"Hole in the fishing boat sassy. Weren't you collecting for indians last Ramadan? How do you spell hypocrite?"

Don..

Yes and doing it again this year minus 1. Now what are you doing for them besides sitting in your a/c cooled EK paid for pad in front of a computer typing about it ?

EX,

Are you saying gun laws will prevent shooting sprees ?

Please tell me more about how criminals follow laws :ugh:

:yuk:

Don't know if he is however I am....I don't think the Australian government went running to good ol uncle Sam, cap in hand saying...oh oh oh can we please have 2500 Marines here to protect us. I hope sincerely the Marines don't turn up with that belief as that will really win over the Northern Territory locals :ok:

Chinese posturing in the Pacific , yeh sure however, so are our American friends. In fact, maybe the US should be saying a thankyou to Australia and the community which they will soon....erm...contribute to...."we need somewhere to put our Marines who we need to move out of Japan so we can maintain a counterweight to the Chinese posturing in the Pacific, can we please station them in Australia for training periodically, oh thankyou" with a tip the hat :E

I have served along side our American allies and I have great admiration for them however, the above comment just tippifies the stereotypical image that people have of Team America...F#ck yeh!

Cheers

They could start with the alphabet.

Thank goodness we don't have a union....the meetings would be....uh.....spirited

Only one difference between Americans & Aussies...

...we know we're not liked.

f.

PS. In the history of Australian military activity - the longest conflict they were involved with was the Vietnam War - 1962-1975.

Why do we waste money on a base in that dump, let whoever wants it have it!!!

Ex380,

The Vietnam reference was a response to a previous post on Vietnam. We were not the only ones there.

Look my postings generally reflect a friendly point of view though syntax & tone get lost via type.

There is a default reaction to 'yanks' as there is to 'Aussies'. Many of my good buds are Oz...and I think they get a bad rap around here...though they seem to believe that others find their country interesting. Just ask around on the Boeing who is a neutral...JFK or SYD, ...SFO or BNE, MEL or LAX, SEA or PER, DFW or ADL...yada yada yada...it's a no brainier to non Ozzies.

I think Americans get a bad rap.

Let's say we all had a choice of three different superpowers - China, Russia & the USA. Afterall its not fair to compare small countries to superpowers as you do not shoulder the same strategic burdens that we do.

Which system best provides for the aspirations of your kids...the Russian, Chinese or American system.

So why does all this coffee shop energy get spent on critiquing a democracy that has sacrificed so many lives for good causes. Our system is the only one that works well (perfect? No).., Facism, Nazism, Communism, Authoritarianism, Jihadism... All defeated or will be...Capitalism? While flawed if laws are broken (bankawankas) will always prevail.

But vitally, many friends of America know that if their sovereignty is challenged ..we are first in and last out. Yet we always get slammed.

A previous poster said that WWII was a long time ago. In America the 'greatest generation 'are still alive. It's not that long ago that we will forget....we will never forget...nor should the world...

f.

That was a joke right? You show an astonishing lack of knowledge of your own history. Too much CNN perhaps.

Ex, how in the world would don know there were contractors on board? This is the kind of knee jerk before the dust is settled reactions I see after a crash. Everybody knows what happened before the investigators even arrive on seen. Just because an article was written two hours after the incident happens doesn't mean it's true.. I agree contractors have been in the news at times, but it's war and if one side has rules and the other doesn't it will frustrate soldiers and bad things happen when guys hands are tied.
You may not like American foreign policy, but America has its own interest in mind first, just like your country puts its policies first. If they didn't you would vote them out of office. Why don't you look up and post who gives the most aid to foreign countries in need, who gives the most to charity. You may think Americans are dumb, arrogant, cowboy or whatever you generalization is, but in times of crisis and conflict I don't see too many other countries stepping up and taking the lead and until your country does there is not much room to critisize.
I think you are losing a large amount of credibility generalizing about Americans. It's a very diverse country, try to stay on point.

Exactly! Don't ever have them behind you - as the Brits and Canuks found out in both Gulf wars and Afghan. 'Friendly fire' I believe is the euphemism.

I was watching BBC and they were interviewing a local Syrian who was under attack by his own gov't. He was screaming, "WHERE IS AMERICA?" He was mad america had stayed out of Syria. Seriously, now America is the bad guy for 'letting' Syrians being massacred by Assad with Russian and Chinese weapons?

He didn't ask, where is Britain, France, or even NATO, he was begging for America to protect him from tyranny.

Very likely the same guy that was dancing in the streets on 9/11 is now begging for the "evil empire" to save himself.

Just look at the aircraft industry in Australia. i'd have an inferiority complex as well....

You are all as bad as each other, both sides:ugh:

The American military is merely a tool that is used by Washington to further its foreign policy and political aims, you can't level the generalisations on here without looking at the bigger geo-political picture.
That being said, clearly an innocent person died at the hands of an American serviceman/contractor due to a combination of negligence, arrogance or pure chance, in any sense answers will be sought.
The American military in recent history (the last 30-40 years) has undergone a transformation in the sense that the difference in the quality of the best and worst has increased.
Many of the enlisted recruits that end up in basic infantry combat units come from poor backgrounds with a relatively low standard of education. Conversely some of the finest combat units in the world today exist in the US military.
The upshot of all this is that for better or worse, the US military is judged by its worst, rather than its best.
In the instance of what happened, I have a sneaking suspicion that it will come pass that whilst the rules of engagement were followed there may be repercussions in terms of procedures and the application of the ROE.
Was it murder? no, was it manslaughter? probably.
America's biggest problem, when viewed from the context of being outside of the inward looking 50 states is that whilst it preaches Justice and fairness, it's actions say otherwise.
I have been fortunate to have lived in the USA, I have served alongside the US military, you will not find a more generous, noble and honourable group of people, unfortunately they are continually let down by poor leadership, entrenched views and a collective unwillingness to accept that not everyone views the world in the way that they do.

The closest allowed to a warship is 500yds. See link for info on boating safety.

In this part of the world, it's be a good idea to stay away from everyone. These guys failed to use common sense and found out what happens as a result. If you don't know the rules of the sea, especially around here, then you shouldn't be on the water. Ignorance is no excuse.

They attempted to remove themselves from the gene-pool in a classic example of Darwinism.

Don't let the Brits, Canucks or Aussies stand behind you, either, hey, M5.5...

Douglas Bader was also shot down by one of his own mates although by the sounds of this English "gentleman", this is no great surprise.


:rolleyes:

It is amazing how some people are so confident that the US Navy did everything by the book. However:-

Dubai police: US navy ship did not warn Indian fishermen | Free Malaysia Today

Dubai police: US navy ship did not warn Indian fishermen

DUBAI: Dubai’s police chief has rejected US claims that a navy ship warned Indian fishermen to move away from it before firing and killing one of them after they failed to heed the order, media reported on Thursday.
The fisherman died and three others were wounded on Monday when the ship opened fire on their vessel near the port of Jebel Ali off Dubai in the tense waters of the southern Gulf.
The “Indian fishermen were not warned to move away by the US Navy,” General Dahi Khalfan said, according to Khaleej Times daily.
“The crew … told the Dubai police that they did not move towards the ship and instead attempted to avoid it.”
“According to our findings and testimonies of the injured, I believe that they told the truth,” the daily quoted Khalfan as saying.
On Tuesday, India urged the UAE to investigate the shooting.
Khalfan criticised the way the US ship had dealt with the incident, saying it had moved into international waters right after the shooting. Dubai police will deal with the case as a “murder,” he said.
US defence officials said the fishing boat had ignored warnings not to approach the refuelling ship USNS Rappahannock, and that sailors on board the American vessel feared it could pose a threat.
“Since 2000 we’ve been very concerned about small boats,” a defence official said, referring to the year of a deadly suicide bomb attack by Al-Qaeda against the destroyer USS Cole in the Yemeni port of Aden that killed 17 US sailors.
The US Navy has been building up its forces in the oil-rich Gulf region amid mounting tensions with Iran over its controversial nuclear programme.
Tehran has warned it could close the Strait of Hormuz in the southern Gulf if international sanctions begin to bite, potentially disrupting shipping and world oil supplies through the strategic waterway.
Washington has deployed two aircraft carriers to the region – the USS Abraham Lincoln and the USS Enterprise – and doubled its mine-sweeper fleet in the area from four to eight ships.
On Monday, the Pentagon confirmed that it had brought forward the deployment of a third strike group, led by the carrier USS John C Stennis, by four months, in order to further bolster its presence.

- AFP

enough fighting among the "good guys"

When WWIII breaks out, America, UK, Aus will have each others back against the Islamofascists and those who sell them weapons (Russia and China)

by the way, Russia sent 11 war ships full of Marines to Syria.

Many strategist predict a major war is imminent with Iran-russia-china-syria.

Let me quote some of the classics from this thread.

Baseless assumption.



A poor guy lost his life and there is no compassion for him? No thought for his family? Only one of the posters has expressed sorrow at the loss of life while many more chose to insult him. :yuk:



Heights of arrogance. Do some Americans believe that they have the right to poke their noses in the affairs of all countries? And expect everyone to make way for their interference?



Ordinary fishermen can not and should not be expected to go through the Rules of Engagement of the US navy.

The Naval Vessel Protection Zone is a term from the local law of the USA. In case there is no similar international law, other countries and their vessels can not be expected to follow these regulations.

Electronic Code of Federal Regulations:

Dear all,

I have followed this thread for some time now. I am Not us nor aussie, but have benefited from The us support towards Europe thanks to their engagement during the wars that have affected this region during the past century. Having visited The military cemiteries in normandy i have grasped the tribute generations of young man paid for our freedom.

I Just wish the foreingn policies will always be as noble as in those days. It remains clear that despite the fact we may not always agree we keep very deep bonds and Will probably remain allies for many years to come. So let's sometimes agree we disagree and keep an open mind.

As naïve as it may sound, the beginning of lasting peace is respect.

Our US foreign policy is horrendous, and yes I'm saying this as an American. Obama and Romney will be more of the same, only Ron Paul was the candidate to seriously change things around, both in foreign policy and on domestic issues.