The demonisation of returning UK military is now underway

Did a search no results.

And so it has begun.

What happens in the US usually ends up happening in the UK too. The lancet has released details of a survey stating that soldiers returning from military tours are more likely than the general public to commit violent offences.

This may seem innocuous to some or indeed a no brainer to others, but it began in the US in much the same way and developed into returning veterans being potential terrorists. Same will happen here and this is the beginning of the demonisation to come.

www.thelancet.com...(13)60354-2/fulltext

www.bbc.co.uk...

www.thejournal.ie...

www.standard.co.uk...

You can't blame the returning members of the armed forces. And the younger ones have been singled out here. And I'm not saying that this story is an overt attempt at demonisation, but the beginning of acclimatisation of the public to fear returning members of the armed forces.

If you take young men of the violent videogame generation and turn them into killing machines, teach them that the enemy is inhuman, and pump them with drugs, you have to expect issues on their return to society. The problem here is that these guys and gals need help and support to readjust, not being singled out like this.

I have nothing but gratitude and respect for all those who put their lives at risk under the mistaken belief that they are the spear of a just agenda.

Saw this story and couldnt believe it was even funded as a proper medical research study.

Basically it says:
People who are trained and immersed in extreme violence and destruction still exhibit these traits post deployment.
Is this a suprise to anybody??

I wonder if the study would be more useful if it examined the causation of the conflict the combatants were involved in?

A soldier emersed in death and destruction whislt fighting to protect his family (a-la UK army vet of WW2 ) will almost certainly have a different mental perspective than todays returning combat veterans who are typically involved in wars with little or no moral justification.


Demonisation? Maybe
Stating the obvious whilst overlooking a humans need to attach meaning to their actions? : Almost certainly.

Easy way to ensure soldiers act properly post combat is to ensure they only fight in wars where their morality allows them to percieve their actions as positive.

reply to post by Jukiodone

I agree with what you are saying. The problem with just military action is that a lot of soldiers are indoctrinated so severely that they cannot make that judgement with the information they have to hand.

Demonisation? Yes this is the beginning of it. It has to start of in a seemingly innocuous way and then be gradually ramped up over the coming months and years.

This will over time seep into the publics psyche. And one day they'll start to fear our returning servicemen and not even be able to intellectualize why. It's he classic acclimatisation in increments strategy.

This has been recognised throughout history though. So, in that respect, this is nothing new. Herodotus wrote about it in his account of the Battle of Marathon in 490 BCE.

You train people to be professional killers and then expect them to act like gentlemen. Personalities at either end of the spectrum!!!

I've now witnessed this story raised approx 9 times in the last 90 mins on the BBC much more than any other story this morning. And we do have other major stories at the moment that are not getting nearly the same amount of attention. I'll be monitoring how the other news channels handle this, but the BBC has already gone from a full explanation of the study to repeating only the headline sound bite.

If this study was used to improve he care of returning vetetans that would be great.

If this caused a light to be shone on the unjust military actions of the UK, US, UN, NATO etc it would be a miracle and I might even begin to believe in a god, but I don't see it happening.

Additional relevant links:

www.kcl.ac.uk...

medicalxpress.com...

Wow this story is spreading extremely fast on the wires. They are all singing in unision.

the media channels will put up what is sensational, to keep viewing eyes on the telly. could some of it be government propaganda? sure, but the majority of people are not stupid, and they know that there are just a few vets coming back that may need some help in adjusting to civilian life. the vast majority of vets go through the transition pretty good, so let's give them some credit.

Found this interesting and of concern at the same time.

Violent offences covered a broad range of acts, from verbal harassment to homicide. They did not include incidents of domestic violence.

So unless they are claiming that there have been ZERO incidents of domestic violence, the true figures are undoubtedly higher.

We don't value our armed forces as much as we should, and part of the blame for that has to be the governments, because they don't value them at all.

How can it be right that soldiers earn less than firefighters, cops and nurses?

It's also stated that they are going to begin random mental health checks with returning vets as is common in the states. Why random? Don't every single one of them deserve the opportunity to see a mental health professional automatically on their return. Of course this could be a doulbe edged sword. I'm thinking of those brave US veterans who have lost limbs in the line of duty and had their medical benefits cut on the grounds that losing a limb was because they were mentally unstable prior to joining up and failed to notify the particular armed force involved.

I'm an ex soldier who served in Iraq in 2003 with 14th signal regiment, royal signals. (My avatar is a pic taken from that little holiday)

I had no violent convictions before joining up, and still have none since I left the army 9 years ago.

As for the article, the armed forces (not just the army) have always had a bad rep for being violent. Its a case of the media tarnishing everyone with the same brush, as usual.

S+F for bringing this to my attention OP

reply to post by jimmyx


I agree with you for the most part that Currently people will not necessarily be anything other than concerned for our vets today.

However, this is the beginning of an agenda that will become insidious. People's views will change over time as the media changes it's stance from concerned and supportive to demonising them. A couple of years down the road it's going to be just like in the US. The problem we have in the UK that is worse than in the US is that we have many less people awake, and I would hazard a guess that more people here believe the government on defense issues, let alone on other issues. Take the horsemeat scandal, no one is blaming the government or the EU for enabling and encouraging a system where it became possible.

reply to post by kingears


Thanks for your service.

And I'm very glad you came through the experience unharmed.

I guess its now time for them to close the military down, because its bad for the children that are trained to kill people and that aren't killed and must return to the population.

countries no longer need protection from outside enemies,because the only enemies are their own countries and military's

Train them to kill, send them to war and when they come home mentally and physically broken, demonise them.

Lets face it, it would be better all round if those injured just died instead of coming home as they are a burden on the treasury, and those with PTSD should be sent off somewhere and medicated to make them good and compliant members of society again. Not my view, but the obvious one shared by the politicians who create the wars.
They care nothing about the bloodshed and horror on either side of the conflict and certainly only care about the occasional photo-op with some flag draped coffins, or crippled veterans when elections are approaching.

The whole idea that those who create the wars, and send our own men and women to fight and die in them CARE at all is a fantasy and quite out of touch with reality.

I agree that public awareness of what the armed forces do for us is at an all time high, they can walk around proudly wearing their uniform in any part of the UK without any problem. They get parades through towns and now have a number of charities to help and support them.

How times have changed in a short period. When I was serving, we weren't allowed down town in uniform, for fear of someone taking a disliking to us. We had no parades through the nearest town to camp (haverfordwest) when we returned from Iraq. And there was no such thing as help for heroes. We weren't allowed in pubs if there was more than 4 of us in a group in case we "kicked off" and i even remember one bouncer in my hometown where i grew up refusing me entry unless he kept hold of my id card, I told him that was illegal and took my hard earned pennies elsewhere.

Hopefully the public continues to hold our armed forces in high regard and continue to respect the tough job they do, and we dont return to how it was when I served.

reply to post by kingears


Things aren't as rosy as you think.

Don't you remember this from last summer:-

www.dailymail.co.uk... orm.html

www.walesonline.co.uk... 76/

I also lived in Warminster for a while not so long ago and there was always trouble in the pubs and bars between the locals and those who put their lives at risk abroad to protect them.

reply to post by kingears


Things aren't all roses at Help For Heroes either.

www.bbc.co.uk...

www.wsws.org...

www.thebureauinvestigates.com...

My personal opinion is that all organisations be them businesses, governments, community associations or charities all become corrupt when (if not before) their staff/representative levels exceed 150 persons.