Do you think that the American who was slamming us was sorry?

Question

He upset a lot of people the evening before by insulting us
British and claiming that the U.S. Pilot was a hero when he
killed our British Soldier Matt. Then he came on telly last nite
apologising!
Do you believe he was genuinely sorry? Or - like myself do
you think he meant what he said at the time?
He claims he didn,t mean what he said.

Answer 1

Guys, I hope you don't think we're all like that. I have nothing but the UTMOST respect for the British and their military.

Please don't judge all of us by one of us.

Answer 2

Sorry can't really form an opinion or give you an honest answer on the Pilot. I did not see the broadcast and to be honest with you. I do not watch the news so I have no clue as to the fratricide incident that you are talking about.
But what I can say is that not every American has a Negative Impression about British Forces !!!! The British Forces that I have met have displayed a professional manner that the rest of the world strives to imitate. The British SAS is the worlds for runner for Special Operations.
The British have been the United States best ally. The British have been the Only ally that America could count on. Whether right or wrong the British Government has backed the US. SO for all those Yank (I am from the South and abhor the thought of being a Yank!) haters out there, Reassess your thoughts Not all Americans hate the British.

Answer 3

The American in question was not sorry. He only said he was sorry if he had upset UK WW2 Vets. He did not apologise for his remarks about Britain and her armed forces of today. He seemed satisfied that the airborne attack on a small British Army unit by a US Air Force aircraft, was okay. He did not retract his praise for the pilot of the US Air Force plane which had shot at and killed one British soldier.

There have been far too many incidents like the attack upon a British unit by the Americans. The US call this friendly fire. I call it 'trigger happy'.

This is by no means the end of the issue.

Blair and Bush will be brought to trial for war crimes. It's not a case of 'if' it will happen, just 'when'.

The US Air Force pilot, his family and friends, had better watch their backs. They're on a 'hit list' right now. The British Army will have it's revenge for the 'murder' of it's soldier.

Answer 4

His remarks disrespected not only the serving soldiers from Great Britain and Europe, but also the memories of those who gave their lives in World War 2. If he thinks we were "sucking our thumbs" during WW2 then he obviously is so stupid and ignorant to Modern History his words have no crdibility anyway.

I know his comments don't reflect the feelings of all Americans, we're in this war on Terror together, and to be honest I know alot of Americans are embarassed and ashamed of his comments, as we English would be if one of our veterans said the same.

I would like to see him stand in front of a British World War 2 veteran and say exactly the same things he said on TV though, or perhaps meet some of our disabled soldiers from the recent war and face them with his opinions.

I think he is just an uneducated idiot with a big mouth, and in no way a true representation of the American attitude toward their feelings for the Men and Women of Britain and America who stand side by side and have sacrificed their lives in the past,and continue to do so, in order that we can all enjoy and appreciate our democracy and freedoms today.

Answer 5

After reading many of the responses above, I have to comment.

As to the comments made, we each have our "Village Idiots" to deal with do we not. I am not trying to slam the British but only trying to say that, for whatever reasons, any person can make a statement without thinking and can only wish they could take it back.

Many answers to this question and others in the past continue to bring up how arrogant Americans are about WW2 and whether we saved the world. Forget all that - ignorant and uneducated people who have never really considered the situation in WW2. Perhaps having the US enter the war was the turning point.

What you have to consider is this. The Axis Powers seemed to be bent on conquering the world. For the US, it was a matter of self preservation - either we join now while we have some friends and allies whom we can depend on or we may be doomed to continue this fight in and on our own soil in the future. Happenstance made the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor and forced the decision on the US.

I for one, am proud to be friends and allies with the British and would be willing to fight with you again and at any time to preserve our way of life.

Answer 6

Ok I've been avoiding questions on this but i'll answer one. No i don't believe for a second that the guy was sorry. He was everything that typifies certain people in America and what gives them such a bad name with the rest of the world. I think he was told to apologise and the way he did it, showed no remorse at all.

Now to some of the people that answered this.
Tegidfoel- You're a tw@t, even in American English this man made the statement. "You guys need to stop sucking your thumbs like you did in world war 2." There is no miscommunication there, that was utter disrespect and innacurate as the only ones who sucked there thumbs in that war were the Americans who waited until they were attacked before joining us, making us pay for many years for the help and then expecting gratitude for it.

Jaco- The incident with the Brazilian is hardly comparable to this. The police made a mistake, but how exactly were they to know he wasn't a terrorist?? However with this incident the big orange symbol on the British vehicle might have been a giveaway.

Jack- The person who asked this question in no way critisised the Pilot, but just the views of his neighbour who thinks that he's a hero for what he did. But while we're on the subject, i saw the tape, yes control had to take a large portion of the blame and it was a very tragic mistake, and i for one will not critisise someone for what they do in a situation that i have not nor ever want to be but my only problem was the reaction of one of those pilots.. "I feel sick" shows remorse for what you have done, however "We're in jail Dude" shows thought for nobody but yourself, he was afraid for what would happen to him, not the poor soldier that had just been killed by his "friend". so lets not forget that.

Like i said i have no other criticism, of those pilots and they have maintained a very respectful silence since this all came out again, despite the fact it must be very hard for them to live with.

What i will say is that "friendly fire" although a sad fact of war, seems to be mostly an American phenomenon, not solely but mostly. This shows one thing to me, and that is they lack appropriate training. This is no fault of the soldiers but of their government. They are being asked to do a job and not being given support for it. Britain may be smaller and lack the equipment that America has but we are by far better trained. The American government seems to think that an expensive weapon and high tec equipment equals the best military in the world, then the poor soldiers prove time and time again that this is not the case.
In 2003 there were 34 incidents of Blue on Blue by the Americans. After this America asked Britain to provide weapons, vehicles and personnel for training. So even they saw they had a problem.
The American Government is by far one of the most arrogant in the world, they show this by continually refusing to make American personnel available for British inquests. Yet they continue to ask for our help, and by help they mean they want us to do as we're told.
Our government is just as bad for allowing this to continue, and sending our soldiers ill equipped to fight a war that is America's alone. I personally would pull all our troops out and let them fight it alone, before any more innocent British soldiers get killed by either the enemy or Americans, all because of 2 governments that show no respect to their own countries let alone anyone else's.

Answer 7

It's a very deplorable situation and I'm truly sorry for what happened. It's an ugly thing that happens in wars, but those incidences shouldn't. I've been in a situation that had the potential to become fratricide, and it's a sick feeling when you hear things like that happened. I don't know if this guy was genuine or not, but I know that what he said at first was completely out of line and most definitely deserved UCMJ action.

I'd like to apologize for all the Americans that say ignorant and inflammatory stuff like that. We're not all cocky and arrogant like that. I've hung out with a lot of y'all from over there, and we're (the US soldiers) grateful to have you as allies and for the help we get from all the coalition soldiers.

Answer 8

Maybe he was angry when he said it, like when a brother calls his brother stupid, but that he did feel remorse afterward.

I wish I had a TV so I could have seen what you are talking about.

But whatever he said, he was just one person. It is ignorant and racist to judge a whole country, an entire people, by the actions of one person.

It's not unique, people from all countries do it. I support his freedom of speech, though I may not agree with it.

Supporting foreign terrorists was not illegal in the UK until 9/11. It wasn't just Americans and the IRA, every country was that stupid.

9/11 I think woke the world up to "it could happen here too". And it was a declaration of war against the West (I bet George, like him or hate him, would bomb anyone who touched London in that way).

When it was just the middle east and Africa though, were was anyone?

Blind patriotism is what got the Nazis started. That, and the inability to forgive. I hope that my children's generation will not be as stupid as the ones who are making decisions today.

Let's all please stop playing the blame game. May we one day live in peace.

Answer 9

I think he was SORRY..Sorry for LUMPING us in with the rest of Europe.
The reporter more than likely said he was from Britain, & we all know how up them selfs the Yanks are, as Britain is now FULL of the dispossessed halfcast, half baked reigious freaks from around the world & Europe freely walking in & out willy-nilly.

Each time he see the news thier is some FREAK from Britain going out to blow them selfs up. As most Yanks are pretty much thick, they forget Britain is made up of Scotland, Wales, Irland, & oh yes remember England, But ofcause we're a minority now in our own country.

Answer 10

The "Friendly Fire" casualties in this war have been another aspect of the needless conflagration caused by a poorly conceived, ill planned and improperly implemented occupation of Iraq. There have been thousands of innocent victims killed and maimed in the past four years, and the recent mistake which caused the death of your British soldier is another sad statistic that is added to this ever growing list. I didn't hear the American, so can't speculate on his meaning, however I can express my deepest sorrow and sympathy for this senseless killing. I am sorry for your loss. It is another valid reason as to why both the British and Americans need to withdraw from Iraq.

Answer 11

No. We have 300,000,000 people in the United States I dare say he is a fool. And the fool speaks the words of a fool. I am sure you have known British fools. But with 300,000,000 citizens I would not probably be streching it to say we have more than a million foolish people. Do not be suprised if you find at least one in your country. I do not control our education. It is up to each individual State. So we have 50 different individual education standards in our country.