Thread: Kiwi soldiers sent home for Taleban photo stunt

Three New Zealand soldiers will be sent home from Afghanistan for passing on a photo featuring a bomb plastered with an energy drink sticker and the words "dear Taleban, enjoy this".
In the photograph the three soldiers are seen with what is thought to be a 2000-pound bomb of the type which can be fired from an F-16 fighter jet, and is used in airstrikes which have claimed civilian lives.
The bomb is plastered with the Demon energy drink's "no limits, no laws" slogan.
The photographs were sent to Demon Drinks, which runs competitions for consumers to send in humourous photos, and became widely distributed on email.
The decision to send the soldiers home was made immediately after the incident, the New Zealand Defence Force said. A subsequent investigation found two of the three soldiers guilty of an offence under the Armed Forces Discipline Act, and those soldiers were punished.
"The return home of these three personnel was a command decision," said Commander Joint Forces NZ Air Vice Marshal Peter Stockwell.
"Irrespective of the investigation into whether the acts contravened military law, the NZDF sets and expects very high levels of professionalism and behaviour from its people - this is especially the case in an operational theatre where the protection of information is vital to the overall security of New Zealand interests and activities. On this occasion those standards have not been met and as a consequence these three soldiers will be returned to New Zealand at the earliest opportunity."
"Let me be very clear that this is not about a group of young soldiers just taking a photograph of themselves; soldiers have been doing this since the availability of cameras. These three are returning to New Zealand because of a series of actions and errors of judgment on their part that did not meet the standards we expect of our people."Soldiers sent home for photo stunt - national | Stuff.co.nz

This is why I will never return home, three lads enjoy a harmless prank, I mean they didn't rape or murder anyone, what fvcken wankers my countrymen are.

I really can't blame the commander, It's OK to go out and kill them, but not OK to razz then and take a chance on breaching security with a photo of a fucking bomb.
Somebody should get a fucking life.
But the guys is gonna be much happier at home anyway.

Originally Posted by peterpan

This is why I will never return home, three lads enjoy a harmless prank, I mean they didn't rape or murder anyone, what fvcken wankers my countrymen are.

Agree; pisses me off no end, when same issue of newspaper has this itemSix Italian troops die in Afghan blast - world | Stuff.co.nz
Six Italian troops die in Afghan blast

as if the NZ guys were there with no risk to their own lives, and an energy drink sticker gets them sent home.
The place is truly over-regulated by the Ministry of No Fvcken Fun.
Shameful.

yea, It used to be a fun place where you could go surfing in the morning and shoot a deer in the afternoon. You could legally drive at 12 years old and get a gun license at the same age.
Now its ruled by bureaucrats and political correctness rules the day.

The bods incharge "pretend" to be politicaly correct. So these poor sods will loose thier rank/jobs. Its a battle zone and under stress so shit happens.

That PC Bullshit has ruined the whole fucking world, well the parts where humans live anyway, who gives a fuck about SWA, or as better known Mid-East.

^ Bingo Bg... One of the top 2 reasons that I'm leaving Merika and will likely not return...

Originally Posted by peterpan

what fvcken wankers my countrymen are.

Thanks PP.

But you are right. Top news story in NZ at the mo is should W(h)anganui be spelt with an 'h' in it. Problem is there's not much happening anywhere in the country so people get nick-pickenly anal and PC so they have something to complain about.

^ True. At a recent party, I met a lady who escaped Pinochet in the 70s. One other chick was complaining about strata rules in her townhouse area, the neighbour's noisy dog, blah blah. We just looked at each other and laughed. She said to me, "Just shoot her." 55555555

Originally Posted by peterpan

This is why I will never return home, three lads enjoy a harmless prank, I mean they didn't rape or murder anyone, what fvcken wankers my countrymen are.

Sounds like there's more to it than just this one incident though:

"Let me be very clear that this is not about a group of young soldiers just taking a photograph of themselves; soldiers have been doing this since the availability of cameras. These three are returning to New Zealand because of a series of actions and errors of judgment on their part that did not meet the standards we expect of our people."

Just the proverbial straw on the camels back maybe.

NZ sucks arse man... I have no idea why i'm stuck here... oh, yea thats right, an abundance of asian school girls... but other than that I don't know why i'm stuck here... can't even get good weed on the street anymore... nanny state!!!