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Post by HarleyThomas1002 on Jul 4, 2011 23:32:36 GMT -5
That may say a lot about the military of Australia and the US. Indeed. But be careful suggesting the Australian military is superior around here, you'll end up in F&B. I wasn't going to suggest that. Although I did consider making a joke about it. |
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Post by Art Vandelay on Jul 4, 2011 23:34:33 GMT -5
Proportionally Australia has fewer deaths than the US. Though it is possible that it's because Australians are only ever deployed to relatively safe areas.
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Post by lighthorseman on Jul 4, 2011 23:46:06 GMT -5
Proportionally Australia has fewer deaths than the US. Though it is possible that it's because Australians are only ever deployed to relatively safe areas. Um... no, we don't. |
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Post by Mlle Antéchrist on Jul 4, 2011 23:50:34 GMT -5
Proportionally Australia has fewer deaths than the US. I don't know how many troops Australia has deployed, so I wasn't aware of that. Interesting tidbit. I suspect there's more to it than the skill/talent of the soldiers. I don't want to say that it's just because of where they're deployed or the number of troops being sent over, being that I'm not exactly an export on all of this and I don't want to discount the abilities of Aussie soldiers -- I just don't think we should conclude that skill/talent/training is the only factor here based only on the raw figures. In any case, I'd say that Australia and the US both have very well-trained troops (as do many other nations who have taken part in Afghanistan), and plenty of brave men and women of whom we can all be proud. I think that's the part we should be focusing on -- not whose military is technically better than the other. Not that I'm saying people can't be proud of their country's military, of course. |
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Post by DeadpanDoubter on Jul 5, 2011 2:08:12 GMT -5
I don't know about the recruiting tactics in Australia, but I'm not terribly impressed by the former or current soldiers I've known in person (in America!).
One person, for example, used her position as a medical officer to look up her then-boyfriend, current-husband's health history, to make sure they wouldn't have 'sickly' babies...and she bragged about this after lecturing her pharm tech students on HIPAA and similar laws. Another person, to whom I'm unfortunately related, enlisted to try and escape molestation charges, and then wound up being court-martialed for trying to beat the shit out of a man in Germany, and then his CO. I could mention my great-uncles who're veterans and also complete twits, but they're not exactly representative of the current crop.
Maybe I only know shitty people IRL, and thus only know shitty ex/current enlistees; I certainly wouldn't argue with that reasoning. Considering all of the recruiting materials I got once I turned 18 and was looking at universities promised me a full ride through college for "just a few weekends a year", and the generally insane post 9/11 environment I grew up in, though, I really distrust their tactics, and so really distrust that they're only recruiting quality people that can handle the job. Especially since it seems they're getting more desperate for cannon fodder than useful members lately.
I don't know...you'd just think, with all the money being poured into our forces, they could at least lower the casualty coahahaha who am I kidding.
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Post by booley on Jul 5, 2011 3:25:43 GMT -5
One death is a tragedy.
A million is a statistic.
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Post by HarleyThomas1002 on Jul 5, 2011 4:04:40 GMT -5
Settle down, Stalin.
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Post by Runa on Jul 5, 2011 5:18:01 GMT -5
As I understand it, most of Australia's forces are deployed to relatively safe places except for our special forces. I could be wrong though.
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Post by HarleyThomas1002 on Jul 5, 2011 5:34:24 GMT -5
Lighthorsemen disagrees. See above.
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Post by malicious_bloke on Jul 5, 2011 5:53:03 GMT -5
Poor fellow. It would be nice if we could GTFO of both Middle Eastern wars, but I doubt the government will do that any time soon. On the bright side, only 28 losses so far in an almost decade long war. Considering America regularly sends planeloads of coffins home, we're doing pretty well. That may say a lot about the military of Australia and the US. Yeah, primarily that the US has planeloads more soldiers in the warzone? But yeah, this war is beyond pointless now. A couple of guys I knew at school have come home in coffins and one my cousins came home with severe PTSD (although that was after a tour in Iraq rather than Afghanistan). |
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Post by lighthorseman on Jul 5, 2011 5:59:44 GMT -5
That may say a lot about the military of Australia and the US. Yeah, primarily that the US has planeloads more soldiers in the warzone? But yeah, this war is beyond pointless now. A couple of guys I knew at school have come home in coffins and one my cousins came home with severe PTSD (although that was after a tour in Iraq rather than Afghanistan). Those I know who have done both swear Afghanistan is the harder place. |
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Post by scotsgit on Jul 5, 2011 6:44:05 GMT -5
Out of interest, is the military mission in Afghanistan any further along than it was 10 years ago?
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Post by Mlle Antéchrist on Jul 5, 2011 6:47:56 GMT -5
Out of interest, is the military mission in Afghanistan any further along than it was 10 years ago? Depends on whose analysis of the situation you believe. |
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Post by HarleyThomas1002 on Jul 5, 2011 16:02:44 GMT -5
Wasn't the whole deal about Afghanistan simply to track down and capture or kill bin Laden? Or was there something else I am unaware of.
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Post by lighthorseman on Jul 5, 2011 16:09:25 GMT -5
Wasn't the whole deal about Afghanistan simply to track down and capture or kill bin Laden? Or was there something else I am unaware of. The aim is to stabilise the region. If you leave Afghanistan in the hands of the Taliban and warlords without attempting to promote stability, then you'll just get another bin Laden, and another, and another. Killing the figurehead without effecting change in the underlying society that produces the figureheads doesn't achieve much. |
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