Does your country require an armed force?

[tollbar]

Switzerland dosent have a full time army, I think that all Swiss citizens have to do training for a territorial army type of thing which is probably we will do when we get the Scottish Republic.

Napoleon should have invaded Britain given that he played a generally progressive role in the countries he invaded in Europe.

The Malvinas are Argentinas (to quote a slogan of the time.)

 

[mmmSkyscraper]

does switzerland even have a full time army. i know loads of people get their gun out and head off for training a few weeks a year.

not having a navy probably saves on the defence budget as well.

Swiss part-timers knife sounds shit though.

 

[likesfish]

The swiss have a small full time army large numbers of national service conscripts everyperson has to serve and every able bodied man is part of the reserve until 65 some keep there service rifle and ammunition at home.
they even have a mountain bike brigade make critical mass look like wusses armed with anti tank missiles completely mad

 

[mmmSkyscraper]

Want to borrow a comma?

 

[Bob_the_lost]

we did help spain, a little affair known as the peninsular wars where a certain Arthur Wellelsley honed his skills gained in india.
as you were

Yeah, slight typo in that one, meant to read HADN'T

 

[newharper]

We don't need Las Malvinas anyway. I mean, what have they ever done for us?

IIRC it's South Georgia that's relevant; it gives us mineral rights in the Antarctic.

 

[Bob_the_lost]

IIRC it's South Georgia that's relevant; it gives us mineral rights in the Antarctic.

Not to mention the islanders wanting to remain part of britain?

 

[mmmSkyscraper]

IIRC it's South Georgia that's relevant; it gives us mineral rights in the Antarctic.

So us going to fight over Las Malvinas is akin to Bush invading Iraq for Oil? Interesting.

 

[kakuma]

if anyone wanted to invade england theyd have to go through the european union first

we should just have a EU defence force, then the likes of blair/bush dont have control imo

EU=cunts but too rich to become the 51st state

 

[Bob_the_lost]

Balls, the only way the UK is going to get invaded in the near future is going ot be an attack on one of our overseas territories, in those situations every country that can step out of it's obligations to help and that don't see a profit in it for them promptley jumps ship.

See the US aid when Argentina invaded, refused to help a democracy with a long standing "special relationship" over a dictatorship.

You can't trust our politicans all that much, why do you trust any others?

 

[axon]

I think we should have armed forces. Not really necessary to defend the glorious homeland from invasion but so we can send them overseas to defend freedom and justice <Cue Rule Britannia>

Good examples I think would be Rwanda (although it didn't happen), Sierra Leone, Falklands (although we needn't have gone through the whole shannigans. but politicians can be bastards), Kosovo (except for the bombing of Serbia), Iraq (1991)

Bad examples would be Iraq (present), Afghanistan.

 

[mmmSkyscraper]

The main reason we need an army is to put our fires when those lazy bastard firemen go on strike.

 

[kyser_soze]

See the US aid when Argentina invaded, refused to help a democracy with a long standing "special relationship" over a dictatorship.

This would have been besides the logistics support without which the taskforce would have been completely fucked would it? Or the fact that Reagan wanted to help out but was prevented from doing so by US FP in South America?

 

[likesfish]

The falkland ilsanders really really don't want to be argentenian and with the argie economy in a terminal nosedive who could blame them theres absolutly nothing in it for them and the argentians only want "las malvinas" because of some rather bizarre claim of sovrienty its 400 miles off there coast .
going with that idea of law we could reunite ireland its off our coast we used to own it so we want it back

 

[Bob_the_lost]

This would have been besides the logistics support without which the taskforce would have been completely fucked would it? Or the fact that Reagan wanted to help out but was prevented from doing so by US FP in South America?

They did help, a tiny bit. But they didn't help out with AWACS which would have prevented the sinking of Atlantic Conveyer, several frigates and so on. It would have saved hundreds of british lives and shortened the war.

The FP thing is a red herring, Foreign policy can change. Logistical suport was not that massive as far as i can remember, welcome to be corrected.

 

[Pingu]

The falkland ilsanders really really don't want to be argentenian ...

nope the bennies are quite definate about that.

I think more of them would vote to have their eyes plucked out by penguins than become an argentinian dependency.

the US position over the falklands conflict was a difficult one seeing as they were constantly fustrated by the juntas vacillating over their decisions and changing their mind at the last minute.

 

[likesfish]

I belive there now called stills as in still a bennie
maybe every argie school kid should be forced to spend a weekend problem solved in a generation as nobody would want to go back there ever

 

[Hollis]

The swiss have a small full time army large numbers of national service conscripts everyperson has to serve and every able bodied man is part of the reserve until 65 some keep there service rifle and ammunition at home.

They also take responsibility for the defence of Lichenstein.

 

[Bob_the_lost]

So in short, yes the UK needs it's armed forces.

 

[Hollis]

Yep.. what's next?

 

[JTG]

Pickman's - the Channel Islands are no more a part of the UK than the Isle of Man is.

 

[guinnessdrinker]

Pickman's - the Channel Islands are no more a part of the UK than the Isle of Man is.

and they should be returned to france, too!

 

[likesfish]

war with france its a sure election winner

 

[guinnessdrinker]

war with france its a sure election winner

but there might not be much of the UK army after that.

 

[newharper]

Not to mention the islanders wanting to remain part of britain?

Well apart from S Georgia The UK Gov't couldn't be seen letting the Argentinians get away with it; successive gov'ts had been trying to give the Falklands away since the mid sixties, the Islanders' views were important only in how it would play at home.

 

[likesfish]

who would'nt join up to fight the french
remember you must hate a frenchman like you hate the devil nelson

 

[guinnessdrinker]

who would'nt join up to fight the french
remember you must hate a frenchman like you hate the devil nelson

but the auld alliance will spring into action and the scottish regiments will rebel, declare indepence and invade england.

 

[Bob_the_lost]

but the auld alliance will spring into action and the scottish regiments will rebel, declare indepence and invade england.

Bah, where is holland when you need them?

 

[guinnessdrinker]

Bah, where is holland when you need them?

maybe the germans might have another go?

 

[Bob_the_lost]

maybe the germans might have another go?

Nah, they'd take the fun out of it, france would be surendering within the week. Maybe spain, simply so once we have ridded the french from europe we can find someone else to hate for thier uselessness in warfare.