Why Do So Few Immigrants Wear Poppies for UK’s Remembrance Day?
Every year as Remembrance Day approaches, I bemoan the lamentable lack of interest in the great traditions of this country shown by Britain’s immigrant population.
In the weeks leading up to Remembrance Sunday and Armistice Day, I have noticed that I am not the only person wearing a poppy when I board a bus or tube train in London. Though the young are being brainwashed by the media in a society that has become increasingly secular and that celebrates the brand of political correctness that includes disdain for the military, to my delight this year I have noticed that a new generation is joining in this tradition. Sadly, this is still not the case with our large immigrant or second-generation population. When young British soldiers marched in Luton, England, earlier this year, they were booed and jeered by placard-wielding Muslim extremists branding them butchers. (Imagine how far a group of British men would get jeering the native soldiers in Damascus or Tripoli!)
As the brave British, American, and other Allied men who fought for us to be spared the Thousand-Year Reich die off at a rate of 1,500 a day, it is vital we do not forget their sacrifice and that immigrants wake up to the importance of honoring those whose sacrifice has made it possible for them to prosper in Europe and the UK. On October 9, 2009, Her Majesty the Queen led a service at St. Paul’s Cathedral to honor the British forces who have served in Iraq. On Sunday, October 25, 1,500 D-Day veterans were honored at Westminster Abbey. It got little coverage, but by Jove, to me it was an important commemoration. The sea of poppies on the lapels of those attending was a reminder of the tens of thousands of service personnel left behind under the soil of Europe.
In November 2006 Yasmin Alibhai-Brown wrote a remarkable editorial in the Evening Standard in which she expressed her shame at having refused to wear a poppy the year before. In the intervening year she had met ethnic minority war veterans who were particularly hurt by her impetuous attitude. (She had returned her MBE to protest the war policy of the British government. As an immigrant myself, I would drop dead with pride to be awarded any honor by the queen.) To my surprise, in 2006 Alibhai-Brown asserted she would thenceforth wear a poppy and set aside her anti-war sentiments, which she now felt were secondary to the tribute the nation must pay to the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice to preserve our democratic values. When I arrived in the United Kingdom thirty-four years ago, I was so touched by this tradition that I made sure to buy one from a Royal British Legion volunteer as soon as November rolled around.
Madame Gould,
The poppies commemorate the first world war. It has nothing to do with the second world war, or fighting “the Thousand-Year Reich” – a concept which only began to surface in the 20′s along with Mr. H.
Incidentally, the countries which lost the most fighting the Germans in WWI were Russia (over three million), followed by France (1.6 million) and Italy (1.2 million). In terms of percentage of population, it’s Serbia (16% of all Serb citizens were killed), Romania (9%) and France (4.5%).
Two questions: 1) Why do you not mention these countries, France, Italy, Serbia and Russia, which clearly did the heavy lifting in terms of lives lost to win WWI? 2) Why do you believe these countries commemorate less than the UK the first of two continental suicide?
Concerning the second question, I believe the reason is the same as to why the US usually focuses more on its victories of the second world war: The victories of WW2 led to a lasting peace, which we are all still benefiting from. (Not to mention the US lost much more people in the second conflict). Last question then, why should we commemorate a failed peace?
styx
Did you watch the TV programme by Ian Hislop this week Ms Gould? If not, you should have. It detailed the experiences of 4 soldiers of the British Empire in The Great War and showed an entirely different approach to the poppy and everything else. They all fought for King and Empire – the Empire that Americans were so keen to destroy!
If part of the British population rejects one of the country’s most sacred traditions, how can we ever “integrate”?
Nations that throw their doors wide open to immigration have a cultural death wish.
When watching the Chelsea vs Manchester United game last Sunday, it was quite inspiring to see the members of the brances of the British military march onto the field. Then topped off with surviving veterens of The Great War(s) marching right behind them.
Unfortunately, these observances of unity of countrymen are being demonized by popular culture. They are told that a country united to defeat tyranny/oppression/et.al is malevolent. And thereby honoring those who sacrificed are part and parcel to it. Sad.
Ms Gould lives in England. If she lived in Serbia she would no doubt write about their war dead. The poppies, the way, are to remember all the war dead since 1914. At least, they are in England.
Riverstyx:
You’re being unfair to Ms Gould, or not reading her carefully. Nowhere does she slight other nations, or claim they didn’t do their bit. Her column is written in the context of Britain, and the wearing of the poppy by Britons, that’s all.
I would suggest also that you are mistaken in the wearing of the poppy: while it arose as a remembrance of those killed 1914-18, just as Memorial Day in the US began as a commemoration of the dead of 1861-65, the symbol, like the Cenotaph, has been extended to those killed in conflicts since. Most of those wars had dubious causes or conclusions, and so it’s unsurprising that the war against Hitler is the one on which people focus; moreover, many of those man are still alive, whereas the last British WWI veterans just recently died.
The basic thrust of the article, anyway, is the complete irrelevancy of any of this in the minds of the hordes of ‘immigrants’ who refuse to view themselves as British, but rather as the future overlords of the British.
@michael
Yes, England had an empire. Yes, empires are no longer in vogue (in the west). Yes, England has plenty to regret in her history.
BUT – England should glow with pride as the birthplace of the idea that the state does not own the people; that the state is beholden to the people and that the people have the right to decide what form and scope the government may take! YOU, as an Englishman should swell up with pride to be able to count yourself among the inheritors of that great country!
Here are some things to remember about England:
Magna Carta!!!
Nobless Oblige
Led the Abolition movement against slavery
Stood alone against the Nazis when it can be argued it was in her interest to join the Nazis against the USSR.
Just to name a few of the brightest points in her history.
You, if you choose can find plenty of things to focus on if your intent is merely to criticize and condemn your native country. You can pride yourself on your “enlightenment” and “objectiveness” while you bad-mouth your country. How very “new age” of you!
OR- you could be a patriot! You could sing the praises your country has earned, while acknowledging her faults and accepting criticism where appropriate. You could stand up for your country’s history and legacy and demand the rest of the world to acknowledge the many undeniable benefits of her people and policies. You could be an ENGLISHMAN!
As an American, I am grateful to England for laying the foundation of MY freedom! I am proud to be an American, descended from Englishmen!
Because they are Mohammedans and they dont want to support the UK they want to DESTROY it.
#1 I have an answer to your second question. The wearing of poppies or any other commemoration on Memorial Day has nothing to do with success or failure; it has to do with honoring those who fought and died for our countries. The tradition may have started with WWI, but it honors all vets who have died. This includes WWI and II, and the fellow that died last week in Afghanistan.
I may have an answer to your second question as well; because he was talking about Britain and Memorial Day; not the war.
After taking most of UK’s money in WW1 and the rest and leaving us in DEBT in WW11 the USA destroyed European Empires just because they competed with THEIR Financial EMPIRE. No more no less and that was the ONLY reason the USA joined WW1 and they only joined WW11 because Japan attacked THEM and Germany declared war on THEM. Otherwise they would have sat on the fence as USUAL selling to BOTH SIDES.
Thanks Michael (in England) for pointing out the excellent Ian Hislop documentary on Channel 4 on 9/11/09.
“What immigrants and their kin need to be taught is basic pride in being British….”
What the British need to learn — are learning, in fact, every day — is that there is a continuing price to pay for a colonial empire.
Pragmatist,
Besides being off topic your reply is wrong factually.
The U.S. did not “take” most of the U.K. money. England came to America looking to finance it’s war effort. A war at that point that did not threaten the U.S.
If the U.S. hadn’t provided England with financial and material assistance what would have been the outcome?
Additionally, you neglect the resumption of German submarine attacks on U.S. shipping and the interception of the “Zimmerman Telegram” by which if Germany’s proposal had been accepted by Mexico would have brought the war directly to the American continent.
Your knee-jerk Anti-Americanism is pathetic.
This is the baneful twin legacy of multiculturalism and political correctness.
Those countries based upon the Judeo-Christian phenomenon have made the most progress in making sure there is one standard for all, especially when it comes to the redressing of man’s inhumanity to man.
Anything less is unjust & perfidious.
So, not holding those who fight integration the hardest to that standard, well the problem isn’t
only with the immigrants who fit that description.
Yasmin Alibhai-Brown wrote a remarkable editorial in the Evening Standard in which she expressed her shame at having refused to wear a poppy the year before. In the intervening year she had met ethnic minority war veterans who were particularly hurt by her impetuous attitude. (She had returned her MBE to protest the war policy of the British government.
She had no trouble supporting the British military when it was bombing Christians in Serbia.
What immigrants and their kin need to be taught is basic pride in being British
Since they are not British, no matter what their passport says, that won’t happen.
hey only joined WW11 because Japan attacked THEM and Germany declared war on THEM.
Britain only went to war against Germany to preserve the balance of power on the European continent. If Hitler could’ve taken Poland and exterminated the Jews without disrupting the balance of power Britain would not have been involved either. States go to war for geopolitical, not moral reasons. Time to grow up.
Integrate? You hit it, they don’t and don’t want to. (Thank you leftists.)
Expect the Government of the UK to ban Poppies next.
Offensive to Muslims, asians and such.
Look you voted for Labour twice since 1997. Remember the posters with Blair with demon-eyes?
You ignored the facts and voted for the overturners and now find society has been destroyed. You were warned and you didn’t listen. Now most white people either have left or are making plans to leave, and within 20 years the former UK will be Pakistan West. This is the fact.
Stop whinging and start filling out the emigration forms.
Carol, Hold onto your U.S. citizenship because the left-wing dhimmi in England are busy surrendering their country.
One other thing of note: being English is a matter of blood, it is an ethnicity. Thus, those who come from elsewhere to live in England may become citizens but they will never be English.
One hopes that there will always be an England,
but if not, perhaps the US can learn from their
mistakes.
Dearest Pragmatist, Allah akbar infidel!
“Thus, those who come from elsewhere to live in England may become citizens but they will never be English.”
You mean, like the Royal Family?
Seriously, who could be more English than G F Handel, Hilaire Belloc, JRR Tolkien, Benjamin Disraeli? Englishness is above all a state of mind- one which is firmly rejected by far too many of those with newly-printed UK passports.
Thanks Ms. Gould. I thought it a very insightful, poignant, and enjoyable read. The ‘symbols’ are indeed very important.
I was gratified to read in my morning paper that Canada is making knowledge of our military history a part of the citizenship guide:
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Citizenship+guide+focus+military+history+symbolism/2207674/story.html
#9 ione has it right.
The poppies are a simple sign of respect to all the allied forces in the first two world wars and to the veterans of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK, and the USA of the wars they fought in after 1945.
The comments about the article that are anti-American are odd. The USA had far more troops killed in the second world war than did the UK. After 1945 the US financed the economic recovery of Europe. Why is that bad?
People who don’t respect the armed forces don’t have to wear a poppy – it’s their choice. Neither should they rabbit on about we who do buy a poppy and who spend a couple of quiet minutes at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, thanking those who saved our bacon.
Carol ,
You must have Dejavu.You have had the near identical experience in 2005.
http://97.74.65.51/Printable.aspx?ArtId=6496
All the stories have been told
Of kings and days of old,
But there’s no England now.
All the wars that were won and lost
Somehow don’t seem to matter very much anymore.
-The Kinks, Living On A Thin Line
Maybe this has something to do with the simple fact that things change and since all the participants in WW l are now dead, it is easy for people to forget. As well as the horrible peace that followed that allowed an even worse one to erupt 21 years later. There is nothing sacred about this tradition.
All I see here is the usual yobs going on with their usual obsessions.
“…immigrants to the United States glow with radiance when they become citizens.”
If so, that’s because they’ve been peddling uranium on the black market. It certainly doesn’t emanate from a feeling of honor at becoming an American citizen. Our modern immigrants despise America – at best to them it’s just a cash cow. The value of citizenship to them is measured strictly by an increase in income – or perhaps by the greater ease of importing another horde of their tribesmen.
“It is a tradition started in Canada and the United States that spread to Britain”
I think you are mistaken. This tradition is unknown in the US.
I had occasion today to drive through several suburban housing developments with a friend who does remodeling work. He and I both noticed that the more expensive the houses in the neighborhood, the fewer American flags were displayed on Veterans Day. I understand that those who come to a new society should integrate, and so do they. They carefully watch the wealthier and strive to emulate them. It is the elites who set a piss poor example of patriotism while enjoying the most fruits of the sacrifices of others that are partially at fault for the action of new immigrants. I remember when I grew up, the wealthy were very proud of having served, and new immigrants copied their patriotism, always displaying the flag of their new homeland whenever they had a chance to do so.
As long as the average folks accept elitists who pride themselves on defaming the country they benefit so much from, you can’t expect the new comers to not imitate those who they see as the ones most rewarded by their new homeland. Sure, they could reason things out differently, and with a bit of encouragement probably would. Where, though, is their example? Most school systems are managed by people who emulate the elitists by taking pride in defaming their own nation. Teachers as a rule are happy to revise history in order to revile those who paid the ultimate price to allow them their freedom. Entertainers are constantly talked about and obsessed over yet take every cheap shot at their society they can think of whether or not their inane babbling makes any sense or not. What about politicians, most of whom are bending over backwards in order to ignore a 7th century threat to every free nation in the world, are they an example of anything patriotic?
Until the nation as a whole refuses to accept elites who defame their own society, don’t expect newcomers to emulate those who are less successful or at least, less honored and praised, when it comes to anything patriotic or any other behavior they’re trying to learn in order to be accepted. As long as the elite thrives in spite of their open disdain for their own society, I really don’t expect the newest members of a society to understand that the most rewarded and most often praised in society are often the least worthy of their wealth or praise and quite often the worst examples of what the nations citizens really believe and stand for.
Regards
If you’re seeing more poppies amongst the youth these days, I aver that it is perhaps because soldiers are fighting and dying again. These soldiers are of these youth. They are friends, classmates, and brothers. When your friends start wearing them and tell you why, it becomes a thing to be done.
Patriotism makes a comeback during wartime. It is good to remember that you are one people… and that there are Others. A sense of identity is a good thing. It makes one hold one’s head high.
Pride in one’s school, one’s town, one’s province, one’s nation, one’s traditions… these all increase one’s vigor towards life. They add energy to all one’s doings. One does not just shuffle along, while waiting to “shuffle off this mortal coil”. Life is to be lived!
Dominant nations hold these traditions high. Their citizens, thus, walk about with helds held high. They do not shuffle about like peasants.
Self identity looks to one’s past, present, and future. One cannot simply ignore the past and hope to have some identity in the now.
Each must find the things he values, and traditions he embraces, in order to have some sense of self. Empty is the man who values nothing, who celebrates nothing. He who embraces nothing is a ghost, drifting through the world, unattached.
From the United States Oath of Allegiance:
“I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen…”
Carol Gould, you cannot hold two citizenships according to U.S. law. But…considering that the United Kingdom may soon be dead, your U.K. citizenship may dissolve on its own.
I’m an American and was living in London last year at this time. I was thrilled to see so many poppies – it seemed they were everywhere, and the ceremony at the Cenotaph was so moving and dignified. It was a sign of hope, for me, that all is not quite lost yet in your beautiful country. I have to say though, that my heart breaks that the Union Jack is not proudly displayed, as it should be everywhere. It is a symbol of your traditions, your rich history, your culture, the beautiful country in which you live, and for which you have so many reasons to be proud. Britons, do freedom a favor and LOVE YOUR FLAG.
I was sittin there today (in britain, as an american) typing away to someone about a problem with a student. All of a sudden the fire alarm went off..so I kept typin away..then realized..(about ten minutes later) the reason was because of remembrance… hell, I thought it was just another false..fire alarm..
stop being so American, and start considering being human..
ok?
The leftist Labour Party allowed several million low skilled fundamentalist muslims into the UK in the last 10 years in order to force diversity on the native British population. They said it would make the UK a more beautiful place full of rich multiculturalism. In reality they let a low IQ, barbaric, racist, muslim 5th column invade the UK in order to win their votes and ensure Labour wins election after election. As a result of this beautiful diversity welfare systems have been overwhelmed, government budgets are bankrupt, an already crowded country is ever more crowded, ethno-centric anti-white and anti-”infidel” gangs have exploded, gang rapes of white British girls has soared, gun crimes have soared despite almost all guns being banned in the UK, stabbings have soared, terrorist groups and terrorist attacks have soared, huge riots take place in the streets while muslim mongoloids scream allah ackbar and kill the Jews, and like you said they’re genarally not loyal Britons at all. The leftists don’t understand that these muslims don’t want to integrate into British society and never will. They came with their own strict and intricate set of laws and culture called sharia based islam. And now they have their own seperate sharia based courts of law where women are forced to marry their cousins in arranged marriages and are killed for becoming too Westernized and British authorities are too afraid to intervene. The left is doing the same thing here for the same reasons with the illegal alien invasion of America. The West is literally being killed from within like a cancer due to deranged leftist ideology. We have to stop it and reverse it before Western Civilization itself is completely destroyed in the next 50-100 years. Think of your children and their children and the future you’ll be leaving them.
And everyone criticizing the UK for having an empire are morons. Everyone was part of an empire in those days. It wasn’t until the rise of America that imperialism and empire building became taboo. The muslims had empires, the Indians had empires, the asians had empires, the South Americans had empires, the pre-Columbian North Americans had empires, and *gasp* the Europeans also had empires. It’s just that the European empires in the last several hundred years had extremely successful empires that were capable of dominating and colonizing other empires all around the world. The muslims occupied and colonized Greece for several hundred years. You don’t hear them crying about it though do you or using it as some kind of justifcation to screw over muslims or to blame Greek problems on colonialism. I’m sick of Europeans being constantly demonized and expected to just bend over and take insult after insult and lie after lie. The truth is the British Empire was a product of the period in which it thrived. And truth be told it was one of the most civilized empires as well that treated their conquered foes with a hell of a lot more dignity and respect than other empires did. They also left behind a vast network of advanced infrastructure which those colonies benefitted from tremendously – yes, including America. They left behind democracy, rule of law, education, industry, a global language, etc. Almost all of the British colonies are far better off than their neighbors. So drop the anti-British bullcrap. The people the British colonized would have done the same to them (but far worse) had the tables been turned.
Tolbert
There you go again confusing the simple telling of the truth with anti Americanism. Its TRUE the USA stayed out of WW1 making pots of money selling to BOTH SIDES and only joining the war in 1917 and not arriving in France in numbers until 1918 when the war was just about won. Similarly in WW11 the USA sat on the sidelines until THEY were attacked by Japan and even THEN they did not declare war on Germany Germany declared war on YOU. Needless to say you were selling to BOTH SIDES prior to that. America GAVE nothing to UK it was LEND LEASE for which the UK paid in money and assets every single dime. After WW11 America FORCED the European nations to give up their Empires by financial muscle. This was not an altruistic act by America it was a cold calculated decision to prevent Europeans regaining strength so that America could impose ITS Financial EMPIRE on the world without European competition which they did and even YOU cannot deny that that is exactly what happened. Through arrogance and gross mismanagement the American Financial EMPIRE is now crumbling incredibly fast and has proved to be one of the shortest lived Empires of all.
Pragmatist,
.
As “coisty” stated earlier “states go to war for geo-political, not moral reasons”.
When you state, “America GAVE nothing to UK it was LEND LEASE for which the UK paid in money and assets every single dime.”, you imply that there was a moral obligation on the part of the U.S. to provide financial and material support gratis, which is of course absurd.
Additionally, at the end of WWII Lend-lease items retained were sold to England at 10% of their valuation and repayment was to be stretched out over 50 years at 2% interest. The final payment by England was made on 29 December 2006, some 61 years after the end of the lend-lease agreement.
Calculating the rate of inflation,which was greater than 2% for most of that period, the U.S. actually lost money on that loan.
Lastly, the Marshall Plan gave $12,000,000,000 in aid grants (money that was never repaid or expected to be repaid) to European govenments to rebuild after WWII.
So spare me your sanctimonious whinging and instead pick up an actual history book written by historians and not some tripe you picked by from your inebriated pub-mates.
Pragmatist
Wow, you are like that obnoxious teenager telling the tender grade schoolers what they thought was Santa was some old drunk the store hired for Xmas and it was their mom and dad that put their presents under the tree the night before.
These little kids are very unstable and have low self esteem, so you have to prop up their bruised egos all the time by telling them that they are the most exceptional brave, generous people in the world while the rest of the world is full of evil Muslims or degenerate Socialists, with the exception of the odd Francoist they come across with his crucifix above his gun rack or some Zionists dug in around Gaza.
David W. Lincoln:
“Those countries based upon the Judeo-Christian phenomenon have made the most progress in making sure there is one standard for all, especially when it comes to the redressing of man’s inhumanity to man.”
You mean like the class systems, colonial inferiors, serfdom, slavery? And less than a hundred years ago you would have been punched in the nose for prefacing Christian with Judeo!
Blackwater says: “The leftists don’t understand that these muslims don’t want to integrate into British society and never will”
The UK government is slowly and surely choking off the import of Pakistani peasants and so on. The muslims in England will become English muslims. They’ll discard aspects of their religion and will increasingly resent being associated with the people of the countries they have fled from. They’ll confirm to the well known pattern of having fewer children as they become more prosperous.
My country will change – which I regret – but we’ll survive.
By the way, Bubblehead, I wasn’t bad mouthing my country, just pointing out a TV programme that celebrated the way that various overseas people fought for King and Empire. You forgot to list amongst the English triumphs, the US constitution – written almost entirely by Englishmen!
Toronto is now 50% immigrant. Most are non-white, from 3rd world countries who should be on bended knee with thanks for being permitted to live in Canada. However, every year I attend a Veteran’s Day memorial and every year I see the same throngs of people with their poppies and it amazes me what colour 95% of them are…..WHITE.
#41 Javelin – What bile-filled tripe! Do you really think we’re not exceptional in our bravery and generosity? Really? If so, it’s because you’re focussing entirely on our flaws. Let’s say we are bad. Well, we are the least bad country in the world.
Let me give you a couple examples. Around the world, when people rise up against their masters, they hold up signs in their own tongues… and signs in English! Those secondary signs are not in Spanish, or French, or German, or Russian, or Chinese or any other tongue. They are in English. It is a cry out to America for succor. They are not crying out to anyone else, because they KNOW!
The people also know that they have nothing to fear from American soldiers. The guys with guns fear, but those without do not. The best ambassadors we have are American soldiers. No one else reaches out to the civilians the way we do.
Our soldiers don’t look down on them as lesser races like other nations’ troops do. We see human beings. We befriend them. The kids rush to the Amis, because they know we bear candy, literally. Our guys love their kids. We love their women and kids like their own men do not. We play. We love. We embrace. We care. We have the biggest hearts.
The biggest problem in Iraq and Afghanistan is their fear that we might leave; that we weren’t committed. The biggest reason for the Surge’s success is that we made the commitment to stay, and the people responded. Same for Afghanistan. They want to back us, but they need to know we’ll stay the course. The PEOPLE want US to stay. What other nation occupies a country, and then has the people there wanting them to stay? We’re THAT good!
So, take your bile and swallow it!
Riverstyx –
It should be noted that the poppy is a symbol of World war I but has been worn in subsequent generations to commemorate the fallen of all wars. This was brought home to me last weekend when after appearing on BBC Radio Four’s ‘Any Questions?’ in Hartlepool I attended the local Sunday Cenotaph service. The attendance was high and the number of names inscribed on the large war memorial — for a town of 98,000 — seemed endless and incorporated those of both wars. Poppy wreaths were laid for British Korean War dead. The leader of the service reminded the crowd that the wreaths and poppies were in honour of those of all wars including Iraq and Afghanistan.
“You mean like the class systems, colonial inferiors, serfdom, slavery? ”
Ahem…India/EVERYWHERE, China/Rome/Ancient Greece/the Comanche/Spartan Helotry/Later Persia, pretty much the whole of Communism/China, and Africa/Arabia. Those are your respective counterexamples for what you apparently believe are ills solely expressed by Western Judeo-Christian society.
P.S. My car club is restoring a Morris Minor Panel Van that was raced in the sixties on local Texas dragstrips. I love those little guys.
Our soldiers don’t look down on them as lesser races like other nations’ troops do. We see human beings. We befriend them. The kids rush to the Amis, because they know we bear candy, literally. Our guys love their kids. We love their women and kids like their own men do not. We play. We love. We embrace. We care. We have the biggest hearts.
The
Sorry about typo and the premature posting.
45. Marc Malone:
‘Our soldiers don’t look down on them as lesser races like other nations’ troops do. We see human beings. We befriend them. The kids rush to the Amis, because they know we bear candy, literally. Our guys love their kids. We love their women and kids like their own men do not. We play. We love. We embrace. We care. We have the biggest hearts.’
So you have chosen Armistice Day when the whole country in the U.K comes to a stand still on the 11th hour of 11th day of the 11th month
when the guns fell silent,to denigrate our troops
Who are the lesser races?
I could be annoying by bringing up abu ghraib.
#49 mags – Sorry about your premature… posting. I’m not denigrating your guys. I love our little English buddies. Kidding!
Seriously, I was defending our honor, so to speak. I was exalting our guys, not denigrating yours. I personally believe in our special relationship. Our Armistice day long ago morphed into Veterans’ Day. It serves the same purpose as your Remembrance Day. We do not, however, fall silent. We do take the day off and hold ceremonies.
Yes, bringing up Abu Ghraib was a cheap shot. I feel no shame for it. A few louts dishonored themselves, not America. It’s sad when too few of our young have a proper moral compass, anymore.
One question: Why did you think my posting was all about you?
I’m an American by choice (praise be to Allah) and a hapless Anglophile, but STOP saying “asians” or “south asians”.
The hindus and sikhs in Britain are not out for world domination or demanding special “rights”.
The second generation onwards, they out-Anglo the Anglos, just like our super-Anglo’ing non-Anglo friend Mark Steyn.
TOLBERT please dont project and try and put words in to my mouth. Where did I ever say or imply the USA was morally bound to supply us nowhere thats where. No the USA did what it did for purely COMMERCIAL reasons and to get bits of the British Empire it coveted. Diego Garcia ring a bell or is that not in your History Book???
So spare me your NATIONALIST BS and admit that all I said was TRUE and not some death or glory claptrap you heard in American Saloons.
I am pleased you asked that question.Sometimes when Americans are talking about Europe they don’t think they are including the U.K- but you are.
I think because the article was about the U.K that was a clue that it was about us.
There isn’t many in the coalition of the ‘willing’,if it wasn’t the U.K ,then who were you referring to ,that looks down on lesser races.
As we are sexually repressed in the U.K, all that cuddley,wudderly,huggy,kissy ,carey,sharey love in, that you call your military might not go down well with our hairy arsed squaddies(that’s just the women).
I know you love your country,but your allies are exceptional in bravery and generosity as well.It’s not an U.S only gene.
#53 MAGS – First, I was defending against a troll. I used the post number for reference. Lauding ourselves is not a putdown of you.
You may think English troops are as brave et al as Amis, but history shows otherwise. We beat you twice. We also came to your rescue twice, and outperformed you each time. Recently, you all left Fallujah in defeat. WE sent in the Marines, and won where you could not. Right now, the U.S. military is the absolute finest in the world. (We should be, after so many conflicts.) The U.S. is also the most generous nation in the world.
So, while I love you English blokes, don’t get all uppity.
Pragmatist,
Again you seem to have no grasp of the obvious. England came to us for assistance. Would you have rather that we not have given it at all?
So which is it to be, England asked for assistance or we forced it on them?
Also, how about you return the $12,000,000,000 the Marshall Plan gave you that was never repaid or expected to be repaid?
Yea, that what I thought you would do.
well, 11 of november will not be celebrated in the next years anymore, for Sarkozy decided it lately, since our last veteran died in the year. Otherwise, whe should still celebrate all the war ends, and God knows that we have quite a few of them since our country existed !
Besides it is in adequation with EU policies, we don’t want to embarass our Germans new partners !
As far as for myself, I don’t care, I always found these ceremonies boring, ome kind of nostalgy for the past
54. Marc Malone:
I am not a bloke and i wasn’t being uppity.I think we have got lost in the translation.
However my love,i am not trying to argue who is the best,just asking for respect.
Again ‘We came to your rescue twice’etc.I can’t be bothered refuting these comments,and i could but i don’t think you are interested in our history and i am not trying to score points.
Marc, what is with you yanks,why is there such a need to feel superior ,i don’t get it, a nation lacking humility is not a generous one.
One thing though if you are the master race,exceptional people,why have you got Obama as a leader and why do you all despise left-wing America,and they despise right-wing America.
I have no idea what America is but you hate eachother and detest your leader
this trait is peculiar to your land.