spot wrote: If this discussion were conducted less vindictively, it would improve in quality. I accept that you might be trying to employ humor, but it would only be funny if it were less twisted from the content of the thread. You introduce emotive words like "slime" yourself, apply it as other people's "apparent" view of you, and then believe that personal abuse is being employed from both sides? This is not a competition. You are not scoring points with a view to victory. Try to engage some civility. It's being employed by others here.And not by others. Let it drop.
spot wrote: Could we bear in mind that the majority of the citizens of Iraq are Muslims? Firstly, the people fighting against the Coalition are mainly Iraqi, not "foreign fighters" - we can discuss subsequently the truth of that if you want to challenge it. You call them Islamic rather than Muslim, which seems to have become a form of code-speak for "enemy". You call them extremists as though being extreme in the face of foreign occupation isn't a reaction you'd applaud in other circumstances. It's extreme in that most people aren't fighters. Have you tried thinking yourself into their shoes and wondering whose side you'd be supporting from that perspective? Does the word "collaborator" not exist in your vocabulary? Isn't it applied in other settings to people who go along with foreign occupiers?
There's no code. Muslims are Islamic. The extremists of that culture/religion are our enemies. I already gave my views of our invading Iraq, and yes, I would like challenge your assertion about the nationality of the terrorists who are murdering Muslim Iraqi citizens. More importantly, trace it back to where the buck stops. Who's sending these zealots to die?
Churches Denounce Iraq War
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Accountable
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Churches Denounce Iraq War
spot wrote: Shall I suggest a feasible way out of Iraq right now? Bring President Hussain, that mythically unnatural US-invented "Hitler", out of his jail suite, dust him down, offer him back his wardrobe full of uniforms and palaces, and the last serviceman out can close the door behind him.
Problem with this is that you can NEVER put the ommlette back into the eggshell.
By invading Afganistan and Iraq the US have irreversably changed the world dynamic and created a condition where the only recourse for the weak is terrorism
And how do you fight terrorists with an army?
Problem with this is that you can NEVER put the ommlette back into the eggshell.
By invading Afganistan and Iraq the US have irreversably changed the world dynamic and created a condition where the only recourse for the weak is terrorism
And how do you fight terrorists with an army?
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Accountable
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Churches Denounce Iraq War
Bryn Mawr wrote: Problem with this is that you can NEVER put the ommlette back into the eggshell.
By invading Afganistan and Iraq the US have irreversably changed the world dynamic and created a condition where the only recourse for the weak is terrorism
And how do you fight terrorists with an army?
That's a great question. We're in a similar situation that England found herself in back the days of the New World when they found themselves fighting against an enemy that hid behind trees and didn't even have the decency to stand out in a field to be shot at like civilized folk. :p We'll eventually work out a better way, because this way doesn't work well.
By invading Afganistan and Iraq the US have irreversably changed the world dynamic and created a condition where the only recourse for the weak is terrorism
And how do you fight terrorists with an army?
That's a great question. We're in a similar situation that England found herself in back the days of the New World when they found themselves fighting against an enemy that hid behind trees and didn't even have the decency to stand out in a field to be shot at like civilized folk. :p We'll eventually work out a better way, because this way doesn't work well.
Churches Denounce Iraq War
Accountable wrote: That's a great question. We're in a similar situation that England found herself in back the days of the New World when they found themselves fighting against an enemy that hid behind trees and didn't even have the decency to stand out in a field to be shot at like civilized folk. :p We'll eventually work out a better way, because this way doesn't work well.You see, when you put yourself in the other guy's shoes, it makes a bit more sense. The Minutemen had all the resources of the local villages to rely on, which was a key to their success as well as directly comparable with the current Iraq and Afghan campaigns.
There's a discussion of the background approaches to "hearts and minds" in dealing with this at http://www.carlisle.army.mil/usawc/Para ... markel.htm - the US Army War College Quarterly, which came out this week. It compares various post-WW2 approaches, from the Malaysian insurgency to the Kenyan Mau-Mau and the Vietnamese "Strategic Village" policy (which marked most of South Vietnam as "unoccupied"!). If anyone reads it and thinks it worth discussing, I'll happily join in.
There's a discussion of the background approaches to "hearts and minds" in dealing with this at http://www.carlisle.army.mil/usawc/Para ... markel.htm - the US Army War College Quarterly, which came out this week. It compares various post-WW2 approaches, from the Malaysian insurgency to the Kenyan Mau-Mau and the Vietnamese "Strategic Village" policy (which marked most of South Vietnam as "unoccupied"!). If anyone reads it and thinks it worth discussing, I'll happily join in.
Nullius in verba ... ☎||||||||||| ... To Fate I sue, of other means bereft, the only refuge for the wretched left.
When flower power came along I stood for Human Rights, marched around for peace and freedom, had some nooky every night - we took it serious.
Who has a spare two minutes to play in this month's FG Trivia game! ... My other OS is Slackware.
When flower power came along I stood for Human Rights, marched around for peace and freedom, had some nooky every night - we took it serious.
Who has a spare two minutes to play in this month's FG Trivia game! ... My other OS is Slackware.
Churches Denounce Iraq War
Accountable wrote: That's a great question. We're in a similar situation that England found herself in back the days of the New World when they found themselves fighting against an enemy that hid behind trees and didn't even have the decency to stand out in a field to be shot at like civilized folk.
Whilst merging back into the general population, 95% of whom are supposedly your friends and allies. Strike one in the war for hearts and minds.
Accountable wrote: :p We'll eventually work out a better way, because this way doesn't work well.
Better be quick about it - this way doesn't work at all
The US went from the moral high ground with most of world opinion against the terrorists to being hated by a large proportion of the world population and a belief that the terrorists were justified "because it was the only way to fight the Yanks".
Not a good move.
Whilst merging back into the general population, 95% of whom are supposedly your friends and allies. Strike one in the war for hearts and minds.
Accountable wrote: :p We'll eventually work out a better way, because this way doesn't work well.
Better be quick about it - this way doesn't work at all
The US went from the moral high ground with most of world opinion against the terrorists to being hated by a large proportion of the world population and a belief that the terrorists were justified "because it was the only way to fight the Yanks".
Not a good move.
Churches Denounce Iraq War
Accountable wrote: That's a great question. We're in a similar situation that England found herself in back the days of the New World when they found themselves fighting against an enemy that hid behind trees and didn't even have the decency to stand out in a field to be shot at like civilized folk. :p We'll eventually work out a better way, because this way doesn't work well.
Interesting you cast yourselves as the imperial power :yh_questn. Does this mean you now see the iraquis as freedom fighters?
Interesting you cast yourselves as the imperial power :yh_questn. Does this mean you now see the iraquis as freedom fighters?
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Accountable
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Churches Denounce Iraq War
gmc wrote: Interesting you cast yourselves as the imperial power :yh_questn. Does this mean you now see the iraquis as freedom fighters?
I cast ourselves as the old-school warriors facing unfamiliar new techniques. Try to keep up.
I cast ourselves as the old-school warriors facing unfamiliar new techniques. Try to keep up.
Churches Denounce Iraq War
Accountable wrote: I cast ourselves as the old-school warriors facing unfamiliar new techniques. Try to keep up.
Nothing like vietnam then.
Nothing like vietnam then.
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Accountable
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Churches Denounce Iraq War
gmc wrote: Nothing like vietnam then.
Another good example. When I first joined the Air Force in 82 they were still talking about us making the mistake of fighting the next war based on the last one. We still had Jungle bdu uniforms when we went to Desert Storm. :yh_frustr
Another good example. When I first joined the Air Force in 82 they were still talking about us making the mistake of fighting the next war based on the last one. We still had Jungle bdu uniforms when we went to Desert Storm. :yh_frustr
Churches Denounce Iraq War
posted by far rider
Superman's only weakness is Kryptonite. Far Rider laughs at Superman
for having a weakness.
What about his fashion sense? Another major weakness wouldn't you say?
Superman's only weakness is Kryptonite. Far Rider laughs at Superman
for having a weakness.
What about his fashion sense? Another major weakness wouldn't you say?