US Navy in Portland - Beware!!

[Sinbad1]

Re Hang on a cotton pickin\' minute...

I think Byron has missed the point. Yes every state has the right to protect itself and its citizens, but this should be confined to its own territory. No state should have the right to intrude on another state and then restrict the freedoms of that host state or its citizens.

This is the point of the original post.

More importantly and more generally to avoid this thread dissolving into semi political chaos which would see Kim, John Wayne and Dubya riding in with their six guns twirling and sweaty hosses, here are a few wider thoughts.......

Terrorism of the kind we are now seeing, Al Quaeda/Bali is a protest by the disempowered against the loss of individuality and identity. As the world becomes smaller, these other peoples are subjected to the wider commercial world, inevitably spear headed by the larger american corporations. Those countries where this capitalism invades have people who are poor and have little else other than their beliefs and their religions. They do not even have a voice...and they then see those beliefs being eroded by outside influences.

Thus US ships in Portland Harbour is a mirror of what has happened in many countries around the world whether it be military or mcdonalds. Unless the rights of the host nation and its citizens are primary then the results are inevitable. Once there was a British empire.....for now there is an American one....

*looks around and ducks behind parapet*

 

[brianrunyard]

I can understand their reason, it's called the "USS Cole"!!
I saw on the news over the weekend that an Oil Tanker had been attacked in the same way.

Brian
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/brunyard

 

[numenius]

Yes, I'm sure the vast majority DO see the obscenity of it. But my point was that your GOVERNMENT removed these collecting organisations from the banned list some time ago, and yet has refused to ban them again! Which makes our supposed "joint" fight against terrorism apparently a joint fight only against terrorism that affects the U.S - ..... What other message can that have, but that lives here are worth less in U.S government calculations?
(my understanding was that the Irish-Amreican vote is huge in parts of the U.S?) How would Americans feel if we allowed knowingly, and with the permission of our government, people to raise money for the terrorists targetting the U.S people? ....I'm sure they would be rightly outraged, yet this is what is happening right at this moment in your country. Thats my point - some of your countrymen are paying for bombs and bullets to be used on British citizens even now -- at the VERY same time that we are supposed to be allies in the "war against terrorism".
On a personal level, you will not find a stronger U.S ally than me, but this is such hypocracy...

http://members.lycos.co.uk/boaty1965/index.htm

 

[Guest]

I wonder how real this US financial support now is. I understood that most NI terrorism was financed by drug running protection rackets and theft - on both sides of that tribal argument. Cant really complain about US money when we allow that sort of thing to go on.

And of course the US is more concerned about loss of US lives. So they should be. Maybe we should try being a bit more partisan!

 

[Gunfleet]

The euphemism used in America is that they are collecting for the families of jailed republicans. What a lot of horseshit. However, that does not detract from the original point - the US Navy would be mad not to keep an exclusion zone around its assets, even in a friendly port. And we shouldn't begrudge them, after what they've been through.

 

[Caronia]

I can only hope that they will declare 400 metre exclusion zones around those McDonalds places.

 

[Guest]

Someone else amongst all these threads also commented that hosting the US would be a big boost to the local economy and bring trade into the area. Absolutely right and certainly no bad thing; but remember we’re NOT talking about tourists here.

The whole debate is around a major worldwide problem, as we are all too painfully aware and any moves to address that problem are supported by us all, but this ain’t no picnic and we have to go into these things with our eyes wide open.
We live in a small and very crowded little island and we have to be very much aware of the implications of hosting a major military force on what is a busy stretch of water and a busy and popular area favourite with holidaymakers. It’s certainly not likely to be a small set-up and it will indeed have a very significant impact and I would like to think that our government has thought through all the implications, addressed all the issues and made the right decisions…………… can we trust that this is the case -- I wonder..........

Another comment, after my own view, was that if they don't like the presence of lots of small boats, which I'm afraid they'll have to accept on a busy and popular stretch of coast, then they should seek somewhere else quieter and more remote / secure. Suggestion was Scapa Flow; why not? Scapa has hosted major naval fleets before now and provides good shelter, good holding ground and almost complete seclusion, which = security. Any intruding fast power boats in an area such as that may well be regarded with suspicion!

In reply to Morgan330I's first reply, I have no desire to be peering down the barrel of anything and I for one will certainly respect any security measures necessary, wherever they end up.

But let's not kid ourselves, if we end up with a major US naval presence in Portland, or anywhere else along the south coast, we're going to regret it and relations are going to get pretty strained over time, irrespective of the commonality of the cause.

JR