I'm of the opinion that service personnel should be allowed to sell their stories and experiences to the media. We all hear the news stories but they are somewhat limited in their content. As long as they are not disclosing any sensitive material then why not? When the armed forces are finished with these people the government are happy for them to be forgotten and have a rememberance day on Nov 11th. We expect these people to place their lives on the line every day that they are in a theatre of war and what thanks do they get? A medal will not feed or cloth you when your time in the forces is over nor will it get you therapy for injuries sustained and your pension aint worth diddly squat till you reach retirement age. Are the government afraid that our people will tell the truth about the conditions and the dangers that they face? The lack of resources, supplies, support, personnel, common sense and just how long will the middle east situation continue? How many high ranking politicians sons and daughters are on the front line? Yes, in case you are wondering, I am time served.[/i][/b]

Im currently serving and my opinion on the whole writing a book thing is....go for it! If someone has the ability to write an informative book on their experiences, to be able to tell the world what actually happens then Im all for it.
As it stands, the forces in general are not well treated by Liarbour and things wont change unless people realise what its like in the forces. People can easily turn around and say "Well thats what you signed up for!", well no its not, we signed up for our own reasons not to be treated worse than illegal immigrants and criminal prisoners.

Phew!! thats my rant done

It's good to see such a varied response to my post. Although it's not an original idea, I still reckon that there should be more freedom of speech in such matters. I do have to agree with one point though upon reflection. That's the spin that the tabloids would have. They are really nothing more than vultures who would only seek to gain some award or another for imparting to the world all their hard work. What a pile of crap!

Yet still I hold to that of which I first spoke. Simply money? No not just that. More to the truth and shame of the government would I reveal.