Brits, you need to treat your injured soldiers better

[Undertoad]

Muslim accosts injured Para in hospital

A chilling account:

On one occasion a member of the Parachute Regiment, still dressed in his combat uniform after being evacuated from Afghanistan, was accosted by a Muslim over the British involvement in the country.

"You have been killing my Muslim brothers in Afghanistan," the man said during a tirade.

Because the soldier was badly injured and could not defend himself, he was very worried for his safety, sources told The Daily Telegraph.

A relative of the Para said the man had twice walked on to the ward where two other soldiers and four civilians were being treated without once being challenged by staff.

"It's not the best way to treat our returning men," he said. "They are nervous that these guys might attack them and, despite being paratroopers, they cannot defend themselves because of their injuries."

Adding insult to injury:

Soldiers on operations say they would rather receive a more serious injury and go to the top American military hospital in Ramstein, Germany, than end up in a NHS hospital.

They now half jokingly refer to getting "a Boche rather than a Blighty" in reference to the wounds that would send them home. Ramstein has an outstanding unit for brain surgery, and neurological intensive care beds in Britain are in short supply. "The blokes see it that if you are unlucky you get wounded and go to the UK at the mercy of the NHS, but if you get a head wound you get sent to Ramstein in Germany where the US has an outstanding medical facility," said an officer serving in Afghanistan.

"It also does not do morale much good knowing that within 18 hours of being wounded you could wake up in a NHS hospital with a mental health patient on one side and an incontinent geriatric on the other."

[Cyclefrance]

Our soldiers get a very raw deal - they are treated as though they are were any ordinary wage/salary earning citizens. Our government's incompetence just fills me with even more rage each day. NHS hospitals are riddled with MRSA - a patient is all too likely to come out in a worse condition than when they went in. On top of this our soldiers are left facing the wrath of patients who might hold a grudge as well. Ill-equipped in the field, ignored when they are wounded (the MOD wants to hide the extent of casualties), at risk from infection when they do enter hospital, taxed to the hilt, and open to abuse from others - I bet they didn't tell them all that when they signed up!

[sproglet]

The British forces have not adapted well since the fall of the Berlin wall and the end of the Soviet threat. The UK armed forces have been designed to fight an all out war against Russia in Northern Europe and they have not adapted well to desert warfare. A swathe of redundancies and cost cutting exercises in the mid 90's left us with virtually no medical resources and made us pretty much dependent on US military field hospitals should a major conflict occur. In fact, the majority of medical personnel are now made up from TA units (part time reservists) serving in Iraq, Bosnia and Afghanistan. The last remaining military Hospital (Haslar) is due to close in the near future.

Basically, if it wasn't for the plucky spirit and stiff upper lips of your average Limey squaddie, they'd be fucked.


EDIT: Oh and the small fact that if we hadn't got drawn into a ridiculously shitty war this never would have been an issue.

[Sundae]

You can't necessarily believe everything you read in the papers. No complaint was made and only sources are quoted. If they were present to hear the actual words spoken I am interested in why they did not intervene

And my money would be on a wounded paratrooper over a member of the public (also in hospital) any day.

I DO think we should treat our troops better, but it's all down to how much money we want to be taxed. If we are committed to being part of the World Police Squad we are going to have to start spending more money on the armed forces. Which means paying more money out of our pockets.

"we" ?

You are a foreigner living in Leicester from what I gather , Sundae Girl .

[tw]

Those outside of America (my guess) would not know about Doonesbury - a famous cartoon that has so accurately reported current events and trends often before they became news.
Doonesbury's War

Originally, he was going to kill Ray, but Ray got spared when Trudeau decided that a death would not leave much of a storyline to pursue. So, with a bit of sang-froid, he amputated B.D.'s left leg, on the theory that he'd . . . think of something.

What happened next was unusual, to say the least. Within a day or two of B.D. lying broken on that stretcher, Garry Trudeau, bane of every presidential administration since Nixon's (particularly the current one, which he has absolutely lacerated), got a call from the Pentagon. The brass was offering to help him figure out where to go next.

Learn what dots are.

"When I talk to wounded veterans, I usually don't ask them what they think the mission was. I don't presume, because their lives are wrenching enough without the suggestion that their sacrifices may have been without meaning. Moreover, if that is so, it will become apparent to them soon enough . . . The young men and women who we've repeatedly put in harm's way are paying the price for this misbegotten mission, and as long as it continues, I, like so many of our countrymen, must walk this strange line between hating the war but honoring the warrior. I don't know how long we can keep it up. . ."

He finishes to a standing ovation.

Conservative extremists who quickly advocate solutions in war do not respresent interests of the troops - as Iraq so glaringly demonstrates.

[Trilby]

Originally Posted by Buddug

You are a foreigner living in Leicester from what I gather , Sundae Girl .

No, she's a true blue Brit. YOU'RE the foreigner in the country you're in, right? Starting to get to ya?

[Sundae]

Originally Posted by Buddug

You are a foreigner living in Leicester from what I gather , Sundae Girl .

Brianna's right, I'm British born & bred. Although the "foreigners" I know also pay taxes, so they would be just as entitled to say "we" when referring to how the money is spent.