Do soldiers have a 'right to life'?

[The Spartan]

Burning poppies is a shameful act and shouldn't go unpunished, it's little things like these that lead to tension and eventually it will flair up in the form of violence if nothing is done about it.

[d000hg]

Being shameful and requiring punishment are not the same thing.

[The Spartan]

Ok so the person should be punished

[d000hg]

For being insensitive?

Depending where and how it was posted, a burning poppy could be construed as a valid anti-war protest.

[sasguru]

Ok so the person should be punished

Have you heard of rule of law? Is it against the law to burn poppies?

[mudskipper]

Have you heard of rule of law? Is it against the law to burn poppies?

He wasn't arrested for burning a poppy. He was arrested for posting a picture of a poppy being burnt. It is not clear whether he himself had taken the picture.

[The Spartan]

For being insensitive?

Depending where and how it was posted, a burning poppy could be construed as a valid anti-war protest.

The Poppy is a symbol of remembrance

[mudskipper]

He wasn't arrested for burning a poppy. He was arrested for posting a picture of a poppy being burnt. It is not clear whether he himself had taken the picture.

The Wail have now posted a picture of a burning poppy.

Arrest them!

'Free speech' row after man is ARRESTED for posting image of a burning Poppy on his Facebook page on Remembrance Sunday | Mail Online

[The Spartan]

Have you heard of rule of law? Is it against the law to burn poppies?

Is it against the law to depict a certain prophet in a specific light? or burn religious books?

[shaunbhoy]

I think, when you join the forces, accepting that your life may be at risk is part of the deal.

But you're still entitled to expect that every safety precaution will be taken - so if shortage of proper equipment, or crap decision making, or lack of care contribute to that death, IMO your family should be entitled to some redress.

This pretty much covers my position on this.
Most people that join the Forces accept that it can be a risky business, and accordingly, do not expect any special treatment.
If they are asked to perform their duties with equipment that is entirely unsuitable then there needs to be representation made, but I don't believe it is the place of ambulance-chasing barstewards preying on the grief of distraught families to expedite such change.
When I served in the 70s and 80s we were still equipped with items that predated WWII. Some guys chose to purchase their own stuff. It was wrong, but fortunately for us it was never put to any sort of acid test.
In short, if you volunteer then you have to accept a certain amount of risk, but that does not excuse negligence on the part of those that are formulating policy, nor does it absolve them from the responsibility of adequately equipping the forces they so readily send to do their bidding.