Why do people give little respect to the men and women in the british armed forces?

Question

where as in america they are deemed as heros?

Answer 1

I certainly hope thats not true. I have nothing but respect for the British and for their Armed Services. The Brits, Scots, Irish and Welsh are known for their bravery and love of country on the battlefields.

Maybe we Americans have better publicity agents, but we are certainly not the only heros out there. Heros come in all colors, cultures and genders. Please don't think all Americans are rich and obnoxious, thats a just a very small, very vocal group. Real Americans don't want to take from other countries, we want everyone to be as happy as we are, have as much as God has blessed us with and to live freely on this beautiful planet.

Answer 2

The chattering classes plus so called liberals and a the Labour party in general do not like the Armed Forces. This was OK until we had a war monger as a Labour leader who has sent ill equipped, ill paid servicemen to die in foreign countries. If they come home, badly wounded, the contempt shown towards them is truly inhuman. I doubt whether many Labour supporters can stand this as their sons are probably involved. Good way to run down the Services thought. Saves a lot of money if you are a member of this New Labour government.

I read today that the EU is looking at the idea of a President and that Blair and Chirac are in the running. Oh, what a lovely lot of toy soldiers that Blair can play with if he becomes President of Europe. I hope that Europe is thinking about this. Both aspirants are corrupt but perhaps we would benefit from Chirac. If he wants a Euro army he can hardly keep committing British troops all the time. Or could he?

Answer 3

this was certainly true in the past but probably not so much these days with our lads and lasses being trained to a high professional standard in may fields. Back in the days of the redcoats, during times of peace the soldiery of the day were apparently a rum lot , roaming around the countryside causing mischief and often worse. This was probably after the Crimean war when returning soldiers had no jobs, often no homes and consequently mayhem was abound. This is when lots of Acts such as the vagrancy laws were passed,
1866. About that time a poem was written, I can't remember the exact words but it implied that soldiers were regarded as a damn nuisance, until, I remember one line..'but tommy becomes a hero when the cannons begin to roar.'

Answer 4

Dont get me wrong, I am ex-services and am proud of every action the british armed services are involved in, whether it is deemed right or wrong by society, these lads are doing their duty.

What does concern me, and where I believe the root of the problem lies, is in education at schools.
To put it bluntly, there is zero discipline in schools. My own childrens school insist that the children call the teachers by their first name!.

Their is a lack of physical punishment (the cane etc) for serious wrongdoing and a regime of instilling into children that no one is allowed to touch them, punish them, verbally abuse them, and should parents smack their legs for being naughty, then they should call childline.

This then is the mindstate that todays school leavers are carrying into the adult world. Their own idea of personal non conatct or abuse is accepted as the universal standard and they see any kind of military contact as deeply disturbing.

I have heard time and again, parents of soldiers on news bulletins complaining that their child should not have been sent to war as it is an illegal war etc:etc;etc:

So what was legal about the first or second world wars?.

The point is, these servicemen have a duty to perform, when recruited, no one leads them to believe any different. Surely these servicemen are not expected to be trained as a military fighting unit, yet only used as such when the general public concensus dicatates that a war would be ethical.

For those who are concerned that the Iraq war was not legal!. Forget about WMD and oil supplies and international incursions into Kuwait by Saddam.

His regime caused enough abject misery, torture, rape, murder, executions etc, within his own borders to warrant intervention.

I would assume that Mugabe will be the next dictator to be ousted, and yes that would probably mean using British forces, and without going into matters such as what would be the financial benefits of ousting him, you have to agree, he has done enough already to warrant his removal!.

So our servicemen are there to do a job, lets stop teaching children that all physical punishment is wrong (wether in the classroom or in the battlefield), lets instill the lost discipline into our nation and you never know, we may in the process stop the gangs of youths hanging round on street corners who do not fear the police (or anyone else for that matter)

Respect and admire our armed services, they end up a long way from home, in hostile situations with only their training to keep them alive.

Many are young people experiencing their first taste of action and must wonder why they lie in a hole at night trembling, when people back home are screaming that these young people shouldn't be there.

You may not agree with what they are doing, but you are obliged to support them!

Answer 5

As a member of the armed forces just returned from Iraq, i feel i can answer this - Basically we don't want people lining the streets waving flags as we march past. personally i would be very embarrassed. At the end of the day it is just a job, we know the risks! otherwise we wouldn't do it. I don't need respect just my mortgage paid every month the same as every other worker on the country.

Answer 6

The British armed forces are part of the class system, just look at the officer type that run the forces would you give them respect.
How many working class people would be accepted into the Blues and Royals regiment as officers?, only the rich elite and royals get into them.
I respect the ordinary soldier, sailor and airman but the poncy officer type have no respect from me.

Answer 7

There is little or no respect for anything anymore. The americans are great self publisists. The US soldiers are treated with respect but a large majority of US citizens dont want war.The problem in America lies with the politicians, as it is here. This country is too politically correct. Not so long ago British citizens used to state that we are becoming more and more like the USA with their sue you sue me culture. Well we have now surpassed the US and we have things like "The human rights act" and the new Police codes of practice. The police are now run by the government, not the good old days when the police were the police.
We live in a self made society wereby the only ones to blame are ourselves for voting into power people who`s main interests are not in line with the vast majority of citizens. We live in a society where you can be arrested for assaulting a burglar, or if you were being mugged and you beat the crap out the mugger you would get done for assault.
The list is endless because a society exists that allows for this. Soldiers do not get parades anymore in case it upsets the minorities. We cannot display our national flag in case it offends someone. Nurses are regularly physicaly and verbally abused every weekend by drunks who think they can get away with it, and they generally do because the paperwork involved in punishing these people is ovewhelming!
I hated what Adolf Hitler stood for and I hated his politics but one thing he said that I beleive is true is that only certain people should be allowed to have children.
Children that are brought up by pot smoking, law breaking adults usually end up following suit (yes there are exeptions to this). What disapline they lacked at home, used to given by teachers at school (they are no longer allowed to smack naughty children). and the kids who continued to wreak havock would expect a clip around the ear from the local police officer in the back of a police van!
This subject could run for ever but both you and i know that there is no solution.....The country has created a hole too big to climb out of!

Answer 8

I am a British and I have great respect for any nationality who puts their life on the line to help and protect others, regardless of whether they are defending their own country or helping another. I am proud of the British forces and the work they do.

Answer 9

Sadly Hannibal makes a good point.

But i actually think Michael is correct. This country in general doesn't want this war and unfortunately i think this comes across as a negativity towards the troops when in reality most people are very proud of our armed forces. It's our government and their American bum licking that we despise.

America on the other hand tend to be a very aggressive gung ho nation who believe if it doesn't bow down to them then it should be destroyed, therefore the armed forces are treated like heroes as they are the ones that do this.

Answer 10

the people you may be referring to, don't seem to have respect for anything, so I doubt if our armed forces care a crap about whether or not you respect them, they are just doing what they are paid to do. I would like to see where your respect lies if you were caught in the middle of hand to hand combat with insurgents, you would have a different opinion about who to respect and who are the heroes. Hand to hand combat with an insurgent would be a rare thing because they bomb and maim innocents to get to troops rather than pick a fight. A bit like the extremist muslim scum in this country and their saudi paymasters and brainwashers.