, having almost choked to death on her own vomit, or a young taxi driver, moved to tears because a twenty five year old woman is on her way to Accident and Emergency in an ambulance, because she wandered out into the middle of a dual carriageway, drunk and not able to comprehend what she was doing, they might just be saying the same thing, pleading with themselves to think, to stop and to walk away..........

'Drunkenness is nothing but voluntary madness.'

Seneca

The original post can be found http://hero90.blogspot.com/2010/07/its-not-always-happy-ending.html

British Airways……

Published on May 7, 2010 in Uncategorized. Closed

written by Joe90 from You want to be a hero?

The average salary of someone doing this job is £29,000:

These chaps start at £17,000:

'What the hell did you think the gun was for, huh? Show-and-tell? Look, you'll get over it - all right, they'll send you to BSS, you'll do all that Buddhist "I love and revere all sentient beings" crap; then at o'dark-thirty, next time you're up, you will drag your weary, fried ass out of bed, you will put on your gun and your vest, and you will do it all over again. You know why? Because this is a front row seat to the greatest show on earth. Can you abuse it? Yes, sir - you can, and you will; I guarantee it. Because it is relentless, and it gets to you, and it seems like it changes nothing. But a day like today, with some interesting capers, and a few good arrests? That's good. But every once in a while, you get to take a bad guy off the streets for good... and that, my friend, is God's work. So now you wanna be a pussy and quit, you quit. You're a cop because you don't know how not to be one. If you feel that way, you're a cop. If you don't, you're not - you decide.'

Officer John Cooper, Southland.

The original post can be found http://hero90.blogspot.com/2010/05/british-airways.html

De oppresso liber…….

Published on April 19, 2010 in Uncategorized. Closed

written by Joe90 from You want to be a hero?

Mr Mark Leader has been discharged from the UK Armed Forces for throwing a wellington boot at a member of the Taliban who was found planting an IED in Afghanistan. Now, many people are calling for this man to be reinstated, Facebook pages, petitions and all the usual clichés.

You have read quite a few of the comments on this Facebook Group, and have come to the conclusion that people are maybe a little ill informed. They seem to think that this man threw the wellington boot at the Taliban fighter whilst he was actually planting the IED, which would have been a legal way of dealing with the situation and understandable. However what a court martial believes happened is that a SNCO in the Royal Marines, one of the most well known, revered and respected fighting forces in the world, sought out a human being, and assaulted him, while he was almost defenceless. No matter what this member of the Taliban had done, no matter who he was, no matter how he had treated others, he was to be treated with respect and within the confines of those rules which this SNCO had fought to protect, signed up to abide buy and taken an oath to uphold.

People are throwing around clichés such as ‘Necessary evil’, but a question they should ask themselves is this, how can we possibly put an end to persecution and oppression, if we become the persecutors and oppressors ourselves? Was the punishment too harsh? Did it fit the crime? Did he actually act in self-defence? Has there been a serious miscarriage of justice here? Was an example made of this man? Should seventeen years of service helped him at Court Martial, or should all those years of service taught him that rules are there for a reason, for a purpose?

Members of the UK Armed Forces, especially those in positions of authority, who should be setting an example, Officers, SNCOs, NCOs and the Military Police, have to be held to a higher moral standard than others, because they are at the spearhead of the fight to free the oppressed, help the helpless, to protect those who cannot protect themselves.

'Moral principle is the foundation of law.'

Ronald D Workin.

The original post can be found http://hero90.blogspot.com/2010/04/de-oppresso-liber.html

Did I ever see a Taliban fighter…….

Published on April 16, 2010 in Uncategorized. Closed

written by Joe90 from You want to be a hero?

As soon as you heard the alarm, you dived onto the floor, as you were laying there, face down in the dust, you knew you were out in the open, no blast walls to cover you, no bunker near by, your heart started to beat faster, if you had any emotions at that moment, you would have been close to tears with fear. A loud explosion in the distance, you breathed a sigh of relief, it wasn't your turn this time, but you knew someone else wasn't so lucky.

The man who was sat in the isle seat had clearly been through this before, you asked him, he said he was on his fourth tour, an infantry soldier, married, with a two year old baby girl. Even now you remember his face, because you knew then that he was going to do something that you will never have the courage to do, the bravery to do. You tried to sleep, but after a few minutes you realised it wasn't happening, you were sure it was due to the can of red bull you had drank just before getting on the plane.

You had been feeling sick most of the journey, you didn't know whether this was due to the fact that you hate flying, or that you were scared of the unknown, eventually you managed to settle down with an autobiography, written by the second most beautiful woman in the world.

The lad who was sat next to you looked about the same age as you, he clearly hadn't done this before because he looked as white as a bed sheet, like he was going to be sick all over the floor at any moment, and he was shaking as he tried to put his helmet chin strap on. He was laughing as he was trying, but not like he was finding it amusing. You told him to calm down, and take deep breaths, he told you he had only been in the job for twelve months, and didn't expect to be heading out to Helmand so soon. You are immune to having any feelings, but if you weren't, you would have been scared for him.

As you sat in the pitch dark, the plane descended, and you suddenly realised you were in the window seat and therefore, foolishly you thought, were most likely to be hit by surface to air small arms fire, you turned to the young lad next to you, tapped him on the arm, and said to him in disbelief:

'What the fuck are we doing here?'

'What for? Did I ever see a Zulu walk down a City road? No! So what am I doing here?'

Private Henry Hook, Zulu.

The original post can be found http://hero90.blogspot.com/2010/04/did-i-ever-see-taliban-fighter.html

The rough diamond…….

Published on February 8, 2010 in Uncategorized. Closed

written by Joe90 from You want to be a hero?

You knew, that as it was your first time, you wouldn't enjoy it. With that in your mind you prepared yourself, but what you didn't know, was that whilst you were in the worst place you have ever been to, you would meet a person so beautiful, cute, caring, kind, sexy, stunning and vivacious.

It wasn't exactly a normal day, you'd had about three hours sleep in forty eight hours and you were close to falling asleep while you were still standing up. Suddenly something woke you up, you felt a hand on your shoulder, and heard the words: 'Yes, sweetheart' in your ear. You turned around and saw someone who, was so cute and so beautifully petite. The first thing you noticed about her was that she wasn't wearing any make up, and still she looked so beautiful, she was also so tiny, she looked so fragile, her next attribute that took your attention was her eyes, under her sexy glasses, they looked so innocent, immediately you wanted to find out about her.

During the next few weeks you found the time to listen to her, she told you about her life, the things she had been through, the things she had done, and regretted. You won't admit to having any feelings for her, or about what she said, but if you did, or could, you would say how surprised and emotionally moved you were, that even at such a young age she had experienced so much heartache, yet she still found the strength, the courage, the bravery to look on the bright side of life, to admit her mistakes and to smile.

You don't usually quote songs, but IYAZ understands where you are coming from:

'That girl, like somethin off a poster
That girl, is a dime they say
That girl, is a gun to my holster
She's runnin through my mind all day.'

One thing that you never got the opportunity to tell her, that you wish you had, is that her hips are almost as sexy as her feet.........

'My gift from God is that he gave me a kind heart, I feel what other people feel, so I can help them.'

The Rough Diamond

The original post can be found http://hero90.blogspot.com/2010/02/rough-diamond.html

The time is now…..

Published on December 14, 2009 in Uncategorized. Closed

written by Joe90 from You want to be a hero?

This quote seems to adequately explain the position you are in:

'Yes. The final supreme idiocy... coming here to hide. The deserter, hiding out in the middle of a battlefield.'

Lee, The Magnificent Seven.

The original post can be found http://hero90.blogspot.com/2009/12/time-is-now.html

Applying a price tag…….

Published on December 9, 2009 in Uncategorized. Closed

written by Joe90 from You want to be a hero?

The British Armed Forces is filled with volunteers, paid volunteers, no one forces a potential Soldier, a Marine, a Sailor or an Airman to 'sign on the dotted line'. Each Service person joins for their own reasons, not one reason is the same, perhaps similar, but not the same. They know how much they are going to be paid, they know what they might have to do, they know where they may be ordered to proceed and they know that their families will stay behind, whilst they go.

Those persons that suffer the most, in your opinion, are the children of those serving in the Armed Forces, because they do not choose, they are born into the life, they have to accept, they have no choice.

   People join campaigns such as 'Soldiers should get Footballers wages', you understand their out cry, their point of view, and you agree with their cause in principal, but no one forces potential Servicemen and women to 'sign on the dotted line' and accept that level of pay, members of the Armed Forces should get paid more, without question, especially Service persons at the low end of the pay scale, but the issue is, members of the Armed Forces risk their life, no matter what cap badge or trade group, how, in God's name, does someone put a price tag on that?

'If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.'

Desiderata

The original post can be found http://hero90.blogspot.com/2009/12/applying-price-tag.html