I received this unsolicated SMS message on Thursday. Apparently it went out to 287,000 ‘Veterans’, everyone on DVA’s books and not limited to those who served there.
It’s a nice touch, I guess, but in my opinion, it addresses the wrong event and is 508 days too late. I didn’t sign up to make or keep Afghanistan free from oppression, but I did dedicate my life to that ends with respect to this country, Australia.
If they genuinely think that the loss of liberties in a faraway country can have such an effect on the entire Veteran community, one that warrants this type of response, what do they think the suspension of even the most basic rights in their own country (for what appears to be an indefinate period) is doing to their psychological state?
Everything most* servicemen thought they were sacrificing for (not just for a tour or two, but their entire military careers), has been decimated in the blink of an eye.
Like everything that comes from Governments in Australia nowadays, a non-solution to the wrong problem, too late.
Soldiers have a collection of acronyms that may be considered appropriate in 2020/21:
WOFTAM: Waste Of Fucking Time And Money
FUBAR: Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition
BOHICA: Bend Over, Here It Comes Again!
* This blog knows of at least one who would be the exception.
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