Circus-of-Power

I just found the mentality of my American work mates infuriating at best ...moronic at worst. To them a terrorist is somebody who is anti American, and thats it really.

LuTziE

I think most British people would now be as ignorant to what happened as any American. History dulls feelings-unless there was a personal loss-the feelings and passion fades. I remember the Birmingham bombs,I remember my parents being shocked, but its all dull memory.
Britain is good at not remembering its dead, America is much better.

lapin_windstar

When was the last time you worked in the UK? The US doesn't have the monopoly on morons.

Giantaxe

A peculiar comment. There is no way in hell that the UK would have got involved in Vietnam (thank goodness). Harold Wilson telling Johnson to get lost in '65 (?) when the latter raised the subject of UK troops was one of the things Wilson actually got right.

Giantaxe

I doubt anyone would claim it does. However, I can certainly sympathize with the person you were replying to in that it has become all too common to try to pin the "terrorist" label to those that happen to oppose the US and in particular its foreign policies.

Bob

did send in the SAS to help train US troops though...

lapin_windstar

No, I'm sure you're right that direct military involvement was pretty unlikely. All the same, in a world of hypotheticals, if the UK hadn't had to commit that many troops to Northern Ireland, perhaps it could have freed up US troops (Germany?) which could have fought in Vietnam. Mind you, Australia sent troops to Vietnam (including Jim Robinson), so maybe it wasn't quite so unthinkable.

cutina

KentuckyYid

I think there was element of remember the Suez canal? in Wilson's no response.

Giantaxe

The British didn't send the first troops to Northern Ireland until '69, fully four years after Johnson pretty much begged Wilson to get involved. So there was zero connection between Northern Ireland and Britain's unwillingness to get involved in Vietnam:- there was simply no political or public support to get involved in this war. As for freeing up US troops to fight, again, I'm sceptical. The US had a draft at the time and wasn't exactly lacking in troops to send to Vietnam and large numbers of British troops weren't deployed in Northern Ireland until around the time the US had started reducing troop numbers in Vietnam. And Australia made an independent decision based largely on the fact that Vietnam - and SE Asia in general - was more stragically important to it than to European countries.

Giantaxe

Most probably, although the lack of political and public support made it political suicide for him to take such a decision. Of course, one could also argue that Suez also had an influence on public opinion also being overwhelmingly against involvement as well.

BigDavyG

What is that meant to mean ??

fatbrit

Means you're all spongers, I think.

cindyabs

Because until it hits close to home, then it's just a tragic incident that happened to someone else, somewhere else.

Lord Lionheart

It's a drain on UK tax money compared to what it produces