Bring the SAS home

49 comments on “Bring the SAS home ”

• Comments are now closed

1. Adrian 1

   5 July 2011 at 12:32 pm

   And now Key and his ministers are giving different stories on Pike River body recovery, and the msm are not calling him out on it. If Helen had stuffed up on the SAS like this shithead has, she would have been crucified. Too many people on this site castigate Phil Goff, but if your opponent is so well protected by the opinion makers it is bloody hard to make any kind of headway. Even yesterday a story on a Labour MP ripping the Nats a new one was spun as if it was Labour confused. Arseholes!
   • Colonial Viper 1.1

     5 July 2011 at 12:41 pm

     The Left needs its own MSM.
   • Reality Bytes 1.2

     5 July 2011 at 8:25 pm

     FFS, if the amount of resources and time public servants spent pontificating and opining on the best course of action wasn’t spent electioneering, opining and pontificating on pointless crap, they could have EASILY reserved enough cash by now to get the bodies of loved ones out, and we could have learnt some valuable future life saving lessons about how this occured to help avoid future repetitions of similar disasters.

     The creepy thing is, I don’t understand how someone is potentially willing to buy the mine, yet not have a plan to recover the bodies, WTF?? So how does that work, are they just going to tear up and mine the place, bodies included, and simply process the bodies along with coal?!?!

     Seriously WTF. Where is the leadership in this situation? Our elected representatives should be stepping up and saying WE WILL GET THIS SORTED OUT. But not seeing much of that.
2. Colonial Viper 2

   5 July 2011 at 12:40 pm

   Key can’t stand to be disliked by ‘important people’ so he’ll fold to the wishes of the US and the UK in Afghanistan.

   Re: Pike River, there’s nothing there in it for him, so he will let underlings sort it out and pretend there is no issue.
   • Reality Bytes 2.1

     5 July 2011 at 8:32 pm

     And make the occasional comment, “that it’s important to get the bodies out” in the herald, yet not take the leadership initiative to do anything about it. Talk talk talk and no walk.
3. travellerev 3

   5 July 2011 at 12:59 pm

   This is an article I wrote in March 2008. As far as I’m concerned it still stands.
4. Maui 4

   5 July 2011 at 1:04 pm

   http://www.ospreypublishing.com/store/Special-Operations-Forces-in-Afghanistan_9781846033100
5. Gosman 5

   5 July 2011 at 1:24 pm

   The SAS are not the sort of people who run crying home to mummy just because a couple of them were injured in a firefight, regardless of whether or not it involved friendly fire.

   Some of you lefties would do wonders for the morale of our elite fighting unit if everytime something like this happened you decided to remove them from the danger zone.
   • lprent 5.1

     5 July 2011 at 1:47 pm

     Gosman: I supported sending combat troops into Afghanistan when requested from the UN in 2001 because of the failed state situation there. I also supported removing them when the situation got stabilized in the mid-00’s and there was a dysfunctional but operating state in place.

     But I couldn’t see any particular reason for our combat troops to be be over there at present apart from John Key wanting to be patted on the head by the US. Basically the drooling puppy still doesn’t seem to know why they are there, I don’t know why they are propping up such a corrupt government, and if they aren’t going to be involved in making sure that elections are free of the ballot stuffing then they shouldn’t be there.

     You jerking yourself into a frenzy with the patriotism just reminds me why I still refer to certain people as “civilians” 30 years after I left. You remind me of that other great armchair general – Whaleoil.
   • felix 5.2

     5 July 2011 at 1:55 pm

     Gosman thinks the SAS (or any military force) is deployed on their own say-so.

     Gosman is a fucking fool.
   • Blighty 5.3

     5 July 2011 at 4:08 pm

     it’s not a question of whether they want to fight. Obviously they do. It’s a question of whether it is right for us to be sending them to fight, and a good use of our money.
   • Policy Parrot 5.4

     5 July 2011 at 7:57 pm

     When John Key changed the long standing practice of “no comment” regarding the whereabouts and movements of the SAS – he was probably hoping for a gung-ho photo-op. Now, no-one (the media) can seem to get enough of the SAS, and really are potentially putting them in harm’s way.

     It’s not as if the horse has bolted – it’s as easy as saying “the Government doesn’t comment on matters involving the SAS”. Previous PM’s managed it, why can’t John?
     • Reality Bytes 5.4.1

       5 July 2011 at 8:42 pm

       Yeah that was completely lame of the herald not to blur out (that guy who I assume was) SAS face. But hey it probably sells more newspapers, who gives a shit about the security of some guy doing his best to serve our country. Likewise the PM giving updates on where Willie Apata is located, seriously why the fuck does he have to do that??? Is Mr Key’s most important task of the day to update-on and respond to stories he’s reading in the Herald or something?

       FFS why does he have that much time on his hands??? I thought Being Prime Minister would be an important job, but apparently not if Key’s work ethics are anything to go by.
   • Morrissey 5.5

     6 July 2011 at 9:19 am

     Something called “Gosman” is just a tad confused….

     The SAS are not the sort of people who run crying home to mummy

     You must be unaware of the fact that New Zealand SAS troops in Afghanistan have been bullied into handing captives over to possible torture and summary execution.

     You can call them “our elite fighting unit” if you like (you obviously have no military experience) but being browbeaten and bullied by their American “allies” suggests they are neither elite nor a “fighting unit”.
6. travellerev 6

   5 July 2011 at 1:26 pm

   And all this from a fat kid not yet dry behind the ears  wearing a macho cowboy hat and coat in a museum. ROFL.
   • The Voice of Reason 6.1

     5 July 2011 at 1:31 pm

     Huh? Who is the kid you refer to and what does his weight or attire have to do with anything?
     • travellerev 6.1.1

       5 July 2011 at 1:57 pm

       VoR,

       That would be Gosman. And I don’t know about you but when a kid who is decidedly pudgy and flaccidly build, who clearly hasn’t had a day of fear or huger in his life and who most certainly has never had to brave bullets other than sitting behind his computer playing shoot-em-up games and who ridiculously wears the sort of clothes meant to be worn by real men and women who are out and about earning their daily crust of the land in the te Papa museum on a December day tells me how guys out in Afghanistan are feeling it sort of works on my laughing muscles as we say in Holland.

       I might be mistaken but I would venture that the guys actually doing the dodging of bullets etc. would want us to be damn sure we want to be in harms way. And I would assume this whether I agree with the war or not.

       And Gosman while your hero, equally flaccidly build, with a big bank account earned with gambling and shares in the war machine does the same as you by identifying fraudulently with these guys in Afghanistan I think it is not for nothing that Goff calls for the withdrawal of the troops out of Afghanistan.

       He at least knows how it feels to loose someone he loves in a war.

       VoR, I hope that answers your question?
       • The Voice of Reason 6.1.1.1

         5 July 2011 at 2:02 pm

         Cheers, didn’t realise that the two of you had met. That would have been a fascinating discussion, I imagine. Hope you didn’t make him cry!
         • travellerev 6.1.1.1.1

           5 July 2011 at 2:34 pm

           We met at the presentation of Richard Gage the architect who founded Architects and Engineers for 911 truth he was one of 3 (I think) out of the 650 people at that presentation who stuck by his guns about 911 and building 7 being brought down by 19 witless young men with a crazy kidney patient in a cave as a master.

           He had announced his presence on this blog and as soon as I realised who the fat little kid with the cowboy outfit was I didn’t bother. If Richard Gage’s presentation isn’t enough then nothing is. The kid is a screamer not a listener and debater. Waste of time.
7. Rusty Shackleford 7

   5 July 2011 at 1:38 pm

   You don’t know what you are talking about. Everyone knows that wars are stimulatory for the economy and therefore bring prosperity for everyone.
   • The Voice of Reason 7.1

     5 July 2011 at 1:45 pm

     Didn’t know you did satire, Rusty. Good first effort!
     • travellerev 7.1.1

       5 July 2011 at 1:58 pm

       I second that!
       • Rusty Shackleford 7.1.1.1

         5 July 2011 at 2:04 pm

         The sad part is, it is a main stream view.
         • Colonial Viper 7.1.1.1.1

           5 July 2011 at 4:16 pm

           Everyone knows that wars are stimulatory for the economy and therefore bring prosperity for everyone.

           In Afghanistan, its the heroin which is stimulatory, and to the economy too.

           The real irony is white kids in the west shooting up = funding the Taleban against their parents simultaneously.
   • Reality Bytes 7.2

     5 July 2011 at 10:19 pm

     Apparently America spent over 4 trillion US$ on a few of their very latest wars.

     Sure some technology companies no doubt got part of that $4T in income. But other than geo-political horse trading and the profit margins of arms manufacturers, how has that 4 trillion spend up helped to build up the global economy?

     Remember to consider opportunity cost, the real question is, if 4 trillion was not spent on military adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan…. What ELSE could it have been spent on.

     (Gee I dunno, Fusion power/end of oil reliance, colony on Mars and beyond, ending global food&medicine supply problems, cures for Cancer and umpteen other serious problems, etc).

     Four trillion is a shit ton of money, think about it. That’s a lot of energy getting directed at something that involves a lot of expensive hardware getting shot at stuff and exploding.

     Remember that a big part of that $4T is paying for things like ongoing care of crippled veterans etc… That may be considered part of the GDP, but it’s not doing anything to further mankind’s progress. Don’t get me wrong, it’s important these guys are cared for, but it’s an unfortunate cost that in itself does nothing to move our grandkids to a more prosperous future imo.
     • Rusty Shackleford 7.2.1

       5 July 2011 at 11:04 pm

       Broken windows 101. The first law of economics. Which you can get to Phd level at most major unis and never learn.
       http://www.econlib.org/library/Bastiat/basEss1.html
       http://www.fee.org/library/books/economics-in-one-lesson/
       • Bored 7.2.1.1

         6 July 2011 at 7:42 am

         Nice links Rusty, and you are right that you can get to Phd level as an economist and learn nothing. Thats the theoretical stuff for you, if you read Shakespeare you can get the end results in human terms. There was a time when economics was an arcane subject locked away in the back halls of history departments, unfortunately it got hijacked by mathematicians etc. Personally I find tea leaf reading far more accurate than PHds in economics.
8. Bored 8

   5 July 2011 at 1:45 pm

   In Australia 28 mothers and fathers are greiving for their lost children, killed on deployment in Afganistan. A few US corporations have got rich supplying arms etc, a few politicians have had great photo ops, and very little of any lasting consequence has been achieved. Meanwhile these families still mourn their loss. For ever.
9. Chris 9

   5 July 2011 at 4:47 pm

   Umm.. some hypocrisy here.
   Decade after decade Labour has remained consistently pro-imperialist. At no time during the US invasion and attacks on Vietnam and other Indo-Chinese states did the parliamentary Labour Party declare itself in opposition to the US aggression, nor did it ever demand withdrawal of New Zealand troops. Individual Labour MPs occasionally criticised specific aspects of US policy, but never the US aggressive war as such. Nor did the Labour Party officially campaign against either the aggression or New Zealand’s support of it, though a number of individual members and a few branches participated in demonstrations against it.
   Labour supported the blitzkreig of Panama in 1989 and in October, 1990 offered military help to the imperialist powers who were preparing to invade Iraq.
   Labour has never made any move to get New Zealand out of imperialist alliances. As a junior partner in the US bloc New Zealand has taken part in nearly all America’s military adventures in the postwar period, from Korea (1950-53) onwards, as well as pursuing its own specific imperialist interests.
   Most recently, Labour was quick to support the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and sent SAS troops, and in 2003 sent army personnel as part of the occupation of Iraq. Although the New Zealand military presence in Iraq was supposedly merely “engineers” helping “rebuild” the country “our allies” had devastated, investigative journalist Nicky Hager uncovered papers showing the “engineers” were spending a lot of their time guarding the British military compound, repairing British combat vessels and working inside the British headquarters in Basra. A confidential New Zealand Defence memo reported that New Zealand “engineers” were filling British staff officer positions which were heavily stretched at the time. The “engineers” were also authorised to use deadly force to “defend” themselves, other occupation personnel and buildings of importance to the occupation. Far from being greeted as liberators, the New Zealand “engineers” were regularly pelted with rocks and security became the priority for them. The involvement of the Labour government in the occupation of Iraq was a message to the US that “we” are still on their side and helped New Zealand firms gain access to lucrative occupation contracts.
   The Labour government has also supplied naval vessels to work alongside the US navy in blockading the waters of the Middle East. Not surprisingly, Nicky Hager wrote in the NZ Herald that “Helen Clark is moving much closer to the US military than the last National government ever did.”
   • travellerev 9.1

     5 July 2011 at 4:59 pm

     I very much agree!
   • Colonial Viper 9.2

     5 July 2011 at 5:00 pm

     Nice try at a derail.

     Key should bring home our SAS boys from Afghanistan.
     • travellerev 9.2.1

       5 July 2011 at 5:08 pm

       I agree very much with this too!
   • The Voice of Reason 9.3

     5 July 2011 at 8:57 pm

     Hey, Chris, did you miss out the bit where Labour declared NZ nuclear free, effectively ending the ANZUS alliance, because it didn’t fit your narrative or because you just don’t know what you’re talking about?
10. higherstandard 10

    5 July 2011 at 5:16 pm

    Nah keep them there for as long as possible, one of the best training grounds in the world for the SAS.
    • lprent 10.1

      5 July 2011 at 6:47 pm

      That is about the only reason to be there…

      But hanging around Kabul? Arresting people for the spooks? They’d be better trained in the hinterland rather than learning how to become secret police.
    • Bored 10.2

      5 July 2011 at 7:41 pm

      So do you HS want to volunteer yourself or your family to get in the line of fire?
      • higherstandard 10.2.1

        5 July 2011 at 8:27 pm

        No, do you want to volunteer to interfere with some wombats ?
        • lprent 10.2.1.1

          5 July 2011 at 8:44 pm

          Are they like Koala’s with a population drop due to a ‘mysterious’ STV ?

          Wh have you been doing on your Aussie holidays?

          I just could’t resist……
        • Bored 10.2.1.2

          6 July 2011 at 6:42 am

          Cowardly troll.
          • higherstandard 10.2.1.2.1

            6 July 2011 at 7:04 am

            Retarded bum belcher.
        • lprent 10.2.1.3

          6 July 2011 at 7:26 am

          Really it is all just an unproductive without even a leavening of humor.
          • Bored 10.2.1.3.1

            6 July 2011 at 9:00 am

            Too right no humour, I dont have much of a sense of humour when people advocate bullets flying around if they are not prepared to be in line of fire. Very low standard stuff, ethically and morally cowardly.
    • Colonial Viper 10.3

      5 July 2011 at 8:39 pm

      Nah keep them there for as long as possible, one of the best training grounds in the world for the SAS.

      Libya.
      • lprent 10.3.1

        5 July 2011 at 8:45 pm

        That would bring too high a level of professonal expertise to an amateur sport.
    • Bob 10.4

      6 July 2011 at 12:01 am

      H S , you are full of it , this is real people being KILLED by WAR , this is not some X box game . This is an occupation for what ? To see how far the governments can push the body count ?
      No fuck you if you think its ok to use another country as a training ground for the SAS , maybe they can use YOUR back garden …
      • higherstandard 10.4.1

        6 July 2011 at 7:06 am

        There there Bob, have a sit down and a cup of tea. I’m sure the SAS will take your advice on board and act on it in the appropriate manner.
        • Bob 10.4.1.1

          6 July 2011 at 10:47 am

          Sorry H S i shouldnt have sworn at you , but tell me who is gaining from this war called Operation Enduring Freedom ? When it is costing Billions of dollars a month to keep afloat the troops and equipment just in Afghanistan .
          But then any war will do , real threat or perceived threat . It does not matter for the Military Industrial Congress Complex . How long before NATO send troops into Libya
11. Maui 11

    5 July 2011 at 7:03 pm

    lprent, zetetic: support from an unexpected quarter ..

    http://bobcarrblog.wordpress.com/2011/06/27/lowy-poll-some-surprises/
12. infused 12

    6 July 2011 at 4:39 pm

    Why don’t you go get a clue and read about what the sas have been doing there.

• Comments are now closed

• Log in
• Donate
• Contribute post

• Articles RSS