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| 12/24 |
| 2008/2/8-10 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:49098 Activity:nil |
2/8 American Woman in Saudi Arabia receives reality check
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,329605,00.html
\_ some things to notice:
1) this is from fox news. What do you think their angle is?
\_ Your fox paranoia is amusing. It's not the only outlet
reporting it.
2) she goes home to her "compound"... and she's in finance.
clueless?
3) incoming collision from... Starbucks! Yay nation of Starbucks!!
\_ Can OP fix the link above please?
\_ Fixed. The URL does not need shortening. |
| 2008/2/8-11 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:49096 Activity:moderate |
2/8 i kind of liked Romney. oh well.
\_ I called him an idiot at first because of his "political act". But
accepting that as part of politics, I certainly liked him much
more than McCain. Romney has more real leadership experience, and
McCain seems kind of unstable. And too war happy and egotistical.
\_ I like Fred Thompson ... 's wife.
\_ I didnt find it shocking he wasn't insanely anti abortion
and gay crushing when he was governor of Mass.
\_ Voting for democrats is SURRENDER TO TERROR
\_ I just saw that. Ok I don't like him anymore. what
a moron.
\_ Ditto, ok that reinforces my original assessment. Of
course, this too could be a political act. Whatever,
moron it is. Occam's razor.
\_ I winced too, but since both Dem canidates are planning to
surrender in Iraq, it's probably actually correct.
\_ 1. Iraq was never about the "War On Terror".
2. Going into war without clear goals (or constantly
moving your goals about) is a plan for disaster. This
was a war of choice, but there was no good reason or
plan. Pulling out is admitting that. You can't "win"
a war like that.
3. Isreal lost a lot of face because they lost a war.
Making that even more clear would have just made things
worse. Sometimes you need to pull back and regroup.
Throwing good after bad just makes things worse.
4. Getting out of Iraq is the first step to actually
solving the issues at hand.
\_ 1. It wasn't at the beginning, but it sure is now. Or
haven't you noticed the terrorist trying to take over
the place?
2. I agree, but this too has changed.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/09/AR2008020902666.html?hpid%3Dtopnews&sub=AR
http://csua.org/u/kqr (Wash. Post)
(And actually hasn't been true for some time.)
3. meh
4. This relies on 1 and 2, which were false.
\_ Surrendering generally requires an actual identified enemy
to surrender to. We could bomb everyone there until they
stopped moving, but what is the point? It's not a war so
much as a giant security problem. The enemies are living
in the same society as the one you're supposedly
protecting, you can't win a "war" like that. You have to
take drastic internal police-state measures.
\_ I agree with you technically, but the whole world would
interpret pull-out as surrender, so the technical
difference hardly seems important. Especially since
things are actually going pretty well now.
\_ Insofar as we embrace binary positions, yes, this
will be seen as a surrender. In reality, it will
simply be a repudiation of the Bush Admin's legacy.
\_ Remember Isreal and Hezbollah just a year ago?
That little pull-out move increased Hezbollah's
stature a lot. Whether we "embrace binary
positions" or not doesn't make a whole lot of
difference to how it looks on the world stage.
\_ Hey, do you still call them "Freedom Fries"?
\_ Can't win rationally huh?
\_ You can't talk a man rationally out of
a position that he didn't use reason
to get himself into in the first place.
\_ As if anyone gets political positions
using reason. -- ilyas
\_ Our enemy in Iraq is not just AQiI; it's a
number of Sunni insurgents, some of them
home-grown, as well as collateral damage from
Shi-ite militias. Hezbollah gets bragging points
in Lebanon because it's the only player fight-
ing Israel at the time. War was declared; sides
were chosen/drawn; one team left the field;
"win" (by which I mean bragging rights, not an
actual victory) by forfeiture: Hezbollah. Not
that Israel really had a choice at that point.
Shi-ite militias. Hezbollah gets bragging
points in Lebanon because it's the only player
fighting Israel at the time. War was declared;
sides were chosen/drawn; one team left the
field; "win" (by which I mean bragging rights,
not an actual victory) by forfeiture:
Hezbollah. Not that Israel really had a choice
at that point.
\_ No, the world will interpret pull-out as a sign that
the grown-ups are finally back in charge in Washington
at least until we elect the next round of wing-nuts.
the grown-ups are finally back in charge in
Washington at least until we elect the next round of
wing-nuts.
\_ World >> Europe
\_ I kind of like Fred Thompson's wife. Oh well.
\_ "San Franciscan style left wing is not MAINSTREAM America" |
| 2008/2/4-7 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:49057 Activity:nil |
2/4 N Korea: nuke, WMD, supernotes
Iraq: nothing
We're barking on the wrong tree man.
\_ N Korea is backed by ChiCom. Iraq is not really backed by Russia.
We're barking on the weaker tree.
\_ 2 other considerations, no matter what me do, NK could
successfully blow up a lot of SK before we won. Iraq is mostly
flat sand, which is easy to invade. Iran is mountainous.
\_ Also, Iran is 3x larger than Iraq. Good luck pacifying that. |
| 2008/1/28-2/2 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:49026 Activity:nil |
1/28 The Iraq War has become Bush's pet project.
\_ And like most children, he lacks the mental cohesion and maturity
to understand the responsibility of having a pet, and it's doomed
to die a horrible death from neglect.
\_ Why did you have to feed the trolls? He didn't even bother to
post a url.
\_ Sorry, feeding the what now? |
| 2008/1/24-31 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:49001 Activity:nil |
1/24 What a surprise, most (90%) of the insurgents in Iraq aren't Iraqis
http://csua.org/u/kjz
\_ Doesn't it say 90% of the suicide bombers are foriegn, not of all
insurgents. In fact, I think insurgent is the wrong name for these
guys. Terrorist really is more apt. |
| 2008/1/22-31 [Politics/Domestic/President/Bush, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:48990 Activity:nil |
1/22 Study: Bush, officials made false statements prior to war
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080123/ap_on_go_pr_wh/misinformation_study
In other news, sky still blue!
\_ 935 false statements in two years is a lot of false statements, even
for a President. |
| 12/24 |
| 2008/1/18-23 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:48969 Activity:nil |
1/18 Some slides of how violence has decreased in Iraq, from General Raymond
Odierno's briefing yesterday.
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives2/2008/01/019573.php
\_ Hey, did you guys ever find those WMD you were looking for there?
\_ JAMA says over 150k civilian deaths. I guess if you kill enough
people, the killing with eventually stop, eh?
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/NEJMp0709003 |
| 2008/1/16-18 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:48952 Activity:nil |
1/16 Here's an amusing piece: "Ten Recurring Economic Fallacies"
http://www.mises.org/story/1568
\_ He does well up until his final paragraphs, where he goes off
the rails.
\_ Yeah, I actually stopped reading there. -op |
| 2008/1/14-16 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:48943 Activity:nil |
1/14 Saudi Arabia to buy $20B weapons package (including JDAM kits) and to
re-invest in CitiGroup. Israel had objected to JDAM sales, but backed
off after $30B grants secured into next decade. USA USA USA!!! |
| 2008/1/10-12 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:48928 Activity:moderate |
1/10 reiffin is full of shit.
\_ Most of us are. -dans
\_ I'm mostly water -eric
\_ So is shit.
\_ Funny that you'd say that now since I haven't posted anything
exciting in months. Please go troll someone who cares.
\_ How is that War in Iraq working out? Did you guys ever find
the WMD you kept harping on about?
\_ Trollboy, you're barking up the wrong tree. Your troll
score is: 0.
\_ Actually it is one. Well, what happened to it? Did
it get buried in the Syrian desert somewhere? Didn't
you tell us that "even the French" believed that SH
has WMD? Where is your Mea Culpa? |
| 2008/1/7-11 [Reference/Military, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:48898 Activity:nil |
1/7 Whoops. War with Iran is getting closer.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8U17HM80&show_article=1
\_ Someone set us up the bomb!
\_ Yawn. We shot down a friggin civilian airliner and didn't end up
in a war. Our guys and their guys are shooting each other on both
sides of the land border. We didn't get in a war. |
| 2007/12/6-7 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:48753 Activity:kinda low |
12/6 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22126293 Violence is down. Bush's war is almost over!!! \_ Ignorance is Strength! \_ How is the delivery of power going? How about oil exports? I believe these reports more than the heavily massaged numbers on civilian casualties. \_ If they were 110% you'd find something else to whine about. The country is a mess from 3 wars, 10 years of sanctions, and decades of destructive government. It won't be fixed for years. |
| 2007/12/5-7 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:48746 Activity:nil |
12/5 Ride Bike! In Fallujah!
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/11/28/2103148.htm?section=world |
| 2007/12/1-6 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:48727 Activity:moderate |
12/1 "Iraqis may offer US deal to stay longer"
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071126/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_us
What? They don't want UN or multinational presence but they want
the US?
\_ Republican controlled media lies. Only diplomacy through the UN
can stop the continued worsening of the situation which is now in
a state of full fledged civil war.
\_ Nothing can stop the continued worsening of the situation.
It's going to get worse before it gets better.
\_ That was sarcasm, sorry. I thought everyone would
understand that. Next time I'll label it. You're unaware
that violence in Iraq and Baghdad in particular has dropped
like a rock? "Oh but they still don't have a political
resolution!!!" Yeah, neither does the U.S. Congress for our
own governing needs. It's insane to ask that the Iraqis do
any better politically than we're doing, which is very poorly,
since both parties lack leaders.
\_ It would be nice if: 1) their police were not moonlighting
as insurgents, 2) their politicians were at least
pretending not to be corrupt and take bribes, and
3) well, I'll settle for 1) and 2) above.
\_ 1) they're getting shot like the rest of the insurgents,
2) yeah it would be nice if we didn't have people in
Congress right now with $90k stuffed in their freezer.
Congress right now with $90k stuffed in their
freezer.
3) well, I'll settle for just 2) for now.
\_ It remains remarkable to me that you cannot see a
a difference between a system where bribes are taken
w/o impunity and a system where allegations of
corruption are investigated and the guilty parties
are indicted.
\_ Oh, he can see the difference. He is just being
disingenuous.
\_ Oh really? Did Mr. Fridge get indicted? Is
he out of office? Is he in prison? Did I
miss a news cycle?
\_ Yes he got indicted. His trial is set to
start Jan 16. His lawyers are asking for
an extension, but it's coming... Sheesh..
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/rep.-jefferson-wants-trial-delayed-2007-12-05.html
How many times have we covered this?
\_ http://csua.com/?entry=46846 He gets his
say in court. When they convict him, call
us. |
| 2007/11/26-30 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:48694 Activity:nil |
11/26 Dang, that bride is fugly (Iraq: terror suspects caught in wedding)
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/11/26/iraq.bride/index.html
\_ I think she's a man. |
| 2007/11/26-29 [Politics/Domestic/President/Bush, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:48692 Activity:nil |
11/25 Is Waterboarding torture?
http://www.csua.org/u/k2i (The Week)
\_ Apparently, Tasers are. At that point, anything is torture.
\_ The USSC said tasers are torture? When did they say that?
\_ No, SCOTUS didn't say that. Google the news for tasers and
torture.
\_ Tasers can be torture. When police use tasers one a restrained
subject, as punishment, they are using tasers as torture
devices.
\_ In this same vein, so are car batteries, hammers,
whatever....
\_ Umm, those are regularly used as torture devices.
Or would you be happy if police regularly smashed
people in the hand with a hammer for not doing what
they say?
\_ So when a prisoner is escorted to court with a taser belt, and
it's used to zap him if he gets out of line, you'd say it's a
torture device?
\_ If it is used to zap him if he attacks someone, probably
not. If it is used to make someone do something that
could be done without the use of pain, yes, it is
torture. And that's what tasers have become to some
law enforcement, ways of getting people to kowtow
instantly. That's torture.
\_ I thought torture was inflicting pain to get
information, not to get them to comply. What about
beating someone with batons if they won't fall in line?
\_ That's pretty obvious torture. It's part of ruling
by fear. And it is what our police departments are
rapidly becoming, forces of fear.
\_ It is not torture the way the Geneva Convention
defines torture. There has to be a lot more to
it than that, like permanent damage.
\_ This is not a testable distinction if you
include psychological damage. -- ilyas |
| 2007/11/26-30 [Politics/Domestic/911, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:48691 Activity:high |
11/26 http://csua.org/u/k2n (Washington Times) Islamic terrorists target Army base -- in Arizona "Fort officials changed security measures after sources warned that possibly 60 Afghan and Iraqi terrorists were to be smuggled into the U.S. through underground tunnels with high-powered weapons to attack the Arizona Army base, according to multiple confidential law enforcement documents obtained by The Washington Times." \_ It's also possible an army of elephant commandos has been training in the amazon for generations to wipe humanity off the face of the earth and get back at us for those damn pianos. (Hint, the Washington Times is one step removed from The Star but with More Moonie.) \_ I've been reading Sara Carter's stuff since before she was with the times. She's a good reporter. And while I might accuse a major paper of spin (I'm looking at you NYTimes), I wouldn't reject it as a basic record of fact. I'm sorry you reject news sources that don't fit your agenda. -op \_ You just accused the New York Times of spin. It's had some pretty blatant failures of editorial control, e.g. Jason Blair, Judith Miller, and it is not without bias, but to claim that it spins stories is stretching it a bit, don't you think? -dans \_ No. Not at all. PP was kind to the NYT. --someone else \_ How so? Care to cite an example of egregious spin in a news story on the part of the NYT? -dans \_ Pick up a copy. They used to have the news pages read reasonably straight and kept the editorials to the op/ed page. No more and not for many years. IMO it changed sometime in the mid 90s. Now the NYT is unreadable. I used to read it cover to cover every day. \_ If it's so bad, it should be easy to provide one example. Please cite one. -dans \_ It is, and if it was anyone else asking, I'd provide examples. \_ The Plaintiff rests. -dans \_ Are you the same guy asking for proof that the Washington Times is biased? \_ No. All newspapers are biased. I don't need proof of that. \_ Everything is biased. An interesting question to ponder is what would lack of bias even look like. -- ilyas \_ Do you read Front Page Mag and NewsMax and consider them "sources of fact" as well? \_ I get all my truth from Kos and DU. \_ UPI picked it up--do you distrust them too? \_ UPI and Washington Times have the same owner, dumbfuck. \_ Didn't know that, pottymouth. \_ Then we can safely ignore your opinion on media sources. \_ Do you have any evidence at all that the owner has had a negative influence on the truthfulness of the stories they publish? Or you just hate the owner and assume? \_ "Fifteen years ago, when the world was adrift on the stormy waves of the Cold War, I established The Washington Times to fulfill God's desperate desire to save this world." --Rev Sun Yung Moon \_ That's nice. Do you have any evidence that the owner has had a negative influence at all or you just hate the owner? \_ That quote is evidence. Do you have any counterevidence. Don't be disingenuous, it defeats the purpose of discussion. Hint: the goal is not to win the argument, the goal is to maybe learn something. -dans, !pp \_ A quote is not evidence that the owner has had any effect. Hint: the goal is not to win the argument, the goal is to maybe learn something. I'm still waiting for any evidence, not innuendo, that their news is negatively influenced by their owner no matter how nutty he may be. \_ Evidence: They're reporting complete nonsense about immigrant terrorists. And they report complete nonsense all the time. And their owner says so. Why would the Moonies be dumping billions of dollars into this paper if not to push their own agenda? The prima facie evidence is that it's a paper run by nutjobs with an agenda. -tom \_ Several papers have been busted in recent years publishing flat out incorrect stories or even lies. This is the only one moonie owned. Correlation != causation and all that. \_ I'm not sure how you parse intent as innuendo. Intent is not rock-solid, slam-dunk evidence, but it is, nonetheless, evidence. Seriously, quit being a douche. -dans \_ Thank you for bringing this discussion to a new low. It is responses like this that turn me off from bothering to try to give you researched respones to your queries such as the NYT one above because you're just not mature enough to have this sort of discussion. You called me a douche, because you got frustrated that I wouldn't just back down because you're pushy and unwilling to support your claims in any real way. This isn't HS or a freshman dorm chat. "Douche", indeed. \_ Blah blah blah, wah, wah. Let me translate pp's post for the audience at home: "I can't argue my point on merit so I'll politely dodge the issue, refuse to provide evidence for my points, and say my opponent's evidence 'doesn't count', all while pretending to participate in the discussion in good faith. But if the opposition bluntly calls me on my shit, and points out that I am being a disingenuous fuckhead, then the opposition is being juvenile." -dans \_ "The Washington Times will become the instrument in spreading the truth about God to the world." --ibid \_ As above, same question. \_ Other than that they have about 50 people total staff, no original reporting, and mainly put out short summaries of stories from other "sources" that are nearly always, dunh da dunh, the Washington Times? Nope. You suck at this game. \_ No original reporting? Sara Carter has done some of the best investigative reporting I've seen. \_ I was clearly speaking specifically about UPI. You really really suck at this game. \_ Clear to who? It wasn't clear to me. -!pp \_ Then you're an idiot too, but I doubt you're !pp. \_ Oh, you're crazy, that explains a lot. \_ Crystal clear to me. Do you read? Can you read? Do you have thumbs? SHOW ME YOUR THUMBS!!! -dans \_ Can you give me some specific examples? Now I am curious, what a motd-rightwinger thinks is an example of good reporting. -!pp I am curious to see what a motd-rightwinger thinks is an example of good reporting. -!pp \_ Let's just say that if the Washington Times is the originating source they have a pretty high burden of proof. That article had absolutly nothing to back itself up. I'll wait till I see something real before giving it any cred whatsoever. \_ What media sources do you give 'cred' to when they publish poorly sourced stories? \_ The Economist, the IHT, maybe WashPo, WSJ news pages before it became a Murdoch tool. -!pp \_ The Economist, the IHT, maybe WashPo, WSJ news pages before it became a Murdoch tool. -!pp before it became a Murdoch tool. How about you? -!pp \_ You give 'cred' to the WaPo? Wow.... \_ What do you give 'cred' to? WashPo is the largest source of unsourced articles, because of the way Washington DC works. Often you cannot get good inside the beltway news any other way. WashPo is also politically moderate, more or less. I am not saying it is perfect, but it is a much better than average newspaper. Not in the same league as the others I listed though. \_ I don't give free 'cred' to any media source. If you're not sourced you're no better than Drudge. I read Drudge. I find him amusing. He sometimes even gets a story right. That doesn't mean he has any credibility. \_ All of those sources have a better track \_ All of those papers have a better track record then Drudge. \_ I'm not a regular WSJ reader, but I generally respect the news pages. I'm not ready to write it off just because Murdoch purchased it, but am definitely waiting to see what happens. My list also includes the New York Times, The Economist, and the Christian Science Monitor. -dans \- if you are going to bother to infiltrate the US, isnt it kind of odd to go after a "hard target" like an AZ army base. \_ Not if it has intel info you want. Sounds like a better target than Walmart, dont you think? And better PR value, too. \_ http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/hourlyupdate/213456.php "FBI: Widely reported terrorist threat to Fort Huachuca unfounded" As noted, the Washington Times has zero credibility. -tom \_ Oh, so you trust the FBI more than the Times? Okay then. \_ Yeah, the FBI has real incentive to downplay terrorist threats, because, uh, well, no they don't. -tom |
| 2007/11/17 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:48651 Activity:nil |
11/17 Operation Falluja |
| 2007/11/14-17 [Politics/Domestic/RepublicanMedia, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:48637 Activity:nil |
11/14 the kholes on Fox News and http://foxnews.com are pumping this story a a lot today: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,311644,00.html without mentioning the 250+ Marines who died in this bombing: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Beirut_barracks_bombing What the hell is wrong with people? \_ Shut up and eat your Freedom Fries. \_ Okay, I'll bite. What is a 'khole'? \_ If you do a bunch of ketamine, you temporarily go into this disassociative zone known as a 'k hole'. It's hard to describe, think of it as being a 2 dimensional being in a 3 dimensional world. That's pretty close. \_ And then Carl Sagan appears. |
| 2007/11/8-12 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:48578 Activity:nil |
11/8 Ron Paul on patriotism
http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul388.html |
| 2007/11/4-8 [Recreation/Dating, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:48531 Activity:moderate |
11/4 So, how about that Hillary/Huma Abedin sex scandal LAT is sitting on?
\_ Rovian tactics won't work this time.
\_ Man, I though Huma was a Saudi intelligence agent. You mean she
is a Saudi-Isreali lipstick lesbian double agent? Where on The
Free Republic did you read that?
\_ Have you been reading Drudge again?
\_ I read Drudge. I've yet to see any mention of any Hillary
related sex stories. OP is just trolling, thus no URL.
\_ But you haven't been reading THE FREE REPUBLIC!
\_ No, I don't read the freepers, true. I'm still waiting
for a link from *any* source. This is just a bad troll.
\_ I googled and found some Freeper links. Want those?
\_ No but if the freepers link to a non-freeper site
then yes. |
| 2007/11/2-8 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:48526 Activity:nil |
11/2 The War On The Unexpected
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2007/11/the_war_on_the.html |
| 2007/11/2 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:48522 Activity:nil |
11/2 "Secret source of phony Iraq intel outed"
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071102/ap_on_go_ot/us_iraq_curveball |
| 2007/11/2 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:48520 Activity:nil |
11/2 http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071102/ap_on_go_ot/us_iraq_curveball |
| 2007/10/31-11/2 [Politics/Domestic/911, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:48498 Activity:nil |
10/31 Ex-CIA analyst Larry Johnson on one reason for intelligence failures
http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/coffeehouse/2007/oct/30/one_reason_for_intelligence_failures |
| 2007/10/30-11/2 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Others, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:48482 Activity:nil |
10/29 This is an old article from NY Times a couple days ago. I find it
extremely interesting and a bit surprised no one mentioned about it.
This is an article about how Kurdish extremist were fighting against
IRAN (not Turkey) and it seems that this Kurdish extremist group,
P.J.A.K has US' blessing to do so.
http://csua.org/u/jv0
I think US just find its way to pick a fight against Iran: continue
to encourage PJAK to conduct raid against Iran, when Iran respond, we
can say Iran attack Iraq and thus we need to go all out again Iran in
self defense... this is getting better and better every day.
\_ Of course Iran is messing around in Iraq. I don't know why we are
so surprised. If China invaded Mexico, you can bet we would have
all kinds of covert ops going on down there stirring shit up.
\_ Who said anyone is surprised? Pissed off that Iranians and
their proxies are killing Americans? Yes. Surprised? No.
\_ Are you less pissed off that Syrian and Saudi proxies are
killing Americans? Also, your assertion that Iranians are
attacking Americans is utterly baseless.
\_ Er, no, we'd have very overt ops going on down there. We really
don't like having other world powers mucking about in our
continent, at least not militarily.
\_ I agree with you. I just don't think it should be a shock
at all that Iran might be messing around in Iraq. They
are next door to Iraq. Iran is 90 percent Shiite. Iraq
is 60 percent Shiite. All of the holy shiite shrines are
in Iraq.
\_ Agreed. Also: no surprise that Turkey intends to pursue
PKK across the border, that Saudi Arabia is funding Sunni
groups, and that Syria is smuggling weapons in.
\_ All entirely predicatable before the first shot was
fired. Someone is going to fill the vacuum left by SH.
\_ All the more reason to believe that there will be a
kind of detente if the US steps out of Iraq. The
powers that be in the region will _not_ allow each
other to step in.
\_ Detente? You base this on what?
\_ On the unenlightened self-interest of the
powers in the region. None of them want the
pie so much as they want the rest to stay out.
\_ So you think the entire region can be reduced to population
percentage by religion? That's the only factor?
\_ I am not pp, but as Iran is the only Shi'ite power in
the region and is dominated by a Shi'ite theocracy, I'd
say this works in this context.
\_ No, that's too simple. Iraq is much more heavily
tribal than religious. Iran is dominated by a
theocracy but the people are not all walking lock
step with hand on Koran every day. Far far far far
too simple. Thinking like that is no better than
the 'theyll greet us with flowers' plan.
\_ I agree with you that Iran is not in lock-step:
it's arguable that the main theocracy and the
President have diametrically opposed goals, and
the populace, particularly the students, isn't
really happy with either of them at the moment.
However, I agree with pp that it's not surprising
that Iran is interested/involved in Iraq. The
theocratic elements are, it turns out, primarily
motivated by sympathy with (and the opportunity
to manipulate) the Shiite population in Iraq; the
intel folks don't want yet another Sunni nation
on their border; and the Pres. wants anything to
distract the people from the promises he hasn't
followed through on. I think I get what you're
saying, though: Shia population as a percentage
of Iraqi population is not the end-all reason
behind Iranian interest, no? |
| 2007/10/29-11/1 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:48477 Activity:nil 66%like:48510 |
10/29 ride bike!
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/10/29/international/i002207D82.DTL |
| 2007/10/29-11/1 [Reference/Military, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:48471 Activity:nil |
10/29 http://nadshot.com |
| 2007/10/24-26 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:48435 Activity:high |
10/24 A trillion dollars here, a trillion dollars there, pretty soon
you are talking about real money:
http://www.csua.org/u/jt4 (Yahoo News)
\_ We would have saved zillions of dollars if we'd just gone home
in 1945 and didn't leave our shores or open any bases.
\_ Because after WWII we were still fighting a bloody ugly
war surrounded by ethnic cleansing (actually my understanding
is everything has pretty much been cleansed by now) while
a civil war raged around us. This isn't WWII in any way
shape or form, and trying to compare the two proves you are
a fucking moron.
\_ I wasn't comparing the two. Assuming so "proves you are a
fucking moron". It is a factual statement that if we went
isolationist we'd save money.
\_ Yeah, we probably have spent too much on defense over the years,
considering the few risks we have, but I don't think we should
have completely abandoned all our overseas bases. Do you?
\_ Maybe. Why not? Why are we still in Korea, Germany, 'the
former Yugoslav republics', Britain, Japan, Cuba, and I
really don't know how many other places?
\_ Iraq.
\_ Iraq, Qatar, Yemen, maybe Saudi Arabia.
\_ Not Saudi Arabia. And they say UBL didn't win.
\_ Yes, those too, thanks. Anyway, to the person a few
posts up: why don't you think we should have
completely abandoned all our overseas bases? The
point of a military base is to project military power.
Why do you want to project power all over the world?
What benefit is there to the US?
\_ We need a few naval bases, so that we can keep
shipping lanes open and refuel our navy and
project enough air power to protect them on
patrol. Our economy depends too much on trade
to ignore shipping lanes. Not much more than that.
\_ Wow, that is $100k per Iraqi.
\_ War costs are generally not measured in head count.
\_ Maybe they should be. |
| 2007/10/22-24 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:48414 Activity:nil |
10/22 The Surge is working!
http://www.csua.org/u/jsc
\_ This article has been ignored by jewish controlled liberal
media outlets -jblack #2 fan |
| 2007/10/17-19 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:48342 Activity:nil |
10/17 Best headline ever
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/5220416.html
"Cemetery feels pinch as violence drops"
\_ There's always a downside to war. Now the grave digger's union
is complaining about insufficient death toll. What next? Enemy
files discrimination lawsuit? "TERRORISTS SAY US ARMY TARGETS
THEM! FILES SUIT IN 9TH CIRCUIT!"
\_ We should start executing politicans and lawyers to make
up thelack. |
| 2007/10/15-18 [Politics/Domestic/President/Bush, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:48332 Activity:moderate |
10/15 Republicans working on the "Stab In The Back Myth"
for use after our defeat in Iraq:
http://www.harpers.org/archive/2006/06/0081080
\_ More at:
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20071015/alterman
\_ that sounds like traitor talk to me!
\_ It is funny to watch the Right in full on paranoid melt-down mode.
Just wait until after Commander-In-Chief Hillary Rodham Clinton
is inaugurated!
\_ will the hills be far enough a place to head for?
\_ Oh boy, utopia, 4-8 more years of corruption, law breaking, lies
and *-gate scandals along with the troops staying in Iraq past
2013. Can't wait. Sounds like an American success story.
\_ Fortunately, Bush can't run again, Cheney won't run, and
BushCo has made it extraordinarily unlikely that a Repub
will win, so the problem is solved!
\_ Uh yeah, like I said. Elect Clinton to get 4-8 more years
of corruption, lies, *gate and troops in Iraq past 2013.
\_ If Hillary can figure out how to get fellated in the
Oval Office, more power to her.
\_ Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
We won't get fooled again!
\_ Looks like the Sanchez speech was all part of the mythos building:
http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=the_disgruntled_general
\_ No, the article in your link is about "Sanchez was an idiot and
he's bitter so this is him moaning and griping about his failures
and blaming everyone but himself". |
| 2007/10/15-17 [Politics/Domestic/Election, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:48319 Activity:low |
10/15 Things you may not have read about Sanchez's comments:
1) "The American military finds itself in an intractable situation ...
America has no choice but to continue our efforts in Iraq,"
2) "What is clear to me is that you are perpetuating the corrosive
partisan politics that is destroying our country and killing our
service members who are at war. My assessment is that your profession,
to some, has strayed from these ethical standards and allowed external
agendas to manipulate what the American public sees on TV, reads in
newspapers and what they see on the Web," Sanchez said.
http://www.fairandbalanced.com/story/0,2933,301676,00.html
\_ Did he say this to a Fox News reporter?
\_ In his speech to the Military Reporters and Editors Association
in Washington, D.C., on Friday....
\_ I love the lefties who censor the URL. Shows their hypocrisy so
\_ Yes, I know, I was making a joke. Even funnier that he said
it to a bunch of Stars and Stripe's reporters.
\_ Full transcript
http://www.militaryreporters.org/sanchez_101207.html
\_ I love the commies who censor the URL. Shows their hypocrisy so
well.
\_ Sup jblack, long time no motd!
\_ I'm not jblack. -pp |
| 2007/10/15-19 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Israel] UID:48318 Activity:kinda low |
10/15 Gotta love it when liars (CAIR) are exposed:
http://csua.org/u/jqe
\_ Links to Little Green Footballs, promoting paranoia and anti-
Islamic sentiment so you don't have to.
\_ The link has a scan of a check to CAIR, and quoting a statement
from CAIR denying it. Do you claim that they're faking it?
\_ No, I object to you posting partisan links without posting
the full URL or, barring that, identifying the source. I'm not
saying that no one should read Freeper or LGF or WashTimes or
Townhall, I'm just saying that you should give people an
opportunity to know what the source is before they click the
link. I'd do it before I sent you to Media Matters or MoveOn
or even the New York Times.
\_ I only shortened to the link because it was over 80
columns. It's not a porn site.
\_ Don't be disingenuous. It takes less than four
seconds to write a useful descriptive comment. -dans,!PP
\_ So anyway, is Cair lying or not? -someone else
\_ So anyway, is op being disingenuous or not?
\_ I neither know nor care. Were you failing to
make a point or just following in the OP's proud
disingenuous footsteps? -dans
\_ Funny. I see it the exact opposite way. I
don't care if the OP is disingenous or not
because it doesn't matter. It matters a lot
more when a monied lobbying group lies. That
is what I care about. They either did or did
not. Which is it? -!op
\_ Dunno about dans, but for me the issue isn't
the pristine integrity of the org, rather
the good that they do.
\_ My thinking tends to be similar, though
for different reasons. My working
assumption is that virtually all
politicians and/or political
organizations are, to some extent,
dirty or corrupt. Want to take CAIR to
task? More power to you, but don't
discriminate. Take every dirty
organization/politician, regardless of
political ideology, to task. -dans
\_ I'm opposed to all dirty orgs. The
op posted a link about this particular
one so that is the topic. Did they or
did they not lie? And as far as the
'good' that CAIR does, I'd be most
impressed to see a list of their
positive accomplishments for this
country. Given their foreign cash
sources, past statements, and ties
to anti-American foreign orgs I don't
think the plus column for CAIR is
very long.
\_ If you're opposed to all dirty
orgs, who do you like, then?
\_ Pet rescue. Money for children
of vets killed/injured in war
to go to college. Children's
reading book donation programs.
A few others. CAIR doesn't
make the list of 'good' orgs by
any measure. There are *no*
good political orgs I'm aware
of. I'm surprised you couldn't
think of a clean non-profit org.
\_ The Catholic Church
\_ Mother Teresa: corrupt,
malignant dwarf. -Hitchens
\_ Re: The Holocaust: oops.
But, no, really the Pope has
a direct line to God who is
infallible.
Re: Widespread sexual abuse
of children at the hands of
priests: Oops. We'll just
sweep this under the rug
because it would really suck
if people sued us. -dans |
| 2007/10/10-12 [Reference/Military, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:48283 Activity:nil |
10/10 Pelosi vs. the anti-war activists
http://csua.org/u/jp0 |
| 2007/10/2-5 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq, Reference/History/WW2] UID:48224 Activity:moderate |
10/2 Check this out, it's awesome:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21105586
Ratio of wounded in action to killed in action:
WW2: 1 killed to 2.40 wounded
Vietnam: 1 to 3.12
Current: 1 to 8.3
\_ All Hail Western Medical Science! Amen!
\_ If you stick a tube in a vegetable, it'll be alive
indefinitely. Case in point... the veggy woman case.
\_ A lot more soldiers get wounded than before? "Ouch, I just got
poked by that cactus and my pinky is bleeding. I'm out of the
mission."
\_ No, it is really because doctors can patch up and save the lives
of soldiers with all sorts of gruesome wounds that would have
been certain death in Vietnam or WW2. Same thing for Vietnam
vs. WW2. If you go back to the Civil War, things we consider
a scratch or minor wound would be almost certain death.
\_ Advances in medicine certainly helped a lot, but it's not the
only thing going on. For one thing, the ammunition size
has decreased over the years (we used to use 7.62 rounds in
our assault rifles). The decrease was driven by limits on
soldier carrying capacity (as soldiers were called upon to
carry more and more equipment), by the fact that the
crucial thing is to disable, not kill, and by noting that
most engagements were fought at distances where larger
rounds were not necessary to achieve decent ballistics.
-- ilyas
\_ Uhm... ok *our* rounds are smaller but doesn't it really
matter what the *other* guys are using? I suspect your
typical AlQ/Iraqi/Whatever gun toter is not carrying the
same load as an American solider in combat.
\_ The russians moved to a similar smaller round (which
is what the AK-74 fires). There are still a lot of
AK-47s in circulation in Iraq, of course. My point is,
the reduced fatalities are not due to medical advances
alone, but the changing realities of modern engagements.
-- ilyas
\_ "Alone"? No. But a huge and seriously major part of
the reason why more solider survive combat wounds?
Absolutely. Think of the Civil War era. Shoot one
of those poor no-medical-bastards with a round of
any size you like. The odds that what we now think
of as a simple infection kills them is extremely
high. It doesn't matter how big a wound. Medicine
gets better every year and what used to mean death
is now a routine fix.
\_ Let's not let justified loathing of the war diminsh the
achievements of the people fighting to keep our soldiers alive.
I'm against the war, but I think the advances in medicine have
been amazing and laudable.
\_ I don't think anyone was dimishing medicines achievements.
Without them there'd be a lot more dead soldiers and others. |
| 2007/10/1-5 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:48217 Activity:moderate |
10/01 Military deaths way down for the last few months.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071001/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq
\_ This is great news. Maybe the surge really is working.
\_ Not sure if you're trolling or not, but just in case...
The Iraqi insurgents aren't stupid. They're just lying low
until we leave, so they can really start killing off
$RIVAL_SECT. It doesn't matter if we're there or not. I guess
it matters as in if we're there, we lose soldiers or they
horribly maimed for no reason.
\_ So if our being there reduces the death totals don't we have
a moral obligation to stay?
\_ yeah, who cares if Iraqies are dying
\_ If you had RTFA, you'd see Iraqi deaths are down too, moron.
"More dramatic, however, was the decline in Iraqi civilian,
police and military deaths."
\_ Unfortunately there was an 2000% increase in the number
of Iraqis who "slipped in the bathtub"
\_ There are bathtubs in Iraqi home? I thought it was a
third world country.
\_ It's a post-apocalyptic third world country. They
used to have all sorts of amenities. Now they have
the remnants.
\_ Did no one pick up on the "if you get shot in the
face it's ok" killing reclassification reference?
\_ I'm not ok being shot in the face, thanks though. |
| 2007/9/29-10/5 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:48212 Activity:nil |
9/29 The country is just kicking the wounded Vets to the curb:
http://www.csua.org/u/jm6 |
| 2007/9/29-10/5 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:48211 Activity:high |
9/29 Someone was asking about Sameer. He is at Quantico right now,
just starting OCS. I am sure he would appreciate your letters. -ausman
http://www.creativedestruction.com/blog
\_ As someone who has met Sameer but never really knew him that
well: WHY?
\_ My theory is that he's convinced that the government needs
to change, and badly. However, the people with the most
credibility and ability to change the government are those
who have risked their lives in service to this country.
I think his long-term plan is to honorably serve, and then
return and work for political change.
\_ Perhaps 9/11 convinced him of the urgent need to defend his
country. -- ilyas
\_ Or maybe all that money made him really lose his mind.
Also he wanted something to do with his life since he doesn't
have to work anymore.
\_ Are you implying you must be insane to join the military
without economic duress? -- ilyas
\_ Nope. I am implying Sameer went insane.
\_ Isn't Sameer gay?
\_ In this case it's just a non sequitur insult.
I salute you sir, you make the motd a better place.
Actually I'm not implying. I STATE:
Sameer went insane.
\_ I don't know Sameer, how did he go insane?
\_ He talked about WHY in his blog a while back. Check the archives.
\_ This appears to be the relevant post. Wow. I totally respect
him. http://www.creativedestruction.com/archives/2006_04.html
\_ and more in http://www.creativedestruction.com/archives/2006_05.html
\_ I don't make a habit of reading his blog (or any blog
for that matter). His reasons sound pretty selfish. He
should have just gotten a dog if he wanted to feel
needed.
\_ Here on the motd we can show the selfish pricks like
Sameer how it's done!
\_ Wow. You're a dick! -dans
\_ A realist. There's no point going over there to
get killed. We dont need another Pat Tillman.
When people do dumb things someone has to say so.
\_ Ok, I'll volunteer. Your post is dumb, dick.
\_ Yes, because the best way for Sameer to
benefit the USA is to be KIA in Iraq.
\_ To join the chorus, you are fucking
retarded. -- someone else
\_ The best way for Sameer (or anyone who wants
to help) to benefit the USA is to get the
training needed to lead US troops in Iraq
and work to _keep_ them from getting KIA.
\_ I do not think any skills Sameer acquired while getting extremely
wealthy in the dot com glory days will translate well into our
glorious quagmire in Iraq. As the above poster says, Sameer
should have just gotten a dog if he wants to be needed.
\_ There's a big need for IT type of personelle
\_ Sameer is certainly not going to OCS to contribute
IT services for the tar pit war effort.
\_ seriously, I read his blog and don't fault him for his reasons, or
the tenacity to get him where he is, in spite of being well over
normal cutoff recruitment age. hat's off to him! -ERic
\_ I think early 30s is not over the cutoff age these days
\_ Me thinks he just needs to get laid and settle down.
Less complaints, less bitching, more homey.
\_ At least according to his blog, it is for the Marines. The
army has raised their cutoff age, apparently the maries have
not.
\_ read the damn blog, he talks about it there. 29 is the cutoff
for Marines OCS, though exemptions can be gotten on an
individual basis, as Sameer has gotten. Cutoff for other
branches of the military is up in the low 40's now. If you
want the exact details talk to a recruiter. -Eric |
| 2007/9/27-10/2 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:48200 Activity:high |
9/27 After last night's debates, it looks like the leading candidates
are all in favor of keeping the war going until the end of their
first term. I don't know who to vote for anymore.
\_ Romney!
\_ the reality is that Republicans are going to loose the election
in 2008. They are doing everything they can to drag the war until
end of Bush's 2nd term. When Democrat pull the troops, Republicans
can righteously accusing Democrats "cut and run."
\_ Oh please, do you have any idea what the Democrats are all
saying? They will *not* pull the troops. That is the whole
point. There is no one to vote for!
\_ I'm still throwing support to Biden, even though he has
no chance of being nominated.
\_ As long as a majority of people support the crummy media
created candidates because the better ones "don't stand
a chance" we'll get what we deserve. I always vote for
who I want, not who I'm told I should be. If more people
were like us we'd have better government.
\_ If elected, "I would have combat troops out of Iraq in
about nine months," Edwards said. That seems pretty
unambiguous to me.
\_ Nope. Go check his response in the most recent debate.
Here it is and I'll grant it is close but no cigar, esp.
the way he starts off in answer to "2013" as a target
date. He gets an "A" for effort though as the one
closest to saying he'll actually end the war for real.
MR. RUSSERT: Senator Edwards, will you commit that at
the end of your first term, in 2013, all U.S. troops
will be out of Iraq?
MR. EDWARDS: I cannot make that commitment. I -- well,
I can tell you what I would do as president. If I --
when I'm sworn into office come January of 2009, if
there are in fact, as General Petraeus suggests,
100,000 American troops on the ground in Iraq, I will
immediately draw down 40 (thousand) to 50,000 troops
and, over the course of the next several months,
continue to bring our combat troops out of Iraq until
all of our combat troops are in fact out of Iraq.
I think the problem is, and it's what you've just
heard discussed, is, we will maintain an embassy in
Baghdad. That embassy has to be protected. We will
probably have humanitarian workers in Iraq. Those
humanitarian workers have to be protected. I think
somewhere in the neighborhood of a brigade of troops
will be necessary to accomplish that -- 3,500 to 5,000
troops.
But I do say -- I want to add to things I just heard.
I think that it's true that everyone up here wants to
take a responsible course to end the war in Iraq.
There are, however, differences between us, and those
differences need to be made aware. Good people have
differences about this issue. For example, I heard
Senator Clinton say on Sunday that she wants to
continue combat missions in Iraq. To me, that's a
continuation of the war. I do not think we should
continue combat missions in Iraq, and when I'm on a
stage with the Republican nominee come the fall of
2008, I'm going to make it clear that I'm for ending
the war. And the debate will be between a Democrat who
wants to bring the war to an end, get all American
combat troops out of Iraq, and a Republican who wants
to continue the war.
\_ Just like he said then, the choice will be between
a Republican who intends to continue the war and
a Democrat who intends to end it. I guess at that
point you can make your choice who to vote for.
That is assuming that he wins the nomination (a
big big unlikely assumption, I admit, but one
big unlikely assumption, I admit, but one
that should make you want to support his campaign
if you want to actually end the war).
\_ No, the choice will be between one party that
says they will stay there to continue the war
and the other party that kinda sorta say they'll
be there but like if maybe uhm eventually ya
know it is sorta hard and I don't like your tone
asking me all these hard theoretical questions
so please don't ask me anything until I'm
President party that will also continue the war.
\_ That will be true if Hillary wins the
nomination, as is likely. I disagree with
your interpretation of what Edwards said.
\_ He was asked directly if he'd pledge to
have them all out by 2013. He said no.
What is there to interpret? I could have
been a motd jerk and just gave you the
first line but I gave the full quote.
He won't promise to have them all out
by *2013* which is *4* full years after
he would take office.
\_ He said he would pull 98% of them,
which is good enough to me. I don't
see why you want to leave the embassy
unguarded. Do you think he should promise
to pull the Marines from the Embassy
walls as well?
\_ Oh goodie then we can have another
reenactment of the Iranian embassy
take over because we left too small
a contingent for the role they have
been assigned protecting the embassy
and the humanitarian workers all over
the country in the middle of a huge
civil war. Brilliant. More half-
assed measures for the cameras.
\_ The Iranian Embassy takeover was
supported by the Islamic Rev. AQ
in Iraq is not supported by
Iraqis or the govt. Your example
does not work.
\_ Are you on the right thread?
WTH are you talking about?
This thread at this point was
about how many troops Edwards
would leave in Iraq and what
mission they would have, such
as protecting the US Emb from
*any* hostiles.
\_ Do you hold your breath
until you pass out and then
type randomly on the key-
board? You invoked the Iran
Embassy as though something
of that nature could take
place in a country that did
not explicity support such
actions. No matter how bad
Iraq gets, it will not be
that country. Stop fear-
mongering. |
| 2007/9/27-10/2 [Politics/Domestic/President/Bush, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:48197 Activity:high |
9/26 Another win for the Constitution and another blow to the Bush Admin:
http://www.csua.org/u/jll (Yahoo News)
\_ The Bush admin is dead. Who cares? Look to the future, don't
dwell on the past. Do you have any idea what the front runners in
both parties are saying about this?
\_ unfortuantely, Bush is not dead. He is threating veto on the
spending bill if it exceed its limit. Rubber stamp Democrats
for some reason doesn't want to put Iraq war spending as part of
of the spending bill. They should just cut the war funding
completely if things are not going their way.
\_ Bush is dead. He vetos. So what? The Democrats are not
rubber stamps for the war. The reason they keep funding it
is because they want us to stay there. They should do a lot
of things but I don't put weight on what they should do, I
look at what they've actually done, which is fund the war to
every penny Bush has asked. Anyway, none of this means
anything either way since the Democrats are doing nothing
different from what Bush has been doing.
\_ what is your proposal, then? we have 70-100 Iraqi
civilians dies every day, ~4 million (out of total
of 20+ million) displaced internally and externally.
So, obviously we are not making this peaceful right
now. My ears are all yours.
\_ What was unclear? We leave Iraq. Unfortunately
our leadership in the Congress is too pathetic
and cowardly to do what we put them there to
do. Or more likely, I believe that *want* us
to stay there. They aren't putting up *any*
sort of fight against Bush, an unpopular lame
duck President. I can only conclude they want
us in Iraq. They = Democrats, if that was
unclear.
\_ If you think the Dems are pathetic and cowardly
for not "putting up *any* sort of fight
against Bush," and are thus unworthy of office,
that must mean that you think the GOP are
murderous traitors who ought to be hanged, yes?
\_ Hanged? No. We don't hang politicians for
failed policy. Out of office? Sure, of
course. That is the nature of our system.
But I don't see the Dems saying they'll do
anything substantially different if they
have the executive office and they own both
the house and senate and have done nothing.
They aren't even very good at doing nothing.
\_ Hyperbole aside, you've seen that the
GOP are criminally negligent and corrupt.
Surely even Do Nothing would be a better
polict than the current polciy of
screwing the American people over.
\_ The reason they keep funding it is because they're scared
of the punditry saying "they abandoned the troops in the
field." This is of course bullshit, and they'll need to
find their voices and spines and change that meme. But IMO
they are obliged now to cut off the funding. There is no
other way for them to end it. And until they get up the
courage to do so, more soldiers and civilians continue to
die.
\_ Whereas when the troops leave Iraq, it will instantly
become peaceful? Pass me some of what you're smoking!
\_ what is your proposal, then? we have 70-100 Iraqi
\_ some sort of "final solution?"
civilians dies every day, ~4 million (out of total
of 20+ million) displaced internally and externally.
So, obviously we are not making this peaceful right
now. My ears are all yours.
\_ Stop cut n pasting. Say something new or don't
bother posting.
\_ Oh, no, Iraqis will continue to see violence, and
that's on our heads. But our troops leaving now
or 10 years from now won't change that. I'm speaking
specifically of the US's cost in blood and treasure.
We need to attack the issue with other approaches.
It will be a long road as Bush has ignored all other
approaches, failing to lay any groundwork
diplomatcally/politically, but them's the breaks.
\_ There is no need if we TRY to spread diseases
like Cholera. The military should consider that
as a cheap and effective option.
\_ Or we could send in the CIA to spread crack.
\_ I love how casually you predict the next 10 years.
Here's another possibility. In 10 years, Al
Qaeda has taken over Iraq, used the oil revenue to
get biological and nuclear weapons, and erased a
US city. See, we can all play that game.
\_ That may be true but in 30 years they'll
be commercialized and embrace everything
Western just like Vietnam it is now.
\_ And at the cost of only one major US port
city! A good deal at twice the price!
Maybe it'll be a smaller port city like
San Francisco or Oakland....
\_ I can live with that.
\_ Lemme guess, you don't live anywhere
near SF?
\_ Since Al Qaeda is very unpopular amongst the
Iraqi people, it is hard to imagine how they
could possibly "take over" Iraq. Try to
imagine something with a greater chance of
likelyhood, like Iran taking over Iraq.
\_ That is already happening.
\_ How popular was Saddam with the Iraqi
people?
\_ Are you saying that we are funding AQ?
\_ SH was extremely popular with one tribe,
one that represented about 20% of the
Iraqi people. AQ has no such inherent
power base. The Shi'ites hate them
and the Sunni in Iraq have turned
against them.
\_ The Sunni aren't a tribe. They're
a religious branch of Islam. Saddam's
tribe was in Tikrit and the areas
immediately around Tikrit. I agree
with the rest of what you said. |
| 2007/9/25-27 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:48185 Activity:high |
9/24 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20974791 Cholera outbreak in Iraq spreading. Maybe we don't need to fight Al Qaeda anymore. MANIFEST DESTINY! \_ We're going back in time! \_ Ok, I'm bored, I'll bite. What, if anything, does manifest destiny have to do with cholera in Iraq? I'm figuring pretty much nothing but you thought it sounded good. \_ I think the OP is making a joke comparing the US's current imperialist pursuits in iraq to its previous imperialist pursuits in north america ... manifest destiny was achieved partially because native americans died out (small pox, etc) ... so if the iraqi population things out due to disease our job their will be easier. har har \_ Hmm, ok, except what we're doing in Iraq is not imperialism. \_ yes I understand that, you understand that, but the average Muslim in the middle east does NOT understand that. Many are pissed at what they perceive as a hostile occupation, fueling hatred and their reasonings for attacking us. Just because you have a full understanding of the situation from YOUR perspective, does not make your opinion valid. Fucking dumb shit. \_ Nothing you just said has anything at all to do with cholera, manifest destiny, or anything else on this thread. And you call me a dumbshit? Ok. Whatever. \_ Idiot. -Trollee \_ Idiot. -troller \_ Your truly brilliant reply has made your case in a way that allows no further response. There is just nothing to be said to your laser sharp wit and clear command of the language and issues at hand. I salute your intellectual mastery! -Trollee \_ Congrats, you've been trolled. BRILLIANT! -troller \_ Uhm, duh, it's the motd. Everyone is a troll. And if you're smart enough to read this, you're smart enough to see I replied in the first place due to boredom and willingness to bite. How did a mouth breather like you manage to login? -Trollee \_ Dude, you're fucking smart. Keep it up. -troller \_ Surprised Trollee hasn't written back !troller !op If it was then we're the *worst* imperialists in all of \_ Muslims think we ARE the worst imperialists in the world. recorded history. Real imperialists would have simply flattened the place, turned it into a giant military base, enacted permanent martial law, had a 100% American military governing body, etc. But ok, I guess it makes optroll happy to make shit up or something. \_ Let me guess, you don't "get" The Onion's humor either, do you? \_ I "get" the onion. I "get" the onion so much that I can tell this is nothing like the onion. You know why this is different? Because the onion is *funny*. \_ No that is not what a "real imperialist" would have done at all. Read up on the history of the British Empire in Iraq. We actually have tried to more or less convert Iraq into a US economic colony and failed. Our methods are not that different from what England tried 100 years ago. Those that do not learn from history... \_ We are not converting Iraq. We simply wanted a regime change. |
| 2007/9/24-26 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:48162 Activity:nil 88%like:48150 |
9/22 How George Bush became the new Saddam
http://urltea.com/1khy (macleans.ca)
\_ And I was called nutty for suggesting we should wish SH back.
It looks this is (roughly) US policy.
\_ This was a great article but it says nothing like you seem
to think it says. You should read the whole thing instead
of just looking at the title and the pretty picture at the
top of each page. |
| 2007/9/23-26 [Politics/Domestic/President/Bush, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:48158 Activity:nil |
9/23 Why I Have A Little Crush on Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/9/23/83652/6735
\_ YHBT |
| 2007/9/22-24 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:48150 Activity:nil 88%like:48162 |
9/22 How George Bush became the new Saddam
http://www.macleans.ca/article.jsp?content=20070920_100442_7900&source=srch&page=1 |
| 2007/9/20-22 [Politics/Domestic/911, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:48126 Activity:nil |
9/20 Independent journalist in Anbar, interesting
Part 1: http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/001514.html
Part 2: http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/001517.html
\_ Anyone who appears on the Wall Street Journal opinion page,
Front Page Mag AND the National Review I automatically
dismiss as a fucking idiot.
\_ I was hoping this was Michael J Totten porn but its
not: http://suicidegirls.com/interviews/Bushs+War
\_ Who is this person and why do we care?
\_ I tend to discount anyone who believes that Zaquarwi
wasn't a US MILITARY FAKE MEDIA construct. he was just
one dude, he did not control all terror in Iraq. |
| 2007/9/18-22 [Reference/Military, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:48105 Activity:nil |
9/18 http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/iraq/forces/casualties/index.html Iraq: 3783 deaths, 27,848 wounded. Question: How much does it cost for each death (payment for burial, family, ceremoney, etc) vs. treat for the wounded (doctor's bills, shrinks, compensation packages, etc)? \_ Are you trying to make the case that we should let the wounded die because it is cheaper? |
| 2007/9/14-22 [Politics/Domestic/Election, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:48073 Activity:moderate |
9/14 So, exactly what did the surge accomplish again?
http://www.economist.com/opinion/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=9804115
My feeling is that Republican just want to drag this until
2009 and blame Democrats for "loosing the war."
\_ It accomplished exactly what it was intended to accomplish:
it lined the pockets of the defence contractors, all who
donate to the GOP.
\_ Are you kidding? Most large companies donate to both
parties. It only makes sense to do so.
\_ Do you really think that defense contractos donate the
same amount to both parties? How about oil companies?
\_ Dunno if they donate the same amount or not, but I'm
quite sure they donate to both parties.
\_ Easy enough to look up:
http://www.csua.org/u/jk9
Big Oil: 3:1 Republican, 4:1 recently
http://www.csua.org/u/jka
Defence: 60:40 GOP, 2:1 lately
The latter actually surprised me a bit, I thought that
it would be more one sided.
\_ It used to be that the timeline for ending a war was "when we've
won". Now it seems like the timeline is "we haven't won and this
is really frustrating so let's just call it a day and go home and
pretend it never happened". The tactics, strategies, equipment,
man power levels, focus, and diplomatic efforts may all be wrong
and require a complete change of plan but retreating because we're
and re
Elsewhere in the programme, we meet glamour model Lucy Pinder, whose breasts hav\
e made her famous. With contracts to the Daily Star and Nuts magazine, Lucy has\
made a name for herself using her body quire a complete change of plan s got a b\
rain as well as a pair of The programme follows Lucy on a shoot for Nuts and he\
ars what life is like when you have some of the most famous breasts in the nation.
Also on Wednesday, model Jo talks about how her attitude towards her breasts cha\
nged dramatically after she had her baby, and Gemma explains what life is like w\
hen you have to spend up 800 a year on hiding an embarrassing nipple problem.
to boobs!Shebut retreating because we're
and but retreating because we're
"bored of this war and it's no fun!" is detrimental to our long
term standing in the world and our ability in the future for
generations to apply non-military pressure to accomplish our
national goals. No one follows a loser or a quitter. The war has
become so political that no one in DC seems to care about the
consequences anymore. It has become a faxed memo talking points
political item. How sad for all of us.
\_ The war was a mistake. If you make a mistake, the thing to do
is stop making it, not stubbornly keep doing it because you
are worried about pride and saving face. This whole thing has
already damaged our standing in the world. Talk about
consequences? What is your definition of "winning"?
\_ "The thing to do is stop making it": far too trivial an
answer. The answer is to finish what you started, not get
bored and go because it is annoying. We'll never win by
my definition. Our leaders (in both parties) are too gutless
to do what needs to be done. I read an interview with Powell
a few days ago where he said we should have shot a bunch of
looters on day one as a lesson to the rest. I'm with Powell.
\_ You still haven't answered the question as to what it
would mean for us to win.
\_ Win = defeat your enemies. In this case that would
mean closing the borders with Syria and Iraq to cut
off support and crushing groups such as the 'mahdi
army'. Once your enemies are defeated you can talk
about diplomatic solutions among the rational people
who remain. While these groups exist and still think
they can get more from fighting instead of talking
there can be no diplomatic solution to anything. War
is about breaking the will of your enemy to continue
fighting, which we haven't even *tried* to do yet.
That might get a bunch of folks into a tizzy and we
can't have folks in a tizzy, can we?
\_ Fighting it the way you want to fight it would require
many more men that the military has. I don't think
there is any way you are going to sell a draft,
especially at this point. And even if you could, I
don't think it would work, since it basically requires
breaking the Iraqi will to have an indepedent
government. It didn't work in Vietnam, why would it
work here? Iraq has a long history of defeating
colonial powers, you know.
\_ We're not colonizing, we're SETTING IT FREE!!!
Give me freedom or give me death! -Neocon
\_ How about choking to death on some Freedom
Fries?
\_ You CAN'T finish it. That's the fucking point.
\_ In your opinion. Fighting it like we have, you are
correct since we haven't been fighting, which includes
the surge in recent months.
\_ Whether Iraq should have been invaded or not is
neither here nor there. What people need to focus on
is the fact that we *are* there. Now what? Packing up
and going home is not a good solution, so what are the
other options?
\_ The only other option I can think of is to arm some
Saddam Hussein like strong man and let him kill as
many Kurds and Shi'ites as he needs to keep the
country together. Too bad we killed SH, eh?
\_ Then it is a good thing you're not making any
decisions.
\_ Yes, far better to listen to you and blow $1T,\
3k lost lives, 30k maimed and our credibility
\_ Yes, far better to listen to you and blow $1T,
3k lost lives, 30k maimed and our credibility
on a pointless invasion. I notice you haven't
been able to come up with any withdrawal strategy.
It is either the one I came up with or an out
and out civil war, which will be worse, and
just end up with the same kind of strongman
in the end anyway. Oh, and I warned that the
invasion of Iraq would most likely result in
a civil war there *before* the invasion. So yes,
it is a "good thing" that I am not making any
decisions.
\_ Stop focusing on the past. What's done is
done. Who cares about what you warned
against? So your withdrawal options are
what again? And what options are there
other than withdrawal, if any? Dems like
to say "I told you so". Fair enough. Now
they want to lead the country, so what's
the plan? Most of what I hear is BS that
panders to the "I told you so"'s in hopes
of getting elected. I'd like to hear some
real plans. So far my favorite is the
Biden-Gelb plan, which basically calls for
splitting Iraq up and guaranteeing the
Sunnis a share of oil profits. I think the
people who want our troops out of Iraq now
are thinking with their hearts and not
their minds.
\_ Actually, I think we should do the same
thing I suggested two years ago and it
starts with impeaching Bush and handing
him over to an International War Crimes
Tribunal. But I am sure you are not
interested in hearing it again, so I
won't bother. Any "solution" that doesn't
start out with hat in hand to the Iranians,
Turks, Syrians and Saudis is just a big
waste of time. You stilll are dreaming of
waste of time. You still are dreaming of
victory, when what you should be doing is
trying to cut your losses. Okay, I just
looked up the Biden-Gelb plan and it at
least recognizes the idea that the US needs
to engage Iraqi neighbors to have a hope
of a chance of success. But that chance that
Bush is going to effectively engage Iran is
nill. Maybe the next President will, though.
read the Biden-Gelb plan and I think it
focuses on the important points, which
are recognizing the inevitable need to
draw in and get the support from Iraq's
neighbors. I still think you are stuck
in fantasyland though.
nil. Maybe the next President will, though.
\_ Vote for Biden. People should stop
wasting their time with Hillary and
Obama. They are probably the 3rd and
4th best candidates the Dems have
but they have NAME RECOGNITION. The Dems
suck and I have low expectations for
the next President.
\_ Joe "never met a credit card company
I wouldn't fellate" Biden? Seriously,
Biden can't get the base. Without
primary voters, you can't get the
nom.
\_ I understand that, but I still
think he is the best man for
the job.
\_ I like Biden quite a bit, mostly just
from watching him at the debates, but
I don't think he has a chance. But
my candidate (Edwards) doesn't have
much of a chance either.
\_ Edwards leads the pack in Iowa.
Or, had for a while... It's neck
and neck, apparently.
\_ I don't think he has a chance
either and that's too bad. Why
is everyone all over Hillary? |
| 2007/9/13-14 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:48046 Activity:high |
9/13 Since we invaded Iraq, there are more than 2million refugees fled
the country. My questions to you all are:
1. do you think we the Americans has a moral obgligation for taken
care of by settling them in US?
2. if you don't like the idea of allowing them settle in US, would
you think we have the moral obgligation to pay countries who do?
We have generated a huge proportion of refugees (something like 1 in
4 Iraqis are displaced since American intervention. I am just a bit
curious why this topic never bought up anywhere.
\_ Who says they want to come to the US? Who says they aren't happier
moving to tribal areas with people more like themselves? Who says
we haven't helped any of these people? Some urls would help.
\_ US doesn't issue Visa to Iraqis, not even those who have gotten
themselves in trouble by translations, etc.
\_ Can they get AmEx instead?
\_ How much should Al Qaeda pay to relocate the refugees?
\_ how does it relevent? Al Qaeda didn't create this mess. |
| 2007/9/11-13 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:48019 Activity:nil 52%like:48006 |
9/11 "Allo! My name is Diego Montoya! And these are my underpants!"
http://xrl.us/5xn8 [hey the url fit in 80 columns, why shrink it
and destroy the source address? -op] |
| 2007/9/11-12 [Reference/Military, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:48015 Activity:kinda low |
9/11 The War On Terror is like herpes. Not going away ever.
Deal.
\_ Ridiculous. The WoT is a fiction, like the War on Drugs. Once
people wake up to the idea that you can be alert and not paranoid,
this "War" will implode.
\_ Nah, too many GOP donors are sucking on the public teat to
ever let a moneymaker like WoT ever go away entirely. Just
like the idiotic "war on drugs" the people raking in public
dough will drag it out indefinitely.
\_ Heh, a troll op followed by a trollicious reply which hooked
another troll. You earned the Triple Troll Whammy Award!
\_ And you of course, are not a troll, so no T4 award...
\_ No, I'm commenting on the trolliciousness of the whole thing
which makes you and me meta-trolls. If I were commenting on
a baseball game that does not make me a baseball player. |
| 2007/9/11 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:48006 Activity:nil 100%like:48001 52%like:48019 |
9/11 "Allo! My name is Diego Montoya! And these are my underpants!"
http://xrl.us/5xn8 |
| 2007/9/11 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:48001 Activity:nil 100%like:48006 |
9/11 "Allo! My name is Diego Montoya! And these are my underpants!"
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article2430913.ece |
| 2007/9/7-10 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:47940 Activity:moderate |
9/7 Hey dipstick, thanks for nuking a link to a very thoughtful essay.
Let's try again.
"The Capitalist Threat," by George Soros.
http://www.theatlantic.com/ideastour/philanthropy/soros-full.mhtml
\_ Maybe you could add a summary or something?
\_ I did that the first time and it was immediately nuked. Let's
try again.
\_ OH hey, this is the famous "relexivity" essay. I thought I
recognized it. Yes, this is a very interesting idea from
Soros, but not light reading.
\_ Essays sometimes say more about the author than the subject matter.
We don't have good models for how real economies work, but we also
don't have good models of income redistribution, or more generally
good models of how to intervene in a society effectively to achieve
given ends. A smart man once said that best way to help society
isn't to crusade for a given cause but to work on eliminating
biases in oneself. Otherwise you run the risk of dismissing a
distressing truth as 'too absurd to be true,' for example. -- ilyas
\_ Yeah, I remember in 2003 when I said that Bush had presented
no evidence that Saddam Hussein had WMD and was dismissed as
being "too absurd to be true."
\_ My way or the highway, pal! You're clearly just a <insert
random insult>.
\_ Yes, I remember suggesting that there was no evidence that Saddam
Hussein had WMD before the war and being dismissed as "too
absurd to be true." |
| 2007/9/7-10 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:47933 Activity:low |
9/7 Bush didn't lie, he just deliberately squelched any information
that didn't support his pre-determined agenda:
http://www.salon.com/opinion/blumenthal/2007/09/06/bush_wmd
\_ "Sidney Blumenthal served as assistant and senior adviser to Bill
Clinton from August 1997 until January 2001." Tell me what Karl
Rove writes about Clinton. Yeah, like I trust that guy.
\_ ...the hell? Is Blumenthal reading the motd?
\_ I think this is treason and people involved should be tried. |
| 2007/9/6 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:47907 Activity:insanely high |
9/6 The surge numbers are a scam
http://xrl.us/5ouu (WashPo)
\_ I thought I had a cool URL shortener, but yours adds
the name of the <title>. Cool!
\_ It's all a scam. Giving the troop buildup a stupid name
"THE SURGE" was stupid. It's all stupid. Goddamit.
\_ "Opponents of the war would only be happy with Iraq if every day
ended in a rainbow and everyone was crapping gum drops."
\_ Why are you in favor of tooth decay? Why do you hate teeth?
\_ Who are you quoting there, yourself?
\_ Quoting because I liked the statement. Not sourcing it
because no one here cares who it is. |
| 2007/9/4-7 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:47893 Activity:low |
9/4 Do you think one of the 7 out of 11 Iraq war surge benchmarks
they met is 'end all violence' or 'restore 100 percent power' ?
\_ it make sense. afterall, we demand PLO to "end all violence"
and insist that since there are still attacks in Israel,
PLO most of sanctioned it. According to that logic, we sanctioned
all these violence in Iraq too. :)
\_ "The Iraqi government is "dysfunctional" and has met only three
of the 18 benchmarks laid out by Congress for gauging its efforts
on political reconciliation, according to a new independent report
on Iraq by the Government Accountability Office." How do you get
7 out of 11 from that?
\_ Bush-math: count the 4 that have been partially met, even if
only 1% of criteria have been met. Kind of like how calling cards
count minutes used.
\_ even then it's 7 out of 18. -tom
\_ "I cannot let this go by, the old-style Washington
politics, trying to scare you with phony numbers." -GWB
\_ Does anyone even know what those benchmarks are and if they are
meaningful anymore given the current situation? |
| 2007/8/31-9/3 [Politics/Domestic/President/Bush, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:47864 Activity:kinda low |
8/31 motd armchair historians, what do you think of bush's
recent speech comparing Iraq to Vietnam?
http://www.back-to-iraq.com/2007/08/dien-bien-fool.php
\_ I think everyone who screamed "quagmire!" is just as stupid as
everyone who thinks leaving Iraq now will lead to millions of dead
like the killing fields in Cambodia. Iraq != Vietnam in that
sense. The problem with leaving is that (once again) we will have
meddled in something and put the lives of many locals on the line
who trusted us and then fucked them by leaving. Each time we do
that we lose face and credibility around the world making
diplomatic efforts much much harder since we continue to build up a
history of our word having no value. You break it, you bought it,
you gotta fix it.
\_ The problem is that it does not seem to matter if we stick around
or not; we're not capable of fixing the situation. If we leave
now rather than later, we will lose less American lives in the
inevitable violence and the Iraqis may actually have a chance of
getting things going on their own faster.
\- everytime bush deals with a (living) historian, the historian
has to school/disown/disclaim BUSHCO. YMWTGF "john dower",
"alistair horne" etc.
\_ An anonymous French politician recently agreed with you that
the only way Iraq would see peace would be if the US left
and let them slaughter each other until one side 'won' and
then we/whoever could assist them in 'diplomatically'
resolving their problems after the shooting stops. Of course
at that point you have one side butchered, but hey, that's
ok, right, since they're not Americans. Right? No. The
right thing to do is stick around for a while now that their
tribal leaders (this is a heavily tribal society unlike
Vietnam) have figured out that AlQ is bad news. Places that
were deadly a year ago are now quiet and no more dangerous
than say, Oakland, is today.
\_ And how many trillions of taxpayer dollars and how many
thousands of American lives do we need to spend until we
get to your Iraq utopia?
\_ Strawman: No one said utopia. Iraq was never a utopia.
How much blood and treasure you ask? You tell me what
you think it is worth for the nation to have yet another
failure where we specifically abandon our local allies
to yet another mass murder event. Each time we do that
we lose credibility around the world and encourage our
enemies. Especially if we left right now when it looks
like things have finally turned in our favor with new
leadership and tactics and the tribes turning our way.
Nothing is so American these days like snatching defeat
from the jaws of victory.
\_ You guys have been claiming victory is right around
the corner for about four years now. You will have
to excuse me for not buying the bullshit anymore.
Remember when Reagan left Lebanon after the
Beirut bombings? Too bad Bush is no Ronald Reagan.
\_ I think Bush is very much like Johnson. |
| 2007/8/30-9/3 [Politics/Domestic, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:47834 Activity:high |
8/30 A Burning Man participant was found dead this morning, hanging
from the inside of a two-story high tent, according to Mark
Pirtle, special agent in charge for the Bureau of Land Managment.
The apparent suicide would be the festival's first in its 21 year
history, Pirtle said.
\_ Am I alone in thinking that Burning Man is retarded?
\_ No.
\_ Definitely not.
\_ Nope.
\_ You are certainly not the only person who has never been there
and knows practically nothing about it who has a very strong
opinion about it.
\_ I'm sure you've been to Guantanamo, Iraq, Darfur, and
a Billy Graham Crusade, right?
\_ I'm sure you've been to Guantanamo, Iraq, Darfur, and a
Billy Graham Crusade, right? Or not, since you deleted
this comment.
\_ How much of my tax payer dollars are being spend on
Burning Man? I think the Billy Graham Crusade is just dandy,
btw. If people want to spend their own time and money doing
things like that, that make them happy, more power to them.
And no *I* did not delete this comment. More than two people
Burning Man? I think the Billy Graham Crusade is just
dandy btw. If people want to spend their own time
and money doing things like that, that make them
happy, more power to them. And no *I* did not delete
this comment. More than two people
use the motd, believe it or not.
\_ How much does it cost to clean up the environment after
they leave? What is the cost to the local communities
to lock up all their stuff and keep their kids inside?
(Yes they steal shit from the locals). Who pays for
the cops and emergency services in the area to work
overtime? Just some good clean fun, kids, all free!
\_ Just like I said, the people who know the least about
what they are talking about, have the strongest
opinions. BLM inspects after the event to make sure
it is totally clean. Dozens of volunteers stay for
months until it is cleaned up. BM LLC pays for every
dollar of police, fire and emergency service time.
Any other misconceptions you want cleared up?
\_ Thousands of people show up in the desert, run around naked,
take a lot of drugs, have sex with random people for a week,
don't bathe, burn a giant 'man', then drive home in their
SUVs leaving behind (literally) tons of garbage in the
environment for the locals and government to deal with.
What was the cool part that I missed?
\_ You dont leave your garbage out there. You take it
with you. so often that means leaving it in a dumpster
in Reno, but you dont leave it out in the desert.
Actually I'm down with you spreading FUD about burning
man that it sucks, it keeps idiots like you from
showing up. please continue!
\_ Don't worry. I won't go. I might work to stop BM,
though! Enjoy it while it lasts!
\_ I don't think a lot of sex goes on at Burning Man.
Maybe you might try it once, then you figure out
that having sex at Burning Man is terrible and should
not be attempted by anyone.
\_ Ok, so thousands of dirty people in the desert naked
taking a lot of drugs, not getting laid, burning the
'man' and leaving a huge mess behind. I'm still
looking for the cool part.
\_ Where can I find pix of naked people in BM?
\_ google. Or just go next year.
\_ Better for people like you to stay away, since you already
know everything anyway. -Been to BM six times
\_ Wow, you are such an expert, glad to know you already
know everything that 45k people do over a weeks time,
even though your only knowledge is through the media.
\_ Don't worry. I won't go. I might work to stop BM,
though! Enjoy it while it lasts!
\_ I've yet to see a single person post anything about
BM being anything more than described: smelly people
taking drugs for a week, leaving a huge mess behind.
If you'd like to correct that 'misunderstanding', please
do. And oh yeah, there's people doing 'art' and
'expressing their freedom'. Sorry, can't forget that.
\_ Nope. No desire to encourage fools to come at all.
Please stay away.
\_ Stupid smelly hippies enjoying Burning Man:
http://www.csua.org/u/jfl
\_ Just because they are old doesn't prove anything. |
| 2007/8/30-31 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:47818 Activity:nil |
8/30 http://tinyurl.com/ypcpb4 (washingtonpost.com) The GAO hates America, wants terrorists to follow us home, and encourages mushroom clouds over major U.S. cities |
| 2007/8/15-20 [Politics/Foreign/Asia/India, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:47620 Activity:kinda low |
8/14 Torture: Not only illegal and immoral, it just doesn't work:
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/07/torture200707
\_ unfortunately it takes until near the bottom of the last page to
actually get to anyone saying it doesn't work. couldn't you have
just quoted those 2 lines and saved us from reading 3.98 pages that
didn't back up your statement? [I like when my posts get deleted.
That way I know I hit a nerve. Keep up the censorship.]
\_ "It was an extraordinary success story. But it was one that
would evaporate with the arrival of the C.I.A's interrogation
team." Paragraph four. But who's counting?
\_ That is not the same as saying "it doesn't work". That is
saying the FBI was there using a method that was apparently
working and then the CIA showed up and used a different
method. It doesn't say the CIA method didn't work. He may
have had nothing more to say. It may be a technique that
was not effective on this one person. The only place in the
article that makes a general claim for the failure of the
CIA's technique was the 2 lines 3/4s down on the last page.
So who is counting? I am. You're seeing what you want to
see. I am not making the case either way for torture
working or not: I don't know, it isn't my field (thankfully),
but this article doesn't say what you say it says until the
2 lines on page 4. My point? Quote the 2 lines or change
your post to match what your article says.
\_ Almost the entire article is a case of making evidence
for the statement that torture does not work as an
intelligence gathering tool. I could quote paragraph
after paragraph, but that would still not change your
mind about what you think you read. This is a very
common rhetorical technique: build a case for a
statement and then make it at the end of the essay.
Simply stating it does not have the same effect (for what
I hope are obvious reasons).
\_ The entire article is about what happened re: the one
guy once the CIA showed up. You could quote the whole
thing but you won't be quoting anything that says that
the CIA method does not work in the general case until
3/4s down page 4. If they had presented more than one
case, made a general claim for dozens (or however many)
cases where it failed, or something then sure, I'd
buy it, but this article does not say what you say it
says except for the 2 sentences as noted.
\_ Or it does: http://csua.com/2006/09/21/#44481
\_ Torture works just fine. -- ilyas
\_ you should ask Colin Powell for that. he paid dearly.
\_ Your grammar sucks. Why should you live? |
| 2007/8/4-22 [Politics/Domestic/President/Bush, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:47532 Activity:nil |
8/4 O'Hanlan and Pollack rapidly backpedal from their op-ed
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/11682.html
\_ Liberal media, my ass. |
| 2007/8/2-3 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:47517 Activity:nil |
8/2 One Trillion dollars later, the water is running out,
the electricity is off 22 hours a day, and still no
apology from the war's cheerleaders:
http://www.csua.org/u/j9i
\_ at least oh nevermind i'm too depressed to taunt anyone.
\_ "Could" cost. Not has cost. And please stop referring to
"economistsview". It's more of a crackpot site than Michelle
Malkin.
\_ But the cost of FREEDOM is PRICELESS! Give me FREEDOM or
give me DEATH! FREEDOM! -Republican
\_ Except in the case of Pakistan or Saudi Arabia where we're
just fine with a despotic government. Same with China really. |
| 2007/8/1-3 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:47504 Activity:nil |
8/1 http://www.csua.org/u/j99 Hope on the Battlefield by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman Military leaders know a secret: The vast majority of people are overwhelmingly reluctant to take a human life. |
| 2007/8/1-3 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:47503 Activity:nil 75%like:47501 |
8/1 Because of this increase in cooperation from local Iraqis in
confronting al-Qaeda and other extremist groups, the number of weapons
caches seized in Iraq has increased dramatically, already at 3,700 in
the first 7 months of 2007. Only 2,726 terrorist and insurgent weapons
caches were removed from circulation in all 2006.
http://csua.org/u/j96
\_ Wonder how much of that weaponry came from us.
http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,144661,00.html |
| 2007/8/1-3 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:47492 Activity:nil |
8/1 "Democracy is hard"
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070801/ts_nm/iraq_dc_25 |
| 2007/7/30-8/3 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:47469 Activity:moderate |
7/30 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/30/opinion/30pollack.html A War We Just Might Win Never expected that title on the nytimes op-ed page. \_ Are you high? The NyTimes has been shilling for this clusterfuck since before it started (c.f. Judith Miller onwards). See Glenn Greenwald for a good response to this shite: http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/07/30/brookings \_ The constant leaking of secret memos underminig the war is what has led me to that opinion, not anything that might make me high. -op \_ What's different here is that Kenneth M. Pollack is not usually a hawk or a fan of current policy in Iraq. Cf. his article on Securing the Gulf in Foreign Affairs magazine. (Easily Googleable.) That said, this op-ed remains at odds with most of what you read from my man, Juan Cole. -!pp \_ One of the main responsibilities of The Press in a democracy is to keep the people informed about what their government is doing, Bush Administration claims to be able to classify everything under the sun notwithstanding. \_ It is one thing to say we have secret prisons, it is another to announce which countries they're in causing diplomatic problems and yet another to print the tail numbers of the planes which puts lives at risk for no reason. There are degrees to things. Mindlessly printing everything just because you can is irresponsible. The story can get out without details that can get people killed. \_ Announcing which countries they were in was precisely the correct thing to do. The govt. that sanctioned the prisons was not about to abandon the project or admit wrongdoing; political pressure from other govts. is a a fine and measured response. Printing the tail numbers of the planes bespeaks a greater problem than merely negligence of journalistic integrity: it says we do not have people in the intel business who know how to carry out illicit operations. I don't know about you, but that level of incompetence scares the hell out of me. Best not to be conducting black ops in foreign countries, I suppose, but at least have the decency not to get caught. \_ So you think all the journalists who were aware of various activities over the last umtpeen decades should have published everything they discovered just as a 'lesson' to our intel agencies? Wacky. \_ You are responding to someone different than the pp, btw. I personally think everything except the tail numbers was fine, because when first confronted with the accusations, the WH response was to deny and stonewall, remember? Publishing the countries added veracity to the charges. Putting CIA agents life at risk was stepping over the line, imho, but not illegal. over the line, imho, but not illegal. Good job changing the topic from the NYTs constant pre-war cheerleading to the Freeper talking points though, I congratulate you on your verbal judo. \_ WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION! DUBYA EMM DEEEES!!!! \_ I'm ok with publishing about foreign prisons. I'm not entirely ok with naming foreign countries as that can create a bigger mess than the prisons themselves and I don't think the media has the brains required to figure out when publishing can do more damage than the thing they're reporting on. I'm entirely not ok with tail numbers. There is absolutely no reason for that. It isn't news. I didn't comment either way on whether it is legal or not. I think it is stupid whether or not it is legal and it is not newsworthy or fit to print, as they say. BTW, I came into this a few posts after we left the NYT pre-war reporting behind so I can't take credit for the direction of the thread to where we are now. \_ The government should have admitted what they were doing. When the government denies denies denies you have to step up the level of proof. If the people in charge had actually stepped up and said, yes, we are doing this, then you wouldn't have seen as much details in the papers. \_ So anything a reporter finds out and publishes, the government should just go ahead and spill the whole story even if it puts American and allied lives at risk. Whatever. \_ Setting aside the plane numbers, explain to me how exposing the illegal kidnapping program put American and allied lives at risk. \_ In general, the government is accountable to The People, yes. I know for some reason the GOP has lost sight of this fundamental principle, but I still hold out hope that the "small government" types will regain control of their party. \_ Uh, no. The whole point of the R party is to preach COMMUNITY and SELF RELIANCE. Localized interest for greater good. You liburals just don't get it. \_ No, the R party is based on large national debts. \_ I would say we are 95%+ in agreement. \_ Compare Pollock's parroting of the official line with statements from the general who is actually training the Iraqi troops: http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0727/p01s01-wome.html |
| 2007/7/24-28 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:47400 Activity:low |
7/24 We could have won the war in Iraq if $PRESIDENTIAL_ELECTION_WINNER_2009
had the guts to see the war through to its conclusion.
\_ Remember, no one will vote for Hillary or a Scary Black Man, so the
Republicans already have the election sewed up!
\_ I'd vote for Obama even though I don't agree with a lot of his
policies simply because he doesn't come across as a lying
power mad criminal scumbag with a multi-decade record of lying,
fraud, theft, and abuse.
\_ Maybe he just hides it well. Care to describe HRC's
fraud/theft/abuse? Every politician lies. I bet you also
lie.
\_ I think he's too young to have committed any major
crimes already.
\_ At this point you seriously want me to make a list of HRCs
frauds and abuses? You're completely unaware of them, huh?
You were born and raised in some foreign land?
\_ Well you could just put one or two of the most important
instances, as you see it. Because no, I'm not aware of
it. I have better things to do than follow the life of
this woman so closely. Are you referring to the
whitewater shit?
\_ Frankly, outside of freeper and Ditto Head circles,
I don't think anyone is aware of these allegations.
The American public sure isn't.
\_ So you believe that they haven't been aired or
that only people on the right are politically
aware enough to know what is going on? Certainly
a great number of her 'events' got MSM air time
so you must think only the right wing knows what
is going on. Weird.
\_ And yet, you still post no substance. |
| 2007/7/19-21 [Politics/Domestic/RepublicanMedia, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:47338 Activity:moderate |
7/19 hey wall cranky conservatives: give Ted Rall a read. Don't
worry, I doubt he will change your mind about anything:
http://csua.org/u/j6o
So now my question is: why do you think this is? Why does the
media listen to the rabid right wing, who are at this point batting
.000, and never to the so-called "liberals," who, because they
based their Iraq war opinions on fact rather than wishful thinking,
were right? Why is that? conjecture about human nature welcomed.
\_ You think Ted Rall is somehow new on the scene? I just read
DK when I want to see that stuff. I get everything all at once
on a single long page on every current topic.
\_ I think for one thing he's mischaracterizing all conservatives as
"radical right Bushists" and you're doing the same calling people
"rabid right wing".
\_ The so-called "liberal" media is owned and controlled by big
dollar corporate interests.
\_ Which still spews out liberal propoganda on a continuous 24x7
cycle.
\_ Uh huh. That is why the NY Times, the Washington Post, the
Atlantic Monthly, Fox News, etc all ran 100% pro-war articles
Atlantic Monthly, Fox News, etc all ran pro-war stories
in the months leading up to the Iraq War. Or is that all
an example of "liberal" propaganda, in your worldview?
http://www.workingforchange.com/comic.cfm?itemid=22437
\_ Of course they did. You have no idea why, huh? It is
not the VRWC. It is because everyone in the media, in
government, etc believed the intelligence reports that
going back several years all said SH had WMD and was
involved with AQ. I'm sure the tin foil paranoia thing
makes for a better story though and really gets your
blood boiling. Remember, always assume evil when
ignorance or incompetence will do.
\_ I see I have underestimated the uselessness of the MOTD. not
only are there no comments about this, somehow editors have
attempted to un-ask the question. -op
\_ No, you posted a useless Ted Rall link. GIGO. Everyone here has
too much clue, no matter their political beliefs, to take TR
seriously or waste precious bits downloading his junk. Dailykos
is a much more efficient source if you want to read that side of
things. |
| 2007/7/18-19 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq, Politics/Domestic/President/Clinton] UID:47326 Activity:high |
7/17 we haven't argued about the latest useless congressional
gesture to pull america out of Iraq and deny the simple fact
we're gonna be there for the next 60 years like Korea/West Bank/
Japan, is everyone on vacation?
\_ It's 7/18 now btw
\_ We're in the West Bank?
\_ How about Vietnam. Iraq is more like Vietnam, at least so far...
\_ And our troops are still there! Oh, wait....
\_ How long were US troops in Vietnam?
\_ Zero days after we decided to pull out.
\_ just pointing out israel is still in the west bank.
\_ And despite your ZOG fantasies, US != Israel.
\_ sorry. didnt explain. when Israel invaded west bank
they said they'd only stay a short time. They're still
there, much to everyone involved's pain.
\_ Ye-es, but WE are not THEM.
\_ I agree, but I'm using an example from history.
\_ Why *that* example, then? How about how the
Gaulic tribes are *still* in France 1500 years
later! The bastards! Save France for the French!
Kill the Gaulic invaders!
\_ you probably mean "gallic" or "gaulish"
\_ garlic
\_ Why do you hate the French? We must save
France!
\_ All we are asking for is an up or down vote.
\_ Why is it "useless"? Let me guess, you are a war supporter...
\_ Am not war supporter. I just think we're going to be in
Iraq F O R E V E R.
\_ I think President Hillary Rodham Clinton will have us out
in less than six months after she takes office. We shall see.
\_ You won't see. She's not getting elected.
\_ And if she does get elected she won't be able to
get the US out in 6 months.
\_ That's true, too. She isn't exactly pushing hard on
the "get the troops out now" agenda.
\_ Not according to all the right wing newspapers.
I think she is just tacking to the center and
will get bowled over by events, after she wins.
http://www.nysun.com/article/55102
\_ "... after she wins". You're trolling or
drunk. I don't care what left/right wing
newspapers say she says. I read what she
says.
\_ Really? Who is going to win in her stead?
"None of the above?"
\_ My dog. Anyone with a heart beat, age 35+. Charles
Manson. Rowdy Roddy Piper. Anyone.
\_ Are you the same guy who predicted that we would
find WMD in Iraq? Just wondering, because I am
predicting that Hillary will not get beaten
by a Republican. BTW, I predicted that we would
*not* find WMD in Iraq, so my record is pretty
good.
curious how good your track record is.
\_ No. But given the lack of serious effort put
into controlling the country after the attack
started and all the trucks rolling in various
directions before I wouldn't be at all
surprised if we hear in 30 years they were
there and the Bush admin decided it was less
stupid to have invaded and not found them than
invaded and let them slip away. Now then, if
it was Roddy Piper vs. my dog, it'd be a really
interesting race. Piper still has a lot of
wrestling fans, but my dog can speak English
better so he's going to win all 3 debates.
\_ The US is not ready for a female President,
especially a polarizing one like Clinton.
The Dems should push hard to make sure she
does not get the nomination, because if
she does (or if Obama does) then I predict
another Republican win. I have always
voted Democrat for President (even though I am
a 'decline to state') but I would not vote
for Hilary Clinton. I would vote for Bill,
though.
\_ Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've
constructed. |
| 2007/7/10-11 [Politics, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:47243 Activity:nil |
7/10 See Michael Moore's hissyfit on CNN!
http://www.breitbart.tv/?p=2823
\_ MM? Who cares? |
| 2007/7/9-10 [Politics/Domestic/President/Bush, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:47230 Activity:low |
7/8 Looks like the US is finally, actually, going to start turning
the corner in Iraq:
http://www.csua.org/u/j3l
\_ ummmm, your title is rather misleading.
\_ more or less misleading than when Cheney told us that? |
| 2007/7/3-5 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:47156 Activity:nil |
7/3 http://csua.org/u/j2u Steep drop in civilian deaths reported in Iraq \_ Meanwhile, steep increase in "Al Qaeda" deaths. Hmmmm. |
| 2007/7/3-5 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Others] UID:47153 Activity:kinda low |
7/2 So the bombers in England were doctors. Popular leftist wisdom is
that Muslims are desperate because of the poor conditions they
live in and their lack of education. If only we worked hard to
improve their conditions, then they would not grow up to be suicide
bombers, goes the thinking, because they would have something to
live for. Now that MDs are blowing themselves up can we at least
begin to consider that perhaps religious wars are not rational?
\_ Popular leftist wisdom is that religious people are nutters,
not that Muslim's are desperate because they are poor. Did you
invent that straw man all by yourself?
\_ Actually, I've heard many people (including my law profs) say
that if there was more prosperity for the ordinary people in
the middle east there would be less suicide bombings, &c. and
thus the sol'n to the problem is to improve conditions over
there for (i.e. create a middle class, to promote stability).
I do not know what the factual, historic or economic theory
basis is for this assertion, but I have heard it before from
self-described "lefties." -!op
\_ Isn't that the neocon argument? If we just give them the
trappings of US-style capitalism, they will luv us forever
and want to be just like us?
\_ You forgot the part where we knock the shit out of them
first to show them who's best.
\_ No, it isn't. The left isn't saying they need our
economic system, just our prosperity.
\_ I guess you're right, although that makes no sense at
all. -!pp
\_ It makes sense if you believe that there are other
ways to achieve economic prosperity.
\_ Sure, but name one that's proven to work as well.
\_ It depends a lot on what you mean by "well"
and what you mean by "our economic system."
Does a Scandanavian-style mixed economy count?
How about a State authoritarian Singapore style
model? And not that I am prepared to defend it,
but there are plenty of people on the left who
think that State socialism is the way to go.
Many, many (probably most people worldwide) are
more interested in creating a base level of
prosperity for everyone, not just a mass of
phenomenal wealth for the top 1%. The US model
is not widely emulated for a reason.
\_ *Every* country has a top 1% with phenomal
wealth. Good luck changing that. It would
be a first in world history if it happened.
\_ Uh, Cuba?
\_ Looked at relatively, especially Cuba.
\_ Any evidence for this statement?
Everyone I know who has been to
Cuba says otherwise, but maybe you
have some hard facts to back up
your opinion.
\_ Oddly enough, I don't have
Fidel's tax returns in front of
me. Why don't you go ahead and
tell us what "everyone [you]
know who has been to Cuba says"?
\_ They say that the standard
of living is very flat and
that no one lives
ostentatiously. They also say
that the hospitals are
missing every other light bulb
to save electricity.
\_ Did they travel in the
same circles as Castro and
that tier? I'll grant you
that it's flat for most,
but if Fidel needs the
latest/greatest tech for
his health, the slope is
steep.
\_ Do you think the distribution of wealth
is the same world-wide? Look at this
graphical representation:
http://www.lcurve.org
In the US, the top 0.1% makes 8% of the
overall income, in Sweden it is 1%. So
I guess it depends on what you mean by
"phenomenal". 10X average is a lot, but
much less phenomenal than 80X, right?
\_ 10X is phenomenal. 80X is too and
doesn't make 10X any less so. Would
you think 10X your salary was
phenomenal or just 'a lot' because
it wasn't 80X?
\_ I think 10X average salary is merely
"a lot." At this point it is merely
semantics.
\_ So if you got 10X your current
you wouldn't think that was
phenomenal? Okey dokey. Not
much to be said to that when 10X
is the difference between doing
well enough and being able to
retire early doing whatever you
want with your life while
you're still young enough to
do it after only a few years of
10X.
\_ I am already making 5X median
income, so no, doubling my
salary wouldn't really change
my life that much. You aren't
paying much attention to the
words you are using. And no,
even if my salary doubled, I
wouldn't be able to retire
soon.
\_ Is your law professor a "leftist"?
\- i think you also have to consider the thesis "there are things
that matter to people other than job prospects" ... having your
"homeland" under somebody elsese rule seems to be a good way to
get people upset, for example. i am not too familar with what's
under the hood of japanese suicider bombers [how willing they
were etc], but at least it cant be glibly chalked up to
religion, let alone islam. i dunno the socioeconomic status of
the IRA, but they clearly werent desperately poor [not suicide
bombers, but terrorists and willing to die (see eg BOBBY SANDS,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1981_Irish_Hunger_Strike I dont
think all the TAMIL TIGER suicide bombers are in desperate
straits financially. So consider looking at the "dual"
... rather than focusing on what one person being a suicide
bomber says about him, what does a steady availability of them
say about how fucked up things must be. I think usually there
are better structural explanations for many things than the
vague cultural ones [like the talk in the 8-s about "asian
capitalism" ... hey guess what, the japanese economy looks
different from the US one probably more because of corporate
structure laws and finance laws, not these vague "harmony and
patience" arguments ... the german economy also looks
different, in part because they have firm level unions.
finally, the islamic suicide bombers phenomena may just be
testimony to a sosophisticated and expert system of brainwashing,
like JIM JONES, DKORESH etc. Anyway, the most on point suggestion
I have is YMWTGF(alan krueger terrorism). i am not saying
islam nor general life conditions play no role, but it is
more complicated than that.
bomber says about him, what does a steady availability (and
climbing income of the candidates) of them say about how fucked
up things must be. I think usually there are better structural
explanations for many things than the vague cultural ones [like
the talk in the 80s about "asian capitalism" ... hey guess
what, the japanese economy looks different from the US one
probably more because of corporate structure laws and finance
laws, not these vague "harmony and patience" arguments ... the
german economy also looks different, in part because they have
firm level unions. finally, the islamic suicide bombers
phenomena may just be testimony to a sophisticated and expert
system of brainwashing, like JIM JONES, DKORESH etc. Anyway,
the most on point suggestion I have is YMWTGF(ALAN KRUEGER
terrorism). i am not saying islam nor general life conditions
play no role, but it is more complicated than that.
\- http://chronicle.com/free/v49/i39/39b01001.htm --psb
\_ So George Bush is a leftist now. This explains much.
\_ This has been in doubt for some time: http://csua.org/u/j2r
(Boston Globe article on book by Robert A. Pape). However, it's
common sense that Muslim Fundamentalist groups are attractive to
the disenfranchised, particularly in our ally countries (like
Egypt and Saudi Arabia) where odds of bettering your situation
through the status quo are vanishingly slim. Cf. Islamic Rev. in
Iran.
\_ And because SA and E are dictatorships it is a good idea to
bomb Americans and Europeans? I'm not following this line of
thought.
\_ Sorry, no, not my point. My point is that we still need to
promote good economics and democratic politics in these
countries if we don't want them to get taken over by religious
fanatics.
\_ Anyone who seriously makes this claim (about Islamic radicals)
hasn't spent much time studying or thinking about it. The leadership
of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and
the Wahhabiists in Saudi Arabia are all educated, mostly middle
class men. Now it might be true that they find themselves
marginalized and with little opportunity to change their lot, but
they are certainly not starving and not even poor, by their
countries standards. Palestine is kind of a different story,
but don't you think that not having jobs, having your freedom
of movement and your right of statehood taken away might tend
to breed resentment?
\_ No one has a 'right of statehood'. Nations have always come and
gone based on the (mis)fortunes of war, disease, natural
disasters, etc.
\_ Your opinion is in disagreement with the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights and the UN, but I guess you are entitled to
it. Who else in the world does not have citizenship rights?
People don't neccesarily have the right to the state that
they want, but everyone has the right to citizenship.
\_ That's a 'right' on paper. It is not a natural right. And
it is not my opinion that countries come and go, it is
historical fact. Maybe you meant something else.
\_ The right to citizenship comes and goes? I don't think
so, but I guess if you want to bring back slavery, you
are welcome to it.
\_ No. The existence of nations/states. And no, most
conquered people were not historically made citizens
of the conquering state. When the Maya fell apart
due to disease or whatever it was, there was no
replacement state. If you lived behind the Iron
Curtain I guess you were a citizen of something but
that didn't come with any rights. If you were born
in this country not that long ago as an Eskimo or
continental Native America, then no you weren't a
citizen. And no, slavery is not the only alternative
to citizenship as I just demonstrated.
\_ Stating it like that reminds me of the old historical cycle,
middle class wants to be upper class so convinces lower class to
fight for them. Sometimes the middle class succeeds and trades
places with the upper class, but the lower class stays at the
bottom.
\_ More like lowest classes rebel after being starved out, make
some idiot king and things are better for a short time until
they have to do it all over again. Elected systems of
government implicitly acknowledge this cycle by giving the
people a non-bloody way to turn over the government every
so often. That's why you'll *never* see a revolution in this
country or any other elective government system.
\_ Well, yes, elections _and_ a degree of complacency brought
about by a pretty good standard of living even for the
poor. The Upper Class would do well to remember that the
distance between Harlem and the Upper East Side is really
negligible-- and the distance between Compton and Beverly
Hills even more so.
\- See "great wall of grosse pointe" aka alter rd. |
| 2007/6/26-28 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq, Politics/Domestic/Immigration] UID:47078 Activity:nil |
6/26 Another RINO joins the Defeatocrats:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1856687/posts
\_ How long will the conversion process take for every Republican
to become a "RINO"? |
| 2007/6/25 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:47062 Activity:nil |
6/25 From Matt Taibibibib
Q: How long will it take for the Democrat hopefuls to realize that they\
cannot simply pull out of Iraq?
A: I saw an old episode of “Homicide: Life on the Street†on\
the Sleuth channel the other night. In it a highly annoying Vince D’\
Onofrio falls between a subway car and the subway platform and he gets
stuck there, with the train basically holding his guts in. The
medics come in and they look at him and realize that if they move
the train at all, his guts are going to fall out and he’s going to
die. But if they do nothing, he’s going to slowly lose blood
pressure and die. Either way, he’s going to die. Iraq is
Vince D’Onofrio. It doesn’t overact as much, but it’s just as
fucked. The bloodbath is coming as soon as we leave, whether thatâ€â„\
¢s now or 20 years from now. But I’d be interested to hear your
argument explaining how things are going to improve by
us staying and spending a billion bucks a day or whatever playing
Play Station in air conditioned trailers behind twenty-foot walls
while Iraqis have six hours of electricity and pee into buckets and
get their throats slit as soon as night falls. You’re probably
right, a few more years of that, and this Sunni-Shia hatred
thing will pass. |
| 2007/6/25-28 [Reference/Military, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:47059 Activity:high |
6/25 Why do we keep hearing about how we're fighting "Al Qaeda" in Iraq?
My understanding is that there are at least three competing groups of
Sunni guerillas: "Al Qaeda in Iraq," Salafi Jihadists, and ex-Baathists.
At any given time, it seems that these three different groups are
referred to as "Al Qaeda."
\_ You want to read my man Juan Cole: http://juancole.com
\_ We are fighting Al-Queda probably 2 percent of the time. The\
rest of them are virulent american hating <IRAQI FACTION
\_ We are fighting Al-Queda probably 2 percent of the time. The
rest of them are virulent american hating <IRAQI FACTION
THAT HAS HATED THE OTHER GUY FOR LAST FIFTY YEARS>.
\_ This is what the Sunnis and Shiites should do
http://img.7chan.org/jb/src/118195646798.jpg
\_ What, get breast implants?
\_ Hot!
\_ Two reasons: 1) The American public is lazy and bored with the war
and wants it made simple for them. 2) The Bush Administration has
deliberately spread falsehoods about the operation from the start.
Why would they stop now?
\_ We're fighting them there so that we don't have to fight them
here! God bless.
\_ This reminds of the Vietnam-era helicopter gunner who was asked
how he could shoot women and children. He replied, "It's easy,
you just don't lead them as much."
\_ That was a line from a fucking movie dude.
\_ Based on an actual line as quoted by a correspondent.
See "Dispatches" by Michael Herr.
\- I thought In Pharaoh's Army was a better VN book.
\- I thought IN PHARAOH'S ARMY was a better VN book.
\_ A different experience written for different
reasons. I thought that IPA's description of life on
a boat was scarier than the description of VN.
\_ Sidenote: Does a gunner actually need to lead when shooting a
human being? Bullets from mounted guns travel much much
faster than human can run. It's not like when a figher plane
shoots at another figher plane.
\_ I guess it would depend on how close the gunner was to
the target. |
| 2007/6/20-24 [Reference/History/WW2/Germany, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:47024 Activity:very high |
6/20 Clint Eastwood's twin Iwo Jima movies triggered island name change.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070620/ap_on_re_as/japan_iwo_jima
\_ Of course, the proper romanji is "ioutou" or "ioujima." Can't
they get anything right?
\_ more like they are reverting it to original name, and Iwo Jima
was just a mistaken name brought about in WWII that stuck.
\_ I find it intersting that with all the fuss over the Iraq war losses
they are about just over half what the US lost just in the battle
of Iwo Jima.
\_ I find it interesting that you confuse an asymentrical war
of choice entered on false principles and no exit strategy
with a provoked war involving several major powers.
\_ Exit strategy? War has only one exit strategy: kill the
enemy until they stop fighting back.
\_ yeah, and those 200K dead Iraqis are just a rounding error.
\_ what we see reported daily is the 3000-odd US deaths. If the
Iraqi casualties are reported, its usualy an afterthought.
\_ if we are doing this right, US casualties is about
20,000. Consider that we only got less than 120,000
troops, US casualty rate is a bit high.
\_ We don't count Germans and Japanese when we talk about WWII
losses, either.
\_ WWII was not an asymmetrical war. -tom
\_ Well, it sort of was -- The USSR suffered something like
9 million military casualties and 16 million civilian
casualties, but the were on our side.
\_ Asymmetric warfare refers to the power of the actors,
not the number of civilian casualites. -tom
\_ USSR utilized asymmetric warfare tricks in
territories conquered by the Germans by using
'partisans.'
\_ You think the 'actors' were equally powered? Yes,
that is why Polish troops charged German tanks on
horses with lances. Read a book some time.
\_ If Germany was so much more powerful than the Soviet
Union, why did they lose the war?
\_ If Germany was so much more powerful than the
Soviet Union, why did they lose the war?
\_ Hitler was a bad general, the Germans were
fighting on multiple fronts, the US had
a huge industrial base and was effectively
immune from attack, the Russians destroyed
everything as they retreated, the Russians
were able to use&build industrial capacity
in the far east well out of German range
and ship weapons, etc to the front on
trains. Is that enough reasons?
\_ They did no such thing. This was a "ha ha
stupid Polacks" propaganda story in Germany
after the 18th Uhlans demolished a German
infantry concentration at Krojarty. They
retreated when German tanks moved up. Read a
book some time. -John
\_ Sounds like you got that from the unsourced
wikipedia article. Got a URL?
\_ Actually, no. There was a good
description with sources on one of the
military history boards I read If you
are interested, contact me and I will dig
it up when I have a moment. -John
\_ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Krojanty
\_ Ahem: "This article does not cite any
references or sources. Please help improve
this article by adding citations to
reliable sources. (help, get involved!)
Any material not supported by sources may
be challenged and removed at any time.
This article has been tagged since March
2007." This article is no better than me
writing my own article saying it was
Martians on magic brooms who followed their
noble leader, Elvis, a Great Warrior from
the future, into battle to defeat the
Nazis.
\_ OK, where's your reference for
the Polish charging tanks with
lances?
\_ Lots of reasons. My theory is the Germans
eventually fell to the power of the Russian
Human Wave Attack, and the industrial output
of the United States was able to prop up and fuel
the Russians so they could concentrate on more
important things like flinging themselves into
battle with the Germans. Thanks, Russian people!
You rule. The Brits helped a little, the French
were too dazed from WW1, and I dunno what Italy
was doing but trying to pave Ethiopia.
\_ Watch some History Channel. More powerful
does not always win. See American War for
Independence.
\_ Lots of people seem to underestimate USSR's
industrial output, as did Hitler. USSR got
a lot of US stuff but even at the war's start
they had a huge number of tanks for example.
\_ T-34!!!
\_ US industry and fuel helped, but not as much as
the Americans would like to believe. Personally,
I think the biggest turning point in the war was
when the Soviet leadership decided to actually
fight, move everything beyond the Urals, etc.
Western non-involvement would have pushed
the storming of Berlin off by a year or two.
Germany was fighting a hopeless war in the East.
A modern industrialized nation in the 21st
century can't seem to be able to pacify a country
many times smaller than USSR. What hope did
Germany have? Especially after they started
shooting civilians, and antagonized the native
population even more (!?) than Stalin himself.
-- ilyas
\_ If they had ignored Stalingrad and gone after
Moscow, and not been diverted to Greece
earlier in the year, I think they could have
broken the Soviet government. They didn't
want to occupy all of it anyway, just annex
a big chunk of lebensraum. Still kind of a
long shot. And Germany losing the air war
in the west was critical.
I think small groups of people today have
better ways of terrorism than was
available in the 40's. Iraq is also a
limited case: the US does not take ruthless
measures against the population. Hitler
could have forcefully expelled huge numbers
of people to alleviate these kinds of
problems. Finland etc. would have managed
their own zones as well.
Also, I don't think the Russians were as
suicidally zealous as Islamic militants.
\_ So there you have it. The Greeks won
WW II by beating back the Italians. It is
pretty much what the Greeks have always
claimed. Glad to see someone
acknowledge it! --dim (Greek)
\_ As a Greek I implore you to not claim
yourself as a Greek, ever, again.
The last thing we need is a dim-
witted guy who claims to be a Greek
\_ Napoleon took Moscow. So what? You can't
win a war against Russia really, if Russia
still has the will to fight. Germany
simply had no way to control the sheer
territory involved. Even in the
occupied parts of Russia, there were
huge parts where German soldiers simply
dared not go. -- ilyas
\_ Hmm. They "won" in WW1, sort of. They
had a good chance at defeating the
main military forces, if they acted
fast enough. Controlling the actual
land wouldn't be important except for
supply lines...
Look what happened to millions of
Germans after the war, and what was
happening to Poland, and most of the
Palestinians. It's not like Iraq
where you can't tell who's who and
anybody might blow you up with a bomb
made out of consumer electronics.
\_ Germans got favorable terms vs.
Russia in WW1 because Lenin thought
it was prudent to get out of the war
to consolidate power. The leadership
didn't have the will to fight since
they had bigger fish to try -- it
took a quite extraordinary period
of history for Germany to walk
of history for a country to walk
away from a 'land war in Asia'.
Russia did employ 'terrorist
methods' extensively vs the Germans
in WWII. It was a very effective
tactic due to the differences in
technology, manpower, and land
sizes involved. -- ilyas
sizes involved. Additional food
for thought: I heard that the two
worst winters on record in Russia
happened in 1812 and 1943. -- ilyas
\_ I wish there was a HD version of the history channel. I think
the bbc has 'THE WORLD AT WAR'? maybe i'll go buy it. love
the war. love the MAIL CALL. I heard the mail call say
that our b52 bombings convinced the north vietnamese to sue
for peace.... i think it was actually a secret message from
Mao that did that. I'm too apathetic to write them a letter
and complain. |
| 2007/6/19-22 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:47011 Activity:nil |
6/19 Rudy Giuliani failed to show up for single meeting of Iraq Study Group
because of fundraising commitments. He was ejected from the panel.
Media basically ignores story.
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-usrudy0619,0,2577021,print.story
\_ The media ignores it for the same reason they love McCain. They're
both on the left side of the (R) party. This isn't rocket science.
\_ is he only Republican who has not been to Iraq?
\_ Don't know, but the media seems to LUUUUURVE Rudy in a way
they do with no other candidate. I wonder if we should start
calling him "Free Ride Rudy."
\_ So I guess you missed the discussion about his position on
abortion?
\_ Nope. They pretty much lurved him for that too. Look,
if anyone else was running as the "WAR ON TERRAH"
candidate, and it came out that they blew off ALL
meetings about Iraq to raise money, their campaign
would likely be over...especially with all these
other Rs eager to prove they're "tougher than Bush."
But not for Free Ride Rudy!
\_ In other news, Free Ride Rudy's SC campaign chairman indicted
for conspiracy to distribute cocaine:
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/docs/ravenel-indictment |
| 2007/6/19-21 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:47007 Activity:nil |
6/19 Just FYI, there was a question about when "the surge" would be complete
(at full strength). Apparently the buildup finished last week, and the
first major campaign begins this week.
\_ It's all a sham. We're not leaving Iraq. EVER.
\_ Just like Japan, Germany, South Korea, etc.?
\_ and those are the success stories!
\_ Comparing those three with Iraq is intellectual dishonesty at
its purest.
\_ Yes because we actually fought in those places. We're not
fighting in Iraq. Just getting troops killed with no real
mission.
\_ I thought they already started moving into AlQ controlled areas of
the city a few days ago? Close enough I guess. Anyway, I've
already read media reports saying the surge has failed and Reid has
said it was a failure so let's can the whole thing.
\_ We should give it at least 2 more Friedman units to fail.
\_ http://www.csua.org/u/iyw (Failed States Index)
Hey, with just a bit more effort we can get Iraq to number one! |
| 2007/6/15-19 [Politics/Domestic/President/Bush, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:46964 Activity:nil |
6/15 Has the Bush Administration finally and completely lost it?
http://tikkun.org/rabbilernerarticles/neocon/document_view
\_ I believe it. We're not leaving Iraq. Anyone who believes
otherwise is naive.
\_ I know it seems like it will never happen, but we're supposed
to get a new president in 18 months. Anybody from either party
has got to be better than this gang of jackals.
\_ as an American, I would say we just leave and cut our losses.
We are not serious about solving iraq's problem anyway. We might
as well just go home and repair the damage to our arm forces in the
past couple years. And yes, I stand by my statement about we are
not serious about solving Iraqi problem. Everything we do in
Iraq since we invaded it has everything to do about our internal
politics than anything else. Otherwise, we've be forming alliances
with *ALL* Iraqi neighbors to come up with something agreeable. |
| 2007/6/10-13 [Politics/Foreign, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:46903 Activity:nil |
6/10 Colin Powell joins the chorus asking to shut down Gitmo:
http://www.csua.org/u/ivw
\_ Please clarify - he is not talking about the base, just the
prison. We need the base to invade Cuba when Fidel keels over
\_ Please drop the intentional obtuseness. |
| 2007/6/7-10 [Reference/Military, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:46874 Activity:nil |
6/6 Wait, how is Bush so dumb that he's managing to help bring the
BLOODY COLD WAR BACK! Like we need this now...
\- this has been going on for a long time. YMWTFG "bush, stephen
cohen, russia, cold war). also bush is probably stupid enough he
actually may thing ABM might work ... it's just a matter of
ironing out some engineering problems, as opposed to cynically
supporting it for pork-type reasons.
\_ Cold War was a good war.
\_ Russia is in no position to "bring the BLOODY COLD WAR BACK!". You
know YELLING IN ALL CAPS! doesn't make your point stronger, right?
Russia's economy is slightly smaller than Mexico's at last count.
Their military is a wreck, most of their brighter scientists moved
to Western countries. Putin is making the mandatory noises to keep
his generals and ultra-right nationalists happy, nothing more.
\_ Ohh, believe me, Russia can REALLY screw up the world if it
choose to... buy simpley selling their weapon to people in Iraq,
for example.
\_ My question of the day is... where do we get all these money
from? Aren't we suppose to allocate resources to fight a war? |
| 2007/6/6-10 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:46872 Activity:kinda low |
6/6 WTF? Does Romney have even the faintest idea what a "null set" is?
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0706/05/se.01.html
\_ I think it's more shocking that he apparently doesn't know that
the IAEA inspectors were, y'know, in Iraq.
\_ Let's be honest, Saddam did not fully open his country. Yes, the
inspectors were there, but Saddam was at least attempting to make
it look like he was running a shell game. I think it was for
Iraqi domestic reasons, but he was not fully open.
\_ You're wrong, and your president is a liar.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,895882,00.html
Or maybe Saddam got to Blix! Maybe he was brainwashed into
saying that Iraq was complying... Maybe we ignored him
because we knew the spaceslugs had taken over his mind!
\_ You read this and see, "Iraq is clean". I read this (I
read the whole thing, did you?) and see several specific
on-going violations as well as tons of bio/chemicals that
Iraq claims were unilaterally destroyed with no
documentation as well as numerous comments regarding long
term lack of cooperation on Iraq's part spanning many
years. Blix does not say Iraq is complying (as you
claim). He says Iraq has started to work with Blix's
people and gives examples such as reducing the
"minder:inspector ratio" from 5:1 to 1:1. Not exactly the
kind of stuff that leads one to believe "Iraq is
complying". But whatever, DailyKOS awaits your endless
wisdom on these matters. But maybe you're right. After
we found Saddam but no WMD we should have said we were
sorry, reinstated him, left, and sent flowers and cash.
\_ In the words of Judith Miller, "We were proved fucking
right." There were no weapons. The inspectors were
in. They were getting the job done. They were pulled
out so we could stop bombing. The claims Romney et al
make are false.
\_ What? RTFA. A does not imply B.
\_ In October 2002, Blix came out and said "Iraq
better behave with this round of inspections."
In Feb 2003, he says "They seem to be behaving."
Bush et al run around saying "HE'S NOT COMPLYING."
They then say "GET THE FUCK OUT, WE'Z GON' BOM!"
When the weapons are found not to be there, they
say "Well, it doesn't matter.. We went in because
he wouldn't let the inspectors in." No shit,
"they seem to be behaving" doesn't mean "they're
clean". But now we know "they were clean".
And we know those who could have told us so were
ignored because we wanted our fucking war.
Romney says the inspectors were not allowed in.
You say that he really meant "yeah they let them
in, but they didn't <i>let them in." You're both
wrong. Romney's a liar. You're stupid.
\_ Yeah, I spent 100 hours (no joke) trying to
make this point in the months leading up
to the war, only to be called all kinds
of names on the motd. It is nice to be
vindicated and the GOP is going to go down
in flames in 2008 if they can't figure out
a way to distance themselves from this
utter and complete failure in Iraq.
\_ DITTOHEAD BULLETIN..."MOONBAT" IS OUT...NEW OPPONENT
BELITTLEMENT POLICY IS TO TELL THEM TO GO BACK TO
DAILYKOS...THIS IS NOT A DRILL.
Just a note. Back when Rummy was "doing a fabulous
job," he said "We know where [the WMDs] are." The
claim wasn't that Saddam was being evasive, or that
we thought there might be something fishy going on,
THE CLAIM WAS THAT WE KNEW WHERE THE WMDs WERE. Which
we didn't. -tom
\_ Barking Moonbat to you. Because the Bushies are all
so.... moderate. It is the rest of you that are
extremists.
\_ Sheesh tom, speaking of shell games... At least try
to stay on topic.
\_ So the WMDs weren't there. Either the intel was
wrong or they were moved. Either way the Blix report
does not say what the above poster says it says. The
rest of your post is your standard personal attack
drivel, as expected.
\_ Either the intel was wrong, or they were moved,
OR RUMSFELD WAS 100% FULL OF SHIT. -tom
\_ Uhm, yeah. Why do you bother? What does this
have to do with Blix's report or really,
anything at all? Rumsfeld isn't even
mentioned on this thread until you brought him
up. Off your meds?
\_ "We know where they are. They're in
the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and
East, West, North and South somewhat."
- Donald Rumsfeld
"I never said we know where the weapons
are."
- Donald Rumsfeld
\_ ALERT...ALERT..."OFF YOUR MEDS" WAS
DEPRECATED AS AN INSULT AFTER THE GREAT
HONORABLE RUSH LIMBAUGH WAS CAUGHT USING
PRESCRIPTION DRUGS...PLEASE CEASE AND
DESIST USING THIS TERM IMMEDIATELY.
DITTOHEAD CENTRAL, OUT.
\_ I think he means there's no sensible answer to the question. |
| 2007/6/1-4 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:46816 Activity:nil |
6/1 Sunnis revolt against al-Qaida
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070531/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq
\_ Iraq the Model says, "Well, not so much."
http://iraqthemodel.blogspot.com/2007/05/red-on-red-in-amiriyah.html
(Note: that this is a blog by an Iraqi, but has been often accused
of being a fake put up by a Bushite.) |
| 2007/5/31-6/4 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:46803 Activity:nil |
5/31 How long till the HL mods show up with it?
http://www.csua.org/u/ite |
| 2007/5/30 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:46796 Activity:nil |
5/30 Baghdad has always been at war with Oceania:
http://img394.imageshack.us/img394/5859/previewbustyyounggirls2pn.jpg |
| 2007/5/30-6/4 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:46792 Activity:kinda low |
5/30 Just like we said, Bush refuses to commit to a timeline for
leaving Iraq because he plans to *never* leave:
http://www.csua.org/u/it2
\_ I'm a bleeding heart liberal. I don't think we're ever
leaving Iraq.
\_ We finally left the Philipines, so I wouldn't say never, but...
\_ Right after we leave Bosnia, South Korea, Germany, Britain, and
Japan. I miss any important ones?
\_ Cuba, Hawaii, Utah, Spanish Florida, Texas, Puerto Rico,
The Confederacy...
\_ Thanks, I knew there were a lot more. I was just
thinking more modern times but you added a bunch of
good ones. I'm not sure The South counts but maybe
some people living there would disagree.
\_ If you're gonna count Utah, Hawaii, and Florida, you
may as well count the who dang country.
\_ No, your understanding of history is weak. Utah,
Hawaii, Florida (and Texas) were forcably annexed.
Not true for all of the nation.
\_ Do you really want me to list all of the countries that
\_ Do you really want me to list all of t he countries that
America has stationed troops in where they are no longer there?
Mine is bigger than yours...
America has stationed troops in where they are no longer
there? Mine is bigger than yours...
\_ Oh thank God we actually left more countries than we still
have troops in years or even decades after a conflict has
ended. You had a point?
\_ We'll leave Iraq when the oil is all gone... |
| 2007/5/29-6/1 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:46780 Activity:nil |
5/29 Kiowa shot down by machine-gun fire, two Bradleys on QRF sent to
recover bodies taken out by road-side bombs, 8 U.S. soldiers killed.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/05/29/iraq.main/index.html
\_ "Black Hawk Down" |
| 2007/5/28-31 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:46776 Activity:nil |
5/28 Anti-war critic loses son in Iraq. Dad is a professor of intl
relations, was officer in Vietnam War, West Point grad, and got
Ph.D. in U.S. diplomacy from Princeton.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-backroom/1834549/posts
http://tinyurl.com/22fsh2 (washingtonpost.com)
\_ sad, but nothing new. Lots of these pro-war guys, including
policy makers, are talking tough, but not willing to risk their
lives when it's their turn. Through out the history, war munggers
tend to be the chicken shit.
\_ How is an anti-war critic a pro-war guy? |
| 2007/5/27-31 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:46773 Activity:high |
5/27 "But in a world saturated with selfhood, where every death is by
definition a death in vain, the notion of sacrifice today
provokes puzzlement more often than admiration." from a WSJ
op-ed (which I didn't/couldn't read)
After seeing tonight's 60 Minutes, I think this applies to the whole
country.
Unless you have had a loved one in harm's way, felt that
dread and loneliless for 15 months, the resulting pride when
it's all over is unfathomable to anyone who hasn't gone
through that anguish (or served themselves).
\_ huh?
\_ 60Min piece was about an Iowa National Guard unit in Iraq. They
lost a couple guys, but you also saw the effect it had on their
family at home. The point is that military personnel and their
families are bearing the entire burden of this war. Whether you
"support the troops" or not, it doesn't matter because the vast
majority of the nation has nothing at risk.
When you've felt that risk, and then it's all over, the pride
and awe you feel about their service is unimaginable to someone
who hasn't. Maybe if a larger cross section of the country had
something at risk, then there would be more common ground. So
we could disagree, but with respect for each other. Instead
the military folk feel like they have to support the President
at any cost, because the other side are peaceniks who call those
who serve stupid (which I have personally witnessed).
\_ that is why I've been arguing that we either reinstate the
draft or not invade Iraq at all. Even before we invaded
Iraq, something like 70% of US population support the war.
I suspect if husbands/sons/daughters need to be part of the
war, then, the support would be a lot less. In the end
we are loosing this war mostly because Bush knew he could
never won a popular support of the war if bulk of population
has to make sacrafice. That is why he pitched the war as
quick, cheap and few blood are required. Since entire
war was fought under false pretense, I am arguing that there
is nothing wrong for people gotten sick and tire of it, and
cut our loses and focus on places where that actually matters.
\_ The 'war' part of the war was quick and cheap. They
screwed up the aftermath having had no plan for the post-
conquer part. Please don't confuse the two. And what
we're doing now is hardly a war. Our troops go on patrol,
get shot at, get blown up, and go back to base. Repeat
the next day.
\_ The 'war' part of the war led inexorably to this
aftermath. This was predicted, lied about, and finally
ignored by those who wanted it. It's not "confusing
the two" to bring it up.
\_ Duh. Yes without an invasion there wouldn't be a
post-invasion period. Sheesh. Now then back here
in Reality World: if they had a post-invasion plan
we wouldn't be here, if they declared martial law
and took real control of the country on day one, we
wouldn't be here, if they allowed the troops who
have been there for years to actually engage the
enemy and use their training we wouldn't be here.
\_ I think your burden of proof on this statement
is higher than you can cash in. These are big
ifs with even bigger assumptions behind them.
As sold, this whole exercise was a gigantic
nation-building effort. However, this is something
we've never figured out how to do. I submit
that the post-invasion plan was offered and
summarily rejected. They don't want it actually
stable. In a more stable country, the funds we
dump in there might be accounted for. We might
not be able to strongarm them into passing
production sharing agreements with the oil
companies. In short, we couldn't steal as much
as we can now. This is why you can't separate
the two and say "if only".
\_ I would not risk my life to fight in Iraq unless I was forced
to do so. I don't believe in an afterlife. Maybe all those
religious people should go fight, since they have nothing to
lose. They say >90% of the US is religious. All religions
\- maybe by beliefs, but not by actions.
teach that death is basically fine. Or actually more than
fine... something to look forward to. So then: why should
any of them give a shit?
\_ Because they don't teach that death is fine or good for
starters. And the draft the other people are asking for
is the 'forced to do so' part.
\_ death -> heaven, virgins, nirvana etc -> yippee
\_ ignorant and silly simplification -> meaningless
drivel -> wasted bits
\_ So all you can offer is the "you're wrong"
argument. Thanks for playing. By the way,
your assertions are ignorant, meaningless, and
silly. And wasted drivel. Wow I feel better now!
\_ No. I offer the obvious: you made a gross and
negligent over reaching and ignorant assumption
about a) all religions and b) all religious
people and then reached an obviously false
conclusion that religious people should all
want to die. "Thanks for playing" as they say.
I understand that hating all religious people
is a form of religion on the motd, but that
doesn't make for a sound logical argument. And
for the record, I'm not religious, so don't
bother going there.
\_ I didn't say I hate all religous people and
didn't say they all want to die. Are you
mildly retarded perhaps? The underlying
\_ Are you? What did you add to this
by resorting to lame personal
attack? All it shows is your
frustration with your inability to
debate with facts and details.
School yard level insult is what
not-very-bright people fall back on
when they're unable to make their
point. In your case, you don't
have one so it is understandable.
\_ I completely agree. Look at your
first reply in this thread and
note the adjectives employed.
The personal dig here is that
you repeatedly put words in
my mouth.
\_ Communist!
point is clear and your posturing doesn't
address it. The vast majority of religious
people are Christian in this country. Is
it not true that Christianity teaches that
we have "eternal souls" and good people
go to "a better place"? (and/or achieve
eternal life, the specifics are irrelevant)
\_ Sigh, still missing the obvious. Just
because they say good people go to
Heaven and all that doesn't mean they
advocate suicide. Since you mention
Christians specifically, no, it is a sin
to kill yourself. Again, you take a tiny
shred of knowledge and over extend it to
a false general case and then misapply
your own false determination of how
Christians (or others) should be to
determine (again falsely) that any Good
Christians should be in favor of death,
suicide, etc, etc. I'm pretty sure no
one here is so blindly hateful of
religious people that they actually
believe what you're saying, thus you
must be a troll. I'm done. Did you
have fun trolling me?
\_ Did I say anything about suicides?
No. Why are you talking about suicide?
I see a trend in your "debate" style.
\- http://www.slate.com/id/2154856
\_ I did not have the Bush twins in mind. I was thinking of us. -op |
| 2007/5/23-26 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:46732 Activity:moderate |
5/23 Since the surge, is there anyway we can find oout rather sectarian
killings in Bagdad has decreased or not? IMHO, it is the decrease
of sectarian killings among Iraqis, not decrease in US troop casualties
that indicates the success of operation.
\_ The surge is still happening.
\_ Is there a scheduled end date for the surge, or does even
asking that question give aid and comfort to the enemy?
\_ Why do you hate... oh fuck it...
\_ I'm not sure what the point is to answering questions from
ignorant people who have already made up their minds but
whatever. It isn't an act of treason or America-hating but
simple stupidity.
\_ Anyone who disagrees with you is ignorant? Interesting
worldview.
\_ No. But anyone like the op who clearly knows
nothing about the details of an event but has already
formed an opinion is ignorant as well as not very
bright.
\_ It's supposed to be complete this summer, with the generals
evaluating its success or failure in September.
\_ The whole 'surge' thing is silly. The evil fucks bombing
the shit out of each other can just hold back for a bit
while this 'surge' thing is happening and everyone will
be happy. We should either pull out now or commit
massive resources to Iraq, 20k more troops is not going to
accomplish anything.
\_ The point is to clear them out of the city, establish real
security, and earn the trust of the people. That way it is
much harder for them to return. Given a choice of daily bombings
vs. going safely about their lives most people will choose a
normal life and turn in the thugs. What did you think the point
was?
\_ It's a great idea, but the execution misses the point: we
needed more troops at the beginning and a better strategy than
just more bodies now.
\_ I agree that they screwed the pooch on day 1 but we're now
where we are. Instead of General Petrous(sp?) surge plan
what would you suggest that would improve safety, suppress
or eliminate thugs and eventually allow us to leave
without leaving the country in a real civil war? If we
walk away now the current level of violence will look like
a game of candyland. Complete elimination of all violence
won't happen. The most pacifistic EU countries still have
violent crime, but it can be reduced to more civilized
levels.
\_ I think the whole entrenched thug thing is a thousand
years of the 70 percent Shiite/20 percent Sunni/10
percent Kurd hatred mix. They all hate each other. The
US presence there doesn't make them hate each other any
less, or more. We just can't win this huge entrenched
guerilla war. We don't have a magic time machine. We
also have no way of deciding when we have 'won'. So
either we should pull out NOW, or flood the fucking
country with armed force, aid, and us state dept
personnel for the next 20 years. we've really fucked
up.
\_ Despite what the media tells you most guerilla wars
are won by the government side, historically. What
we lack isn't men or aid or state department
flunkies. It is the will to win. Our politicians
are no longer leaders, they are more concerned with
the next election cycle and the polls than doing
what needs to be done. And I mean our entire
government, not anyone from either of the silly
parties.
\_ What is this 'Will to win'? Do you mean 'kill
huge swaths of the population, civilian and guerilla,
and by default killing all the insurgents'? That's the only way
I can think of historically of the gov winning
a guerilla war. I agree with you then, we do
not have 'the will to win'. I mean really, this is
pissing me off. What is 'the will to win'?
\_ It is not at all clear that the U.S. presence in Iraq
is reducing the violence there. The reason we're not
leaving is that we're afraid that our sham government
will be overthrown and replaced with something
opposed to the U.S. -tom
\_ Why do you think it's a sham government?
\_ Which part of Iraq outside of the Green Zone cares
about that the government has to say?
\_ All of it. Which part doesn't?
\_ I don't agree. I think the areas of the country
where all of the car bombings go off feel
the Iraqi gov is not protecting them.
\_ The guys who are saying this are the same ones who
told us that Iraq would be a "cakewalk" and that
Saddam Hussein had WMD. I am not sure why you are
still listening to them, given their track record
so far on Iraq.
\_ It was a cake walk. He probably did or at least had
the capacity to have them again in a few months of
free trade. Because General P. wrote the book on
modern guerilla warfare based on real world
experience and doesn't have a track record so far on
Iraq. What are you talking about? Do you even know? |
| 2007/5/23-24 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:46729 Activity:nil |
5/23 http://tinyurl.com/36mxpa (latimes.com) A day in the life of U.S. soldiers patrolling west Baghdad |
| 2007/5/22-24 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:46722 Activity:nil |
5/22 http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/316612_secondsurge22.html Yes, definitely a surge. Definitely. Definitely. Definitely not an escalation. Definitely. \_ When do we get another Aircraft Carrier landing? |
| 2007/5/21-24 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq, Politics/Domestic/President/Reagan] UID:46713 Activity:low |
5/19 I think Carter was a wimp. I read the blackhawk down guy book and
I think he tried to form a reasonable response to the Iran hostage
crisis, but he just couldn't get it together. Whether it was
the incoming Reagan administration's fault, remains a conspiracy
buff's dream. That being said, the Iraq War fuckup is like
8 million times worse. Goddamn Bush.
\_ I'm sorry to see what I figured for a weak troll get any responses,
although I think you're probably half of them.
\_ Hey, don't worry, Carter is already backpedaling
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18759682
Carter said, "They were maybe careless or misinterpreted." He said
he "certainly was not talking personally about any president.
\_ Which of course means he's just senile.
\_ Weird, I dont think he was harsh enough. The Bush
administration should be run out off office with flaming
pitchforks and driven into the sea.
\_ just try him for treason after he get out of office.
\_ Before or after he's moved to his new ranch in
Argentina? Oops.. Sorry, it's in Paraguay.
\_ You mean "In The Company Of Heroes"? |
| 2007/5/18-22 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:46687 Activity:high |
5/18 To the troll who was asking me why I was for the war in Iraq, why don't
you ask Senator Clinon? Just in case you wanted to know, here's her
speech:
http://clinton.senate.gov/speeches/iraq_101002.html
\_ Why? Are you saying you would vote for her?
\_ Commander-In-Chief Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Doesn't it have a melodious sound?
Oh, btw, she is against it now. Why haven't you changed your tune?
\_ It'll never happen. She wouldn't even be in the race much less
considered a serious contender if she wasn't a MSM beloved
Clinton. So many long for the return of the Bill Clinton days
they'd support anything with his name even though she's nothing
like him. Out here in the real world she has negative ratings
so high that there's no way she can win the Presidency and they
only get worse for her as she pisses off the left. The right
already knows her while the left continues to figure it out more
each day.
\_ The Right has had her on its list of hated people since WJC
got elected. They know what they want to think of her, nothing
more. She's a lot more than a feminazi caricature, and you
wrong yourself to miss that.
\_ Why do you feel the need to put words in my mouth? I
never described her as little "more than a feminazi
caricature". If you can't reply to what was said, please
don't. You completely ignore my comments on the number of
people on the left who have learned to dislike her while
inventing something from whole cloth I didn't say.
\_ If the comment does not apply to you, don't take it as
such. However, many on the right have her pegged as a
feminazi caricature, and she's much more than that.
\_ I think if you spend your time arguing someone is
'more than just a feminazi' you have already lost
the image war.
\_ You know, it's surreal conversations like this
that remind me why I don't bother with Usenet
anymore. *shrug* It's the Right that's written
her off as a FemiNazi. Among people who think
(read: non-dittoheads), labels like that just
stick.
\_ Are you the same guy who predicted that the Iraq War would
be a good idea?
\_ aaron?
\_ No. I think when they didn't declare martial law on day 1
it was over. Everything that happened after that as Iraq's
situation spiraled down was stupid. And calling it a War
is just wrong at least as far as our troops are concerned.
They aren't fighting anyone. They go on patrols, they get
shot at a lot, sometimes roadside bombs go off. There are
near zero efforts to find and go after any of the various
forces trying to destabilize the country (for political
reasons). I know you were just being snarky but I figured
I'd give you a real answer anyway.
\_ Not entirely being snarky. Just pointing out the fact
that the Right Wing Oracle seems to be broken these
days, so the fact that Republicans are all 100%
convinced that Hillary is "unelectable" doesn't
neccessarily mean that this is so.
\_ Read it and weep:
link:www.csua.org/u/iqc
\_ don't be stupid.
\_ TradeSports has been pretty on target with most
of its predictions. Do you have a better
prediction market?
\_ So that was a tradesports link? It doesn't work for
me now. I just looked on there and they have Hillary
at 40:100 to win. I thought Obama had a much better
chance. They also have Gore on there. I guess Gore
might join late. Gore vs. Clinton? I have no idea
how he'd do. I think he could win the presidency.
The problem with him is he has associated himself with
a controversial issue. Someone like Giuliani is bland
as white bread. You can't really complain about him
because all he says is he likes lower taxes and all
the usual bullshit. He's probably corrupt but the
American people don't care about that. He looks like
he's in the mafia (omg racist). |
| 2007/5/17-19 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:46678 Activity:kinda low |
5/17 emarkp, why did you support the Iraq War? -anonymous coward
\_ Hi troll! Why are you using the past tense? -emarkp
\_ Ok, very well. Why do you still support the Iraq War?
-!op, anon coward #2
\_ Hi troll #2! I doubt I can say anything you haven't heard.
-emarkp |
| 2007/5/16-19 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:46663 Activity:kinda low |
5/16 Why do we have a war czar? The U.S. hasn't had one for as long as I
can remember. Isn't it POTUS -> SecDef -> CENTCOM -> Iraq/Afghanistan?
Is it that Dubya cannot handle Bob Gates' gayness?
\_ It's "Execution Manager" now. John Stewart has a good explaination:
http://www.devilducky.com/media/60890
\_ Commandering is hard. Bush is tired.
\_ Maybe because the POTUS needs to deal with the whole world? Having
a close aide on it 24/7 makes sense.
\_ But that's the SecDef.
\- it's the same thing as the intelligence czar ... that is what
the DCI is supposed to have been.
the DCI is supposed to have been. "this is a 3star operating
in a 4star environment" --LPANETTA
\_ Not only is this guy a 3-star, but he's active duty - i.e., they
couldn't find any person fool enough to volunteer for the job, so
they ordered someone to do it.
\_ Because Bush can't tie his own fucking shoelaces, let along
be the commander of the executive branch.
\_ You misunderstand: the War Czar will simply be another layer to
insulate the CinC from having to take responsibility for a
failed military policy.
\_ Manager Training 101: Find a patsy to throw under the bus.
\_ I'd put it slightly differently: This looks more like an
attempt to blame the military for a failed *political*
policy.
\_ Which is how Iraq is being fought, as politics not as a
war which is why it is a mess.
\_ Well put. -pp |
| 2007/5/15-17 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:46650 Activity:nil |
5/15 This is a followup message to http://csua.com/?entry=39155 How is your brother doing? \_ No comment? I'm guessing both of the brothers are now serving in Iraq and have not been able to access csua. Either that, or they're killed. |
| 2007/5/15-17 [Reference/Military, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:46638 Activity:nil |
5/15 Iraqi army shows you how to hold an assault rifle
http://tinyurl.com/2arlu2 (news.yahoo.com)
http://news.yahoo.com/photo/070512/481/bag11705121526
http://news.yahoo.com/photo/070512/481/bag11305121525
\_ Almost as good as Zarqawi using the machine gun.
\_ Our marines hold assault rifles that way as well in some
situations. Like close quarter combat, I believe.
\_ Since when are assault rifles belt fed? 2/3 of those
pictures show 'machine guns' |
| 2007/5/14-16 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq, Politics/Domestic/911] UID:46631 Activity:high |
5/14 I hear there are soldiers captured in Iraq by Al Qaeda. But Barbara
Boxer and Nancy Pelosi tell me that Al Qaeda isn't in Iraq, and that
the war in Iraq has nothing to do with the war on terroism. How can
that be?
\_ Al Qaeda out-sourced the jobs to Iraq amid rising health-care costs
and growing influences from labor unions in Afghanistan.
\_ Few jobs are harder than being a strike breaker in Afghanistan.
The last I heard the strike breakers went on strike due to low
wages and poor health care plans.
\_ What else do the voices in your head tell you?
\_ Which part do you think are voices in my head?
\_ You have a URL where Barbara Boxer and Nancy Pelosi tell you
this right?
\_ Here's Pelosi:
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Pelosi_Its_sad_Bush_blaming_Iraqi_1128.html
http://urltea.com/k25 (rawstory.com)
\_ But wait, you said Pelosi told you that there were
no Al Qaeda in Iraq, but she says that they are there.
Are you hallucinating again?
\_ House Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) told
reporters on Wednesday that she feels it is "sad"
that President Bush continues to blame Iraqi
insurgent violence on al Qaeda.
"My thoughts on the president's representations are
well-known," Pelosi said. "The 9/11 Commission
dismissed that notion a long time ago and I feel sad
that the president is resorting to it again."
\_ "What proportion of the Sunni resistance do you
think al Qaeda in Iraq is responsible for? It's
a handy tag, but in reality is it 10 percent,
50 percent of what we would loosely call Sunni
resistance or insurgency?" -Pelosi
You really have a reading comprehension problem.
\_ No, that was the question a reporter asked the
spokesman. I think you have the problem.
\_ Fair enough, but you still haven't given
me a quote where Pelosi denies the
existence of Al Qaeda in Iraq.
\_ Try reading.
\_ I read the article, it says we
shouldn't blame the violence on
Al Queda because most of it is
sectarian. How is it possible to
interpret Pelosi's statement
and come out with "there is no Al
Queda" in Iraq? Show us your balloon
animal twisting skills ...
And Boxer:
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0606/21/lkl.01.html
\_ Where exactly does she say that there are no Al Qaeda
in Iraq?
\_ "I think the reason so many of us feel strongly that
we need to change what's going on in Iraq is, we need to
free up some resources to get back to getting al Qaeda.
You know, the other side keeps saying the war on terror
is the war in Iraq. Not true."
we need to change what's going on in Iraq is, we need
to free up some resources to get back to getting al
Qaeda. You know, the other side keeps saying the war
on terror is the war in Iraq. Not true."
\_ that doesn't say there are no al qaeda in Iraq.
\_ I think fuckers have kidnapped our soldiers. Do I think it's
"al-queda"?
\_ I think fuckers have kidnapped our soldiers. Do I think it's "al-queda"?
Doubt it. Al-Queda would have thought a less stupid name than
"Al-queda in Iraq". It's probably Shiites or Sunnis who ALREADY
LIVED IN IRAQ WHO HATED EACH OTHER FOR DECADES BUT SADDAM KEPT
THEM QUIET. fuck.
THEM QUIET. fuck. I wish the Mormon Necro-Bot would lay waste
to the Sunni Triangle.
\_ Saddam didn't 'keep them quiet'. He butchered them but you knew
that, trollboy.
\_ If the difference between Al Qaeda and Al Qaeda in Iraq confuses
you, you probably missed the variable declarations. Research harder. |
| 2007/5/14-16 [Politics/Domestic/President/Bush, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:46616 Activity:nil |
5/13 Say, speaking of irony, who was head of Public Policy at Chevron when
it was paying kickbacks to SADDAM under the UN Oil-for-Food program?
Way to go, Condie!
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/10741.html
\_ What's so ironic about members of the Bush administration being
consistently corrupt?
\- http://www.theonion.com/content/node/43901
\_ Does it bother you at all the Pelosi is stuffing public cash
into her family's businesses? Or DiFi has been doing the same
for her husband's?
\_ Yes, yes, yes, when you have enough evidence, contact your
local Bush-appointed US Attorney who will almost certainly
leap to indict. Oh, wait, you have no evidence of wrong-
doing? Well, don't let that stop you making accusations! |
| 2007/5/8-12 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq, Politics/Domestic/911] UID:46562 Activity:high |
5/8 Fairly incompetent terrorist plot to attack Fort Dix foiled.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070508/ap_on_re_us/fort_dix_plot
\_ Thank goodness torturing suspects in gitmo, warrantless spying on
terrorists, and the Patriot act yielded valuable intel which
allowed the government to catch these guys!
\_ There's a point to be made but "warrantless spying on terrorists"
is probably not the message you were looking for.
\_ Isn't this an ideal time to raise the terror alert to orange?
What? You mean the sheeple see through it now? What about
the scary Canadian spy coins???
http://www.csua.org/u/ink
\_ Terror alerts only happen right before elections.
\_ To op: Nice editorial. People would have thought Cho was
incompetent before he killed 32 students. Oh, and 3 of the guys
were in the country illegally.
\_ Oh, I wasn't trying to say it wasn't a good thing to stop them.
I'm very happy they caught these bozos, as they probably would
have succeeded in killing a few people. Nevertheless, the plan
was pretty incompetent. For one thing, Cho didn't attack an
army base. -op
\_ Bringing their videos to a store wasn't the smartest move but
beyond that, they were training, they had weapons, they had
jihadi propaganda videos, they had scouted out the base and
if some video clerk hadn't reported them this would have been
headlines about an attack that killed X many American soldiers
on an American military base on American soil. You don't
think that would have had the impact they were looking for?
\_ I can't speak for the impact, but they can't have had
many weapons. "The six were arrested Monday night trying to
buy AK-47 assault weapons, M-16s and other weapons from an
FBI informant." And they had unrealistic expectations
'"You hit four, five or six Humvees and light the whole
place (up) and retreat completely without any losses."'
Incompentents can still kill people, it's not hard.
\_ Missing the point. They don't have to kill hundreds or
even a dozen. Or any. Just launching the attack would
get them what they're looking for. They are terrorists,
not a formal army looking to seize territory.
\_ What do you think they are "looking for"? Another
irrational over-response by the American people?
\_ Yes. And a propaganda victory. What else do
terrorists want? They can't win any sort of
conventional fight so what else can they do?
\_ Well, they are "winning" in Iraq and
Afghanistan, aren't they? If they can convince
the US to start enough silly pointless wars,
they can win for real.
\_ No one is winning in Iraq or Afghanistan,
so no they aren't. And no, they can never
win for real. It is just an endless
stream of nicks and cuts that wear down
society. Unless you're one of the people
who thinks that an internal movement of
Muslims are going to rise up in this country
and take over or something like that. If so
then we're done because I don't have time
right now to talk with crazy people. If not
then I'm still here.
\_ Even Bin Laden does not have "overthrow
the American government and replace it
with a Muslim theocracy" as one of his
\_ You're kidding? Go read some of
the English versions of the various
terrorist web sites. The long term
goal is stated quite clearly as
nothing more than world domination.
stated goals. The general goals of Al
Qaeda have been to drive the infidel
from the Holy Land (check), drive the
infidel from Iraq (checking), and drive
the infidel from Isreal. They also want
\_ You forgot that whole bit about once
a land is Muslim land it is always
Muslim land. You might want to talk
to Spain about how they're looking
forward to being 'rescued' from the
evil West after they rejoin The
Grand Caliphate.
to replace the secular governments of
various Muslim states with theocracies.
The idea that they even want to occupy
America is just a fantasy cooked up by
Coulterites to scare the sheeple.
\_ I don't read Coulter. I read and
listen to what the various bin laden
types are actually saying and they
say what their goals are quite
loudly and clearly. It's about
taking over the world and nothing
less. Now then, given that, I still
don't believe there is some sort of
large scale conspiracy among
American Muslims you'll find in
Coulterite style op/eds, but the
foreign extremist types absolutely
have world domination as their long
term goal.
\_ Sure, a few very isolated and
very weak extremists have as
their goal "world domination."
So do a lot of extremist, kooky,
powerless groups. The only way
you give them power is by paying
too much attention to them. Show
me the Bin Laden statement where
he claims "world domination" as
a goal. You cannot because he
does not.
\_ I bet to differ. Plenty of people are
'winning' in Iraq. In fact it looks like
the political aims of just about fucking
everyone in the world EXCEPT THE UNITED
STATES is winning in Iraq. Remember when
people were interviewed that Bin Laden
told them it would be really funny
if he could taunt the United States into
getting into an unwinnable war that would
overextend its resources? REALLY FUCKING
FUNNY.
\_ Mission Accomplished!
\_ Please elaborate on who is winning and
in what way. The Suni who once ruled
the country are reduced to pathetic
road side bombings. The Shia now sort
of rule the country but in a very weak
way and various Shia leaders get blown
up every day. The Iranians are looking
desperately for an 'in' but the best
they could pull off was capturing and
humiliating some British navy people.
The Saudis had the Americans move a
bunch of military bases to other nearby
countries or further out in the sand
which is sum-zero. The Syrians get a
minor perverse pleasure in driving thugs
to the Iraqi border but aren't getting
any real benefit. The Turks now have a
semi-autonomous Kurdish state on their
border which is the last thing they
wanted. Ah yes, we have found a winner.
The Kurds now have a semi-autonomous
state. Ok, you're right, someone is
winning in Iraq. It's the Kurds who
finally have peace and freedom after
decades of abusive near-genocidal policy
from both Hussein and the Turks.
\_ The Iranians are clearly the regional
winners, because one of their enemies,
one that had fought two wars with them
and had blocked their expansiion, is
now eliminated. The Iraq War has
clearly shifted regional power to
the Iranian/Shi'ite block, which
is agreed upon by most foreign
analysts. Many of predicted that
analysts. Many of us predicted that
this would be the outcome of the US
lead invasion of Iraq, so it's not
led invasion of Iraq, so it's not
like we didn't try to warn you...
\_ Unsealed complaint against Mohammed Ibrahim Shnewer containing
details of the arrest:
http://www.csua.berkeley.edu/~erikred/01_07_mj_02045_JS.pdf |
| 2007/5/8-12 [Politics/Foreign/Asia/China, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:46561 Activity:nil |
5/8 new War Nerd:
http://www.exile.ru/2007-May-04/war_nerd.html
"So the likely winner of a war like this is an up-n-coming world
economic power that has been investing in its own economy while we
blow a trillion - yep, a trillion - dollars on nothing. Not hard
to figure out who the likely suspects are here.
China understands that an army is most effective when kept penned
in and on parade, rather than riding around a hostile, far-away country.
The answer to "Who won Iraq?" is Iran in the short run, and in the
long run, China and India."
\_ Actually China's army/military doesn't sit around doing nothing.
They spend a lot of time stomping on rioters across the country,
mostly peasants in rural areas upset at being treated like peasants.
Old joke: The Soviets and Chinese go to war. On the first day the
Russians capture 100 million Chinese. On the second day they
capture another 100 million Chinese. On the third day the Chinese
rally and the Russians only capture 50 million Chinese. On the
fourth day the Russians counter attack with great success and
capture 250 million Chinese. On the fifth day the Russians
surrender.
\_ Yeah and India does a lot of foot stomping on the Kashmir border.
I do think we've thrown over a trillion into a giant rathole.
I don't understand how the Bush administration avoids being
hounded from power by armed pitchfork bearing mobs.
\_ rent Idiocracy
\_ I am not sure which part of it is supposed to be funny..
\_ It's a joke, son.
\_ "During the Damansky Island incident the Chinese military
developed three main strategies: The Great Offensive, The Small
Retreat, and Infiltration by Small Groups of One to Two Million
Across the Border."
\_ What was the futuristic war book (could be by Dean Ng?)
that had the Wall of Lenin? Also, brings to mind the line
about "1 billion Chinamen" in Red Dawn... -John
\_ Note also that the PLA spends a lot of time putting down
insurgents in the Uighur-populated Northwest. |
| 2007/5/3-5 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:46520 Activity:nil |
5/3 After six years of "you are either with us or you are with
the terrorists" the Bush Administration discovers diplomacy.
Better late than never, I suppose:
http://www.csua.org/u/ilp |
| 2007/5/1-4 [Science/Space, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:46496 Activity:nil |
5/1 Mission Accomplished!
\_ The war in Iraq was always about getting rid of Castro! |
| 2007/4/25-27 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq, Politics/Domestic/President/Bush] UID:46445 Activity:kinda low |
4/24 How Nigerian scammers provided the "proof" Bush needed
to justify the war he wanted so badly:
http://www.csua.org/u/ik0
\_ Like the lawyer said at the end of Robocop 2: "Don't worry Sir, I'll
find the proof, whether it exists or not"
\_ this is the part I don't understand. Democrat could of just cut the
funding and blame Bush for *EVERYTHING* But I don't see they are
doing that right now.
\_ It's politics. The democrats are walking a fine line between the
far left anti-war folks who put them in power last fall and the
reality of knowing that if we bailed on Iraq right now or any
time soon, the current situation will look like a trip to
disneyland. And they'll get blamed for not 'staying the course'.
What's going on now is a low to low-moderate scale 'event' where
you have a few thousand folks planting bombs or doing hit n run
attacks with mortars or sometimes a suicide attack. They are not
doing enough to topple the US propped government which slowly
grows stronger each day, but no one is doing that much to really
stop them. 'Stay the course' will eventually result in a stable
(for the region) mostly democratic government but only while
we're there. It will be a very weak government for many years.
Leaving will be an anarchic bloodbath. Cutting funds will lead
directly to that bloodbath and the dems don't want to get
blamed for that.
\_ the "far left anti-war folks" AKA 60-70% of Americans
\_ Most Americans could care less what happens in Iraq, as long
as no more taxpayers dollars are spent there. |
| 2007/4/24-27 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:46439 Activity:moderate |
4/24 http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1614000,00.html Iraqi Oil: More Plentiful Than Thought, 215 billion barrels, or double only second to Saudi Arabia, and more than Iran at 136 billion barrels of oil. So much for oil shortage. Time to fulfill your American dream by buying that big house 45 miles away from the city and the SUV you've always dreamed of having! \_ We pumped up 10% of all the oil consumed since the dawn of the age of oil during the first Bush term. During the second Bush term, we will pump up 10% of all known reserves. \_ I suppose you know what the core of the earth is made of too? Or are you citing unnamed sources, or you 'just know'? \_ Do we really want to put more money in the hands of muslims? Let's break the oil habit already, fer chrissake. \_ I just laughed when US was lecturing China about how China shouldn't be dealing with Nigeria and Sudan. \_ Every President from Nixon on has said this. And during the Presidency of every President since Nixon we've gotten more dependent on imports. Actually doing something about it will mean the kind of sacrifices by the American people that will get any politician who actually tries to implement them carried out of town on a rail. So instead the system will collapse and we will elect a constant stream of more and more maniacal tyrants who promise to fix the energy problems. \_ C'mon, a "maniacal tyrant" persuaded us into a war with Iraq, a country which never harmed us. Granted, he did that by lying to us. How hard could it be to persuade us to provide incentives, implemented on a gradual basis, toward moving us to oil-independence? Everyone knows oil is running out. Just look at gas prices. Everyone knows that we're headed for a collapse. I doubt a politician who says, "it's time to prepare for the inevitable--this new gasoline tax will provide incentive to moving to renewable transport fuels. And BTW, to reduce the impact on the poor, we're reducing the income tax, so you shouldn't be paying any more overall." \_ Poor people don't pay income tax. Reduce the payroll tax instead. \_ I read that only 33% of adults pay income tax now. That is scary for those of us who are paying into the system. \_ Where did you read this? I am skeptical. \_ That seems hard to believe. The majority of Americans do pay more in payroll tax than in income tax, however, a fact usually conveniently left out by people who advocate income tax taxcuts. \_ I didn't say 'payroll tax'. However, that just covers entitlements. I read it in that rag called the Wall Street Journal. The article is called "The Taxpaying Minority". http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=14434 It says something like 40% of taxpayers pay 92% of the taxes. 33% pay none at all and the rest pay so little as to be almost nothing. \_ First you say that only 33% pay payroll tax, now you say that 33% pay none at all. Which one is it??? \_ Huh? \_ "I read that only 33% of adults pay income tax now." "33% pay none at all..." Which one is it? You do understand that these do statements do not say the same thing, right? \_ First one was from memory. Second from the article. Just read it and see. The gist the article makes, from what I remember, is that some people pay more than "none at all" but it is so small as to be almost nothing. \_ Thanks for clarifying. The poor pay a disproportionate amount of sales, gasoline and use taxes as a percentage of income, so only talking about "income" tax is a misapprehension. Actually, when the WSJ does it, it is a deliberate attempt to distort the truth. \_ Sure, they do pay more in proportion, but (except for gasoline) those are state taxes. \_ Ok, 33% pay none at all-- does that include children, old people, and disabled? \_ Obviously. \_ If you look at all taxes we have basically a flat tax, with each quintile paying almost the same percent of their income in taxes. However, since the very top has so much more income than everyone else it makes sense they are paying most of the taxes. That doesn't show the top is being taxed unfairly, it shows that the bottom is getting screwed. \_ I never said it was unfair. I am just saying that the tax base is eroding. \_ As the gap widens between the top tier and the rest of us also-rans, it would be more accurate to say that a smaller number of people are continuing to pay enormous (yet still not necessarily unfair) amounts into the tax base. It's so much eroding as it is becoming proportionately uber-relevant. -!pp |
| 2007/4/24-26 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:46432 Activity:low |
4/24 http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/04/23/iraq.main/index.html Diyala province, truck bombs (two 30-ton dump trucks) kill 9 U.S. soldiers at small patrol base, five hospitalized. (IIRC, the last major non-mortar attack that penetrated a U.S. base was the cafeteria one.) God forbid we see more of these. \_ While it sounds bad, it may be a shift in tactic by the resistance from sectarian killings to US military. *IF* there is a big drop in sectarian killings in Bagdad during this time, this may actually meant the "surge" is "working" in the sense that it stopped the secartian killings. Of course, if the data shows that secartian killing has no significance in reduction, then, all these means that the resistence is getting stronger and bolder. \_ Or it just means that fighting an insurgency is a long dirty ugly battle with few easy clear cut victories. Looking at any one single day and saying "it means this" or "it means that" in either direction is just guessing. |
| 2007/4/21-24 [Politics/Domestic/President/Bush, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:46400 Activity:nil |
4/20 2003 - Mission Accomplished
2004 - We Have Turned A Corner
2005 - Insurgency In Its Last Throes
2006 - Leaving Iraq Now Would Be A Disaster
2007 - The Direction Of The Fight Is Beginning To Shift
2008 - ???
\_ 2008 - Halliburton profit down 48%. CEO resigns.
\_ Don't bet on that one.
2009 - The war was lost under the a Democrat administration! |
| 2007/4/18-21 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:46357 Activity:nil |
4/18 Support our troops: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cAChVVVZaM \_ I thought it was one of those busty-wife-flashing-boobs-for-husband- in-Iraq video. in-Iraq video. Too bad. |
| 2007/4/16-18 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:46321 Activity:nil |
4/16 Pelosi at 53% approval. By way of comparison, Gingrinch maxed out
at 41%.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/polls/postpoll_041607.html
\_ Polls re: people we don't vote for: yawn. |
| 2007/4/12-16 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:46284 Activity:nil |
4/12 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/13/world/middleeast/13iraq.html "a policeman opening the passenger door of the truck, seeing a mass of wires and batteries, and running away. Ten minutes later the bomb exploded, so powerfully that it killed six people some distance away, sent several cars careening into the river and destroyed 65 percent to 75 percent of the steel structure." \_ That policeman should be put in jail. \_ Was he on the bomb squad? If not, probably not. |
| 2007/4/11-15 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq, Politics/Domestic/President/Bush] UID:46257 Activity:nil |
4/11 Nobody wants to be the Czar:
http://www.csua.org/u/ifz
\_ that's weird, I thought all these neo-Cons would flock to the
position by now.
\_ Maybe they'd have better luck if they changed the title to Warlord.
\_ I do. How much does it pay? Can I telecommute?
\_ Everyone else has been phoning it in, so why not?
\- The press and public should just start referring to
CHENEY as the WAR CZAR.. |
| 2007/4/7-10 [Politics/Domestic/RepublicanMedia, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:46231 Activity:high |
4/7 "These people can't even wrap up genocide. We've been hearing about
this slaughter in Darfur forever - and they still haven't finished.
The aggressors are moving like termites across that country. It's like
genocide by committee. Who's running this holocaust in Darfur, FEMA?"
--Ann Coulter
http://www.anncoulter.com/cgi-local/printer_friendly.cgi?article=177
\_ If you pay attention to Ann Coulter, you lose.
\_ She's obnoxious but the people getting slaughtered in Darfur
wouldn't tell you they'd prefer to be completely ignored instead
of having AC as their advocate. The last I checked several
months ago, the UN committee on subcommittees on human rights
violations and definitions was still was working on arranging
a time to meet at some time in the far future to discuss the
possibility of defining 'genocide'. After deciding what a
genocide *is* they would then setup other meetings in the
future to decide if Darfur met that standard. And *then* they
would have to arrange a meeting later to decide if they should
pass a note higher up the committee chain on whether or not to
recommend what, if anything, the main body of the UN should say
in a nasty note. I'm not kidding. Darfur: a real genocide
taking place every day right now and no one but AC and her ilk
gives a shit. How sad is that? I didn't read the link (I don't
read AC) but to say we should ignore Darfur because AC is
bringing it up is sickening.
\_ An impressive strawman. -tom
\_ If you read AC's drivel, you would realize how foolish you are.
She is hardly their advocate.
\_ I said I don't read her. Fine, she's not their advocate.
So that leaves no one as their advocate which still doesn't
seem to bother anyone and is still sickening.
\_ not totally sure what you are talking about. I see editorials
and news reports about what is happening in Darfur
in Time, NY Times, now and then in the Chronicle, mostly
in the NY Times.
\_ Anne Coulter "cares" about Darfur because it allows her to put down
the UN. It's like SNL skit where Christopher Walken played the
French embassador during the beginning of the Iraq war where he
said "We aren't pro-Iraq, we're just anti-American"
\_ So you don't like her motives. That's fine. So who *is*
speaking out about Darfur who has motives you like? And why
does it matter *why* she's talking about it so long as it is
talked about and not forgotten? And hey, wouldn't it be nice if
someone actually, well, ya know... *did* something about it? |
| 2007/4/6-10 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Others] UID:46221 Activity:high |
4/6 Lebanese minster thanks Pelosi for her visit to Syria:
"Her visit was a godsend to an isolated and beleaguered regime," says a
Lebanese minister. "The Syrian regime, which had been thinking of
bowing to international pressure, is now reassured: All it has to do is
to wait until Pelosi's party takes over the White House in 2009."
http://csua.org/u/ien
\_ YA!!! now they can openly support terrorism in 2009!!
\_ Yeah, that unsourced quote in a NY Post op-ed piece doesn't sound
the least bit made up to me.
\_ Now wait a second. Are you accusing the Post of fabricating a
quote from a Lebanese minster?
\_ If pp's not, I am. -!pp
\_ "...the region's current trend toward reform and liberalization
would largely come to a halt." Typical delusional neocon
fantasizing. Does he mean the election of Hamas, the civil war
in Iraq, the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan or Iran's recent
advances toward nuclear weapons and more belligerent attitude
toward The West? Perhaps he means Mubarak's cancelling of
elections and outlawing of opposition parties in Egypt. The author
should just put on a flight suit and declare "Mission Accomplished!"
\_ You forgot Lebanon's missile attacks on Isreal, and Isreal's
subsequent invasion. -tom
\_ Just an FYI, Iran has not stopped working on their nuke program
since it started ~20 years ago, nor has their attitude changed
in the least since 1979. The Taliban also dates back for about
20 years also. Mubarak has always been a thug but "he's *our*
thug!" so it's ok. And in additon to what tom added, you also
forgot Intifada I and II which was the first time anyone
strapped a bomb onto a child. At no time *ever* in recorded
history has the middle east ever been civilised or any less
basket-casey than it is today.
\_ Perhaps you are unfamiliar with the Kamikaze in WWII.
The Middle East was quite stable under Ottoman Empire rule.
\_ Are you suggesting that the Japanese strapped bombs onto
children and used them as kamikaze pilots? 'Cos I just
want to be clear on this before I call you an idiot.
\- re: "first time anyone ever strapped a bomb on to a
child" ... that's not correct. in the vietnam war,
is is supposed to have happened. also comparable things
happened like standing children in the middle of roads
so convoys/trucks would stop and could be attacked
[first they tried it with cattle, but later "escalated"
to people]. i dont recall if this has happened in the
sri lankan conflict ... certainly teenagers were
involved, not sure about young children. has it not
occurred to you instead of taking this only as a
lesson about "what kinds of degenerates are these"
that the take away might be "things are pretty fucked
up for people who'd resort to this kind of thing."
\_ There are documented cases of 16 year old Kamikaze
pilots. Sorry reality is such a bummer to you.
\_ Congratulations: you're half right, so you're only
half an idiot.
\_ Uh oh, you found other times where kids were
strapped to bombs and pointed. Yeah, that makes
it ok in the middle east, too. Ok, thanks for
the correction. I'll mentally remove that from
my list of middle east insanity. Glad you found
the trees. Seen the forest yet? |
| 2007/4/6-10 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:46219 Activity:nil |
4/6 Cheney still prattling on about Al Qaida and Saddam
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002961.php
\_ Why do you hate America? |
| 2007/3/28-31 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:46126 Activity:nil |
3/27 Majority of Iraqis say life better under Saddam Hussein:
http://www.economist.com/world/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8881663 |
| 2007/3/28-31 [Politics/Domestic/President/Bush, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:46125 Activity:nil |
3/27 http://www.cnn.com/2007/LAW/03/27/iraq.torturesuit/index.html BAHAHAHA you Liburals lost! \_ "Despite the horrifying torture allegations," wrote U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan in a 58-page opinion, "the plaintiffs lack standing to pursue a declaratory judgment against the defendants." 2/10 on the troll scale. As a layman it's clear that this case was brought to make a statement, and would be thrown out for lack of standing. I assure you the lawyers for the plaintiffs were well aware of this. And 'liburals', seriously, are you twelve? -dans |
| 2007/3/28-31 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:46121 Activity:nil |
3/27 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17819626/site/newsweek Over 800 unpatriotic soldiers deserted the army in 2006. \_ Our "volunteers" are being turned into conscripts. "OK, you've served your time and several tours in Iraq. You can go home now.... Oh, WAIT! We still need you. You have to continue serving indefinitely." |
| 2007/3/27-29 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:46108 Activity:high |
3/26 War Nerd reviews 300 and Victor Hansen
http://www.exile.ru/2007-March-23/war_nerd.html
\_ Spot on, thanks for this.
\- one point about this: yeah, athens should be given their
due in the case of the persian wars, but if you are going to
talk about contemporary lessons, the pel war is much more
relevant. and there the lesson is: eventhough the "athenian
way of life" was far more appealing than the spartan, athenian
high handedness and power was a greater threat to many of
their neighbors. nobody is inspired by north korea, but
NK doesnt affect say how their govt wants to spend their tax
dollars [anti-drug measures, ip enforcement etc]. the pel
war ushers in "the fall of the athenian empire". Let's hope
Iraq is not America's "Sicily" ... "the athenians responded
first in anger and then in fear. first they lashed out at th
politcians who had proposed and argued for the Sicilian
expeditions (Thycydides bitterly remarks, "as if they had
not voted for it by themselves"); the were furious with the
seers who had predicted success. Next, they grieved over men
lost in Sicily. Finally, they feared for their own safety
when they calculated their own losses and te enemy's gains ...
Athens' allies ... would not surely rebel ... they exaggerated
the enemy's capacity to take effective action, but they had good
reason for concern over the condition of Athens and its ability
to carry on the war. The most obvious problem was manpower ..."
--Donald Kagan, via psb
\- one point about this: yeah, athens should be given their due in
the case of the persian wars, but if you are going to talk about
contemporary lessons, the pel war is much more relevant. and
there the lesson is: eventhough the "athenian way of life" was
far more appealing than the spartan, athenian high handedness
and power was a greater threat to many of their neighbors.
nobody is inspired by north korea, but NK doesnt affect say how
their govt wants to spend their tax dollars [anti-drug measures,
ip enforcement, susidies etc]. the pel war ushers in "the fall
of the athenian empire". Let's hope Iraq is not America's
"Sicily" ... "the Athenians responded first in anger and then in
fear. first they lashed out at th politcians who had proposed
and argued for the Sicilian expeditions (Thycydides bitterly
remarks, "as if they had not voted for it by themselves"); the
were furious with the seers who had predicted success. Next,
they grieved over men lost in Sicily. Finally, they feared for
their own safety when they calculated their own losses and te
enemy's gains ... Athens' allies ... would now surely rebel
... they exaggerated the enemy's capacity to take effective
action, but they had good reason for concern over the condition
of Athens and its ability to carry on the war. The most obvious
problem was manpower ..."
--Donald Kagan, via psb [see http://www.amazon.com/dp/0801499844]
\_ So you think that if the US decides to pull out from Iraq and
the country falls to chaos, our allies (UK, Israel, Canada,
Germany, etc) are going to turn on us and attack? What?
\_ We have already lost some of our Cheese-Eating Surrender
Monkey allies, but we are likely to lose more.
\_ Which allies? And have they turned on us a la Athens
and are now gearing up to attack us?
\_ France, Turkey, Egypt, to a lesser extent
the EU and Saudi Arabia. No, they are probably not
gearing up to attack us, but they will co-operate
less with us in the future and are already lining
up alliances with our rivals. So we are definitely
in a weaker position geopolitically. I am surprised
that this is news to you.
\_ France: independent at best. The ultimate self-
interested nation. (I've no problem with that,
it is just how they are).
Egypt: An ally? Are you nuts? We pay them a few
billion a year to not attack Israel. They're
a cold war era 'our bastards are better than
their bastards' dictatorship who has a piss
poor record of supporting the US at the UN (for
example).
Turkey: a matter of self-interest. They have
Kurdish terrorists/freedom-fighters who want to
break away and a free Kurdistan in northern
Iraq is the last thing they want to see. Are
they kicking us out of the country? Are they
asking us to do anything in particular? What
exactly is Turkey doing that gives you the
willies?
If these are the 'allies' we're losing due to
American foreign policy (and I disagree they were
allies in the first place or that the
relationships have changed *at all* then we have
***nothing*** to worry about in the "oh n0es~! our
allies are turning on us!!11" sense. I'm
surprised you see these nations as 'allies'. They
are on-again off-again self-interested parties,
like all nations. They semi-rationally determine
what is in the best interests of their leaders,
(not necessarily their nations) and do whatever
that is until such time as some other greater
self-interest emerges.
\_ I haven't even seen this movie, but I'm not sure I believe it was
made by neo-cons. Was it financed by Cheny or something?
\_ Does it say it was made by neocons? I think the author
was saying neo-cons point to the movie and cheer about how
the movie shows the good, fascist, strong, 'democratic?'
disciplined Spartans (american proxies) triumph over
the unwashed ninja move boy-loving hordes. I can easily
\_ There was no Persian boy-loving
going on in the movie.
believe the not so bright will see this movie and think it
represents Greek history accurately, and that you can
derive some sort of parallel between the Greeks then and
the American War On Terror. Victor Hansen has written
many nationally printed columns about how wonderful 300
is, which is pretty amusing since Hansen is a classics
professor and should know this period of history very well.
\_ It's a movie made from a friggin' comic book! It has nothing
to do with anything. It is entertainment. The entire world
is not some sort of allegory for Iraq or US Hegemony or any
such thing. C-O-M-I-C B-O-O-K!!! sheesh.
\_ From the rant "The only reason this thing got made is that it
makes good anti-Iran propaganda..."
makes good anti-Iran propaganda...[big cut]...Now the neocons
have gone so over the deep end of delusional thinking that
they've resorted to fantasizing about Sparta...These diehard
neocons have gone insane because there's no way they can
argue for an invasion of Iran any more."
He seems pretty sure that this is some neocon conspiracy.
I agree with the above guy, it's just a comic book movie, war
nerd should get over it. Besides, there are probably far
more people who believe in Michael Moore's fantasy
documentaries. |
| 2007/3/26-29 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:46101 Activity:low |
3/26 This is a good read, though it's a long article,
how the US has no plans to 'rescue' our Iraqi
allies when we eventually leave Iraq:
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/03/26/070326fa_fact_packer?printable=true
\_ Isn't the idea that we leave when they are ready to fully control
their own country so they don't need rescue?
\_ Right. I am opposed to the war, always have been, but I
completely agree with you. I really don't think there is
any way the 3 factions in Iraq will stop bombing each
other while we are occupying Iraq. Maybe they'll keep
bombing each other when we're gone, who knows, but we're
not helping. One of the interesting points of the above
article is that the Iraqis who work with us are not
well treated by the US, are considered traitors by other
Iraqis, and will be killed when we leave (and they're getting
killed right now). The Bush administration has no plans
to evacuate them eventually because that would be admitting
that they made a mistake. I'm also available to start
making analogies to the Vietnam and Korean war if you wish.
Too bad there is not some all powerful figure left like
Mao to tell people what to do.
\_ Other Bush admin ideas: it will be a cakewalk, the war
will last maybe 6 months, the war will pay for itself, the
war will cost MAYBE $60 billion, imminent threat, WMDs,
mushroom clouds, we will be welcomed as liberators ...
did I miss any?
\_ Which has nothing to do with this thread. If you'd like
to stay on topic, feel free. |
| 2007/3/26-29 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:46100 Activity:nil |
3/26 Lots of people I love to hate on here:
http://www.radaronline.com/features/2007/01/betting_on_iraq_1.php
\_ Amusing, story, but I find it hard to characterize Thomas Friedman
as pro-Iraq war. -dans
\_ Erm, how exactly would you characterize him if not "pro-war"?
He's the preeminent "give it six more months"er.
\_ You don't think so? I remember the whole 'invading
Iraq will be a grand roll of the dice! Good show!'
column.
\_ Yeah, I remember that column two, but didn't exactly read it
as a ringing endorsement of going to war. Could be that I'm
not weighting that column as much as the rest of his oeuvre.
-dans
\_ Revisionist
\_ Who me? How about entitled to my fucking opinion.
You're welcome to have your own. If you want to peg
something as revisionist, how about the original
article, which states that, "Because conservative
pundits generally acted as a well-coordinated bloc,
more or less interchangeable, all four of our hawks are
moderates or liberals who might have been important
opponents of the war..." So, in effect, the
conservative pundits were all pro-war and all wrong,
but they don't deserve to be taken to task for their
opinions because they were wrong together! Awesome!
-dans
\_ Thou dost protest too much
\_ #t -dans
\_ it depends on what the meaning of "pro" is
(you two obviously have different meanings)
\_ Don't hate the playa, hate the game. |
| 2007/3/25-29 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iran, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Others] UID:46088 Activity:kinda low |
3/25 http://www.csua.org/u/ib9 Iran says they have signed confessions from the Brit soldiers to "to aggression into the Islamic Republic of Iran's waters" and that they'll trade them for Iranian spies captured in Iraq. Will this be an Archduke Ferdinand moment? \_ This situation is beyond crazy. Has anyone seen analysis that clearly shows whose territorial waters these sailors were caught in? \_ No, Bush would clearly love to "double down" in Iran, but his hands are tied now. Two years ago, this would have meant war. \_ These are british soldiers, not americans. \_ And? \_ And? \_ British->NATO->US, says Bush. \_ Who exactly is "Iran" and what did they say? \_ Wonder how the Brits'll react? Freeze Iranian funds? The Iranians are pretty clearly in the wrong. \_ how about grabbing an iranian vessell from iranian waters, taking the crew prisoner, and claiming they are all spies with signed confessions. \_ Are you sure that the Brits were not in Iranian waters? All I have seen are "he said - she saids" claims. I assume the Brits \_ Are you sure that the Brits were not in Iranian waters? All I have seen are "he said - she said" claims. I assume the Brits will escalate until the Iranians back down. We shall see. \_ There is concensus. They were in Iraqi waters. \_ 3/27 Update: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070327/wl_nm/iran_dc "Blair's spokesman said the next step London could take would be to publish proof, in the form of global satellite positioning (GPS) records, that the sailors had not entered Iranian waters." But of course Iran could claim that the GPS records are fake. BTW, if Margaret Thatcher were still the PM, the Brits would be planning to nuke Iran by now. \_ At least sending the fleet in that direction, but Briton doesn't have much of a fleet anymore. |
| 2007/3/24-27 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:46086 Activity:low |
3/24 Whoa:
http://3quarksdaily.blogs.com/3quarksdaily/2007/03/donald_knuth_wr.html
http://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/rice.html
\_ Wow I can't believe an intellectual would write something like
that. In fact he sounds just like my grandpa. It's obvious that
the old fart's getting older and angrier. I guess everyone
becomes like when they get old.
\_ What is wrong with his letter? It is direct, accurate and
to the point. Not elequent enough for a Lit prof to be sure
to the point. Not eloquent enough for a Lit prof to be sure
but we are talking a CS professor. I give him a solid A. |
| 2007/3/23-27 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:46063 Activity:nil |
3/23 "Iran nabs British sailors in Iraq waters"
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070323/ap_on_re_eu/british_troops_iran
War against Iran is coming.
\_ War is coming because Iran just committed an act of war? |
| 2007/3/18-20 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:46007 Activity:high |
3/18 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article1530762.ece MOST Iraqis believe life is better for them now than it was under Saddam Hussein, according to a British opinion poll published today. Only 27% think there is a civil war in Iraq, compared with 61% who do not, according to the survey carried out last month. \_ 49% is not a majority, no matter how hard you warmongers spin it: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article1530526.ece Find those WMD yet? \_ The same article says majority (in fact says 2-1) and also says 49%. Bad writing or bad numbers? -op \_ Bad writing. They're adding together the 49% who say it's better now with the 16% who say they're equal. -tom \_ No, it is not bad writing, it is called "lying with statistics." \_ Funny, the poll done by a non-biased set of news agencies pants the exact opposite picture: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070319/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_poll_2 |
| 2007/3/13-17 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:45953 Activity:moderate |
3/13 Victor Hanson loves '300', unsurprisingly:
http://www.victorhanson.com/articles/hanson101106.html
I still don't think the Spartans were that 'free',
perhaps driven, disciplined, manly, into men,
very manly manly manly, but 'free'? nah.
\_ I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and still agree with you. It was a
Spartan tale told by a Spartan to Spartans.
\_ Yeah I find the movie fun on a gruesome, fun, manly
men doing manly things level. People who read deep
political themes into the movie make me sad.
\_ Gayest. Movie. Ever.
\- on a contemporary note, worth reading the "putatively
about the Persians, but not really" play "The Persians"
[n.b. the wikipedia article about this play is not good].
but once again, for a really amazing work of politcs and
history, with great bearing on contemporary events, rush
forward to events 150yrs laterm and read Thucydides "great
work for all time", History of the Peloponnesian War.
The story of the "fall of Athens" is interesting ... how
do the "enlightened" athenians alienate their neighbors and
allies when their enemies are led by a bunch of freakish,
fascist. Hmm, it's almost like "what does the US have to
for there to be any competition in a paropaganda war
with a bunch of crazies who behead people on tv".
\_ It's more complicated than that and pre-dates the Bush
admin by a few decades or more. If you'd like to discuss
we can start a new thread starting with European colonial
activity in the Middle East and India/Pakistan/Afghanistan
over the last few hundred years, the decline of European
powers as world powers post WWII/during the Cold War, the
West's greatly increasing need for energy out-pacing supply
growth and the recategorization of terrorists as freedom
fighters in various places over time. Then again,
nevermind, even the cliff notes of the cliff notes are too
long for the motd.
\- your comments dont make any sense as a response or
reaction to mine. or really on their own. i was making
\_ I was responding to your last sentence or two.
a specific narrow point: athens, the enlightened side
in the "judgement of history", were in some sense the
bad guys because of the "arrogance of power" ...
[do you know what happened "after" the pel war?]
john dryden wrote:
"When the chosen people grew too strong
"The rightful cause at length became the wrong.
At least in the case of the trojan war, there were
good an bad guys on both sides. while in the case
of the pel war, the leaders of the other side,
the spartans, was kind of a freakish society.
today, none of these people who say thinks like
"the us is the greatest threat to world peace"
actually are pro-north korea or the the islamic
fundamentalists, but the they are more likely to
be affected by us actions ... not belgian style
harsh colonialism, but control of the free trade
agenda, framing the debate on many other issue etc.
and dramatic events like abu graib have accelerated
\_ I don't think abu graib was dramatic. I think it
was overly hyped to be much more dramatic than it
was and was used as a proxy for the secret prisons
the more hard core sorts are taken to but no one has
real information about but which may (or may not)
have 'dramatic events' taking place inside.
this and have eroded some of the good will from
us work in the green revolution, medical science
etc. yes, the selective choice of labels such as
who is a freedom fighter and a terrorist, who are
friendly and unaccetable dictators, who can have nukes
etc is an example of this agenda control.
\_ That sort of agenda control goes both ways. If you
look at the EU press and what a number of their
politicos are saying you'd think Hamas was an
oppressed movement of farmers having their figs
stolen in the night while Hezbollah were a bunch of
pacifist nuns doing the good works of The Peoples,
while the US and allies are world wide villains
and the worst sort of evil imaginable. It's naively
laughable stuff but plenty believe it. This change
in perception is relatively new dating back to only
the early 90s. Prior to that groups like the PLO
were always described as terrorist organizations.
The PLO hasn't changed. Only the names. Overall,
though, I agree with what you're saying. There's
just so much more to it and really the motd isn't
a great place for a discussion that would do the
topic justice.
\- BTW, by agenda control i dont mean (just)
how you spin things [the freedom fighter vs
terroist issue]. i mean literally agenda
control at meetings for say the doha trade
round ... "the most important trade problem
today is software and dvd piracy and the pro-
death forces who want to remove longer terms
for medical patents and micky mouse copyright".
\_ Ah, I see. I'll buy that. No one likes when
someone bigger pushes their agenda. And that's
\- not to mention double standards.
\_ That's the whole point of being bigger.
When you are that much more powerful,
the negotiations are not among equals
but more about how much the little guy
is _allowed_ to have. It is the nature
of power, especially in international
affairs. No one likes being the little
guy and doubly so if they were once the
big time colonial power who owned and
stripped a large chunk of the planet at
the tip of a sword or rifle barrel.
\- yes, i have read the melian dialog
too. and i also know what happened
to athens in the coming decades.
some of the countries being dealt
with high-handedly are not "little
guys", e.g. china. they us
expendiently switches between "we're
right because we are good" and "might
makes right". so start getting ready
for more "fuck yous" from the
international community. it will
be interesting to see how the us
deals with negotiations about cost
bearing on global warming, how they
react to things like china setting
up bilateral deal rather than the
"unversalist" approach of GATT/WTO
etc.
\_ I wasn't really going for the
melian dialogs but they did have
a point. As far as the non-little
guys go, if they get big enough,
such as the USSR during the cold
war, you just get bi-lateral talks
among equals, as expected. If they
are small, then the US is back to
melian style dialog, as expected.
There's no such thing as a unified
international community. There are
nations that have shared goals, but
no further than that. It is always
possible to pick off member states
of a larger coalition, setting up
favorable side deals, etc. I see
no problem. At worst, as I said,
you deal with other large entities
with the respect they've earned as
equals or nearly so. What is so
horrible about that? Are you
predicting some sort of Great Down
Fall of the Evil US when we have to
deal with others as equals? US
power is relatively new to the
planet. Pre-WW2 the US was a joke
on the world stage. We didn't have
a military of any note, any serious
industrial capacity, or much of
anything else going on. What we
did have was a whole lot of
potential which was seen in WW2 to
today.
The Mickey Mouse Copyright Act to you, pal!
We're now at what? 75 years after the death
of the author? 100? How long ago did Walt
die?
\_ Geez, he died in 12/1966: 40 years.
\_ "The Persians bring with them exotic beasts like a rhinoceros and
elephant, and the leader of the Immortals fights Leonidas in a
duel (which the Greeks knew as monomachia)."
No, he doesn't. Was Hanson actually paying attention?
\- in a bit of a coincidence, professor delong has blurb on
the peloponnesian war (where the melian dialog comes from):
http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2007/03/history_as_trag.html
the parts quoting thucydides are worth readings [remind
you of anything? ... bushco, darth cheney, john kerry],
the stuff on kagan is probably not so interesting if you
are not familar with him or his 4vol "standard" work on
the pel war, it's leadup and aftermath.
kagan is kinda crazy .. he's an ultra rightwinger at yale
and was considered sort of a hazard and loose canon ...
who had to be removed form various committees etc.
harvard:harvey mansfield::yale:donald kagan.
if you are interested in international politics, thucydides
is well-worth reading. inspite of being 2400 yrs old ... before
nukes, before even nation states, before global reach of
nations ... but still many deep lessons about might and right,
bandwagoning vs balancing [if you are a minor power, do you
ally with #1 or #2], alliance management, preventative war,
relative vs absolute gains, balance of threat theory, the
importance of individuals vs "historical forces", fog of war,
hawks and doves and domestic politics, ideology and the enemy
law in war ... and the writing is amazing [thuycidides is
supposed ot be one of the absolute hardest to read in the
original tho ... very difficult greek ... it's even "greek"
to a lot of people who know some greek.] it's also an amazing
story at just a plot level ... the tide keeps turning as things
go wrong, leaders die at the wrong time etc.
\_ new post about kagan:
http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2007/03/your_onestopsho.html |
| 2007/3/12-14 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:45940 Activity:nil |
3/12 Cheney secretly converted to Shiite Islam decades ago.
It's the only explanation for his efforts to destabilize
Iraq. When Iraq collapses Iran will dominate it politically,
economically, and militarily.
\_ The Tehranian Candidate!
\_ God bless the Holy Dick. |
| 2007/3/7-10 [Politics/Domestic, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:45896 Activity:nil |
3/7 RIP Captain America
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/story/503132p-424376c.html
\_ This is part of Marvel's stupendously boring and stupid
series 'Civil War'. Comic book fans will react by making
even more fun of Civil War. It's stupid. Marvel comics suck.
Sometimes the occasionaly actual good movie gets made from
a Marvel comic book, like Spiderman and The Punisher.
\_ The Punisher? Which version?
\_ Actually the current Brubaker run on Daredevl is excellent.
I haven't read Bendis' run that preceded it, but I heard it's
also good, and I dig Powers so I'll probably give it a look.
-dans |
| 2007/3/5-7 [Science/GlobalWarming, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:45884 Activity:nil |
3/5 Saudi oil production drops 8% in 2006
http://www.theoildrum.com/node/2325 |
| 2007/3/5-7 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:45876 Activity:kinda low |
3/5 Lancet Article re 650K Iraqi deaths may be inaccurate:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article1469636.ece
\_ Still waiting for someone else to do an actual scientific study
that indicates otherwise. So far, all we have seen are politically
based claims that the numbers "just can't be."
\_ So, I can make any claim I want, and I don't have to prove it,
nor show how my methods work, and I can be in contradiction to
other established authorities, but my claim has to be refuted
by an actual scientific study rather than just dismissed? Would
you put your faith in my new revolutionary diamond manufacturing
plant and invest in it without some kind of proof? Why're you
so eager to believe in this guy? [reformatted - formatd]
\_ Making any claim they want and not having to prove it
works for Intelligent Design and Global Warming.
\_ Are you claiming, yet again, that the Lancet study "didn't
show their work"? Or did you misparse the previous poster,
and are also speaking against J. Random Economist's claims
about the Lancet's study?
\_ Your claims are false. The study was peer reviewed by a
respected medical editorial board, probably the most respected
editorial board in medicine. The critics have been anonymous
cranks (like yourself) and politically motivated bloggers
with no knowledge of how the scientific process works. It
is revealing who you side with. Granted, Dr. Spagat is an
expert and he disputes some of the techniques used. This sort
of thing is how good science is done. One disagreement by
a stastician does not invalidate the whole study. The Lancet
study is actually one of the most carefully reviewed studies
in the history of medicine. So yes, until there is some
hard science disputing their findings, I am going to continue
to be skeptical of politically motivated critics. Why are you
so determined to dispute their findings?
so determined to dispute their findings? -!dans
\_ My issue with the 650k is that it is the top end number and
gets quoted as a factual known-good this-is-it number. The
original paper published a range of X to Y but we only hear
Y. The truth is likely in the middle. IIRC the earlier
study they did was ~8000 bottom end to 100k top end and
we heard only the 100k. Yet official number at the time
were already higher than their bottom end number. So how
can the high end number be any more trust worthy? The
truth is much more likely much lower than the oft quoted
650k. This is not to say 200k or whatever deaths are good,
but it makes me question the motives of anyone quoting the
650k as fact and not merely the top end of a statistical
range. --someone else
\_ Saying "The HMM aggregate of the range from 650k
to 300k" is too much for a news article.
\_ You are misinformed. Go read the study and return.
\_ The study estimates between 393K and 943K deaths. -tom
\- just out of curioisity to the critics of the
study: do you have any "guesses" about what
you think the casualty numbers might be?
also, say it is 2x to high ... and the number is
say 300k, does that affect your thinking about
how things have unfolded? obviously there is a
difference between say 50k dealth in vietnam and
<3.8k in iraq, but I'm not sure what the different
policy consequences are between 300k and 650k.
[in no way to make light of the very large difference
in cost to iraqi people ... but again the social
aftermath of ww2 was very diff in the us vs.
russia, germany, france etc]
\_ Actually, the original study had a 95% confidence
interval from 8k to 192k IIRC, making 100k the center of
the peak. -emarkp
\_ I recall 8 to 100 but I'll go look it up. Thanks for
the correction. |
| 2007/2/28 [Politics/Domestic/Crime, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:45838 Activity:high |
2/28 Quick quiz: Which kills more Americans?
A) Insurgents in Iraq attacking US soldiers
B) Illegal Aliens in the US committing murder
C) Wankers on the motd and other media sources creating overtly
slanted, self-serving shill quizzes to make their points using
dishonest and bad rhetorical techniques.
http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/homeland.php?id=737771
\_ It depends on what your definition of "more" is.
We've had this discussion before. You're very clearly
an idiot.
\_ Our laws governing automotive safety are as every bit as
retarded as our foreign policy in the Middle East. Both
need our attention and some solution. What makes Iraq
particularly important is that it's putting an enormous
strain on our resources (economically and militarily).
\_ You're right, if we moved every single soldier from Iraq,
Japan, Korea, Germany and Cuba to the Mexican border,
we might stop all illegal immigration. Kill.
\_ That wasn't something I was suggesting. Try again. -op
\_ It's about a sensical as your quiz. -!pp
\_ Or not. -op
\_ Hey! Thanks to the asshole who chnaged my post. choice B) is
supposed to be Illegal Aliens committing murder.
\_ I like how when lefties here don't like facts, they hide them. |
| 2007/2/23-27 [Politics/Domestic/Crime, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:45810 Activity:nil |
2/23 UCD Law Review Symposium on 4th Amend. Search & Seizure law:
http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=8048
http://lawreview.law.ucdavis.edu/2007symposium
\_ If anybody here has EBOLA, please go to this and lick JOHN YOO. |
| 2007/2/23 [Politics/Domestic/Crime, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:45809 Activity:nil |
2/23 http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=8048 |
| 2007/2/23 [Politics/Domestic/Crime, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:45803 Activity:nil |
2/23 http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=8048 Event Focuses on Surveillance, Wiretapping, Terrorism February 21, 2007 John Yoo -- who spearheaded the Bush administration's legal response to the 2001 terrorist attacks -- and other constitutional scholars will debate the National Security Agency's surveillance program, warrantless phone wiretapping and the war on terror at UC Davis March 9. The event, titled "Katz v. U.S: 40 Years Later -- From Warrantless Wiretaps to the War on Terror," will focus on how the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark "search and seizure" decision in Katz applies in a modern age of global terrorism. The UC Davis Law Review and the School of Law will host the free, public event. The program runs from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the Wilkins Moot Court Room of King Hall on the UC Davis campus. "The issue of warrantless wiretaps and personal privacy has resurfaced from under the current NSA surveillance program," said David Richardson, editor-in-chief of the law review. "This symposium will allow some of the greatest legal minds in the country to discuss both sides of this controversy." Jennifer Chacon, a UC Davis professor of law and faculty adviser to the event, said, "Growing concerns over crime and terrorism in the United States have sparked a national conversation about the trade-offs between individual privacy and security." "Read against a modern backdrop," she added, "the case of Katz v. United States provides an ideal framework for discussing privacy expectations, effective law enforcement and anti-terrorism strategies." In Katz, the court ruled that the Fourth Amendment protects "people, not places" and provides protection of a "reasonable expectation of privacy," effectively curtailing the use of warrantless wiretaps by law enforcement agencies. John Yoo, now a UC Berkeley law professor, and Glenn Sulmasy of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, will co-present a paper questioning the viability of Katz in the war on terror in a session at 2:45 p.m. Yoo served as a deputy assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel of the U.S. Department of Justice from 2001 to 2003. Sessions are as follows: "Katz in Context: Privacy, Policing Homosexuality and Enforcing Social Norms," 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.; "Katz: Rights and Remedies," 12:45 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.; "Katz in the Age of International Crime and Terrorism," 2:45 p.m. to 4:15 p.m.; and closing remarks, 4:15 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Celebrating its 40th anniversary, the law review ranks in the top 50 most cited legal periodicals in the United States. Each year it hosts a symposium on current legal topics. |
| 2007/2/19-20 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:45774 Activity:nil |
2/19 " .a disastrous and unnecessary war.."
http://tinyurl.com/2r8apw (The Week Magazine) |
| 2007/2/17-18 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:45758 Activity:nil |
2/16 Iraq insurgency in 'last throes,' Cheney says
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/05/30/cheney.iraq |
| 2007/2/13 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:45731 Activity:nil |
2/13 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hq8jlA7meHQ Hank Hill Speaks Up About Bush and the Iraq War |
| 2007/2/9-12 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq, Politics/Foreign/Asia/Others] UID:45697 Activity:low |
2/9 On August 2nd, the USS Maddox was attacked by three North Vietnamese
P-4 patrol boats 28 miles away from the North Vietnamese coast in
international waters...
http://csua.org/u/i0x
\_ Huh?
\_ Excuse me, which tree-hugging hippie commune did fall out of?
Iraq is not Vietnam. And North Vietnam is not Iran.
\_ I think Iran is 100x worse than Vietnam. Our oil was not
under Vietnam. Goddamn Bush!
\_ Yeah, how stupid of him was it to put all our oil under
Iran? Why didn't he put our oil under Texas or Alaska
or something?
\_ Because his Saudi oil masters wouldn't let him.
"We are merely exchanging long protein strings. If you can
think of a simpler way, I'd like to hear it."
\_ Well that was stupid to put the oil under Saudi Arabia
then, wasn't it? |
| 2007/2/5-8 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:45659 Activity:kinda low |
2/5 Boredcast Message from 'psb': Sun Feb 4 17:16:42 2007
as brad delong might say:
run over krauthhammer now:
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZTFhZGJiNWZjNzk2Zjg3N2YzODhmZDY0YWI3N2RiMmE=
(btw, i didnt put this in the motd. although i do think
krauthhammer is a human cockroach --psb)
\_ Okay, I've read the article--don't see much of a problem. Any other
opinions you recommend killing people over?
\_ I think fuckwits who take things too literally should be forced
to swallow drano.
\- there is at least one sloda user who has consumed drano.
(i am not kidding)
\_ What about it? He's stuck on drawing artificial lines between
groups, as if all Shia should be on the same side and give him a
nice little easy to write article about the Sunni/Shia war with
some nice sound bites thrown in about what other countries support
which side. He's only an article writer. He doesn't actually
know (or have to) know anything.
\_ Should he be killed?
\_ Of course not. He's just an opinion writer. He gets paid
to write stuff other people will re-post elsewhere to increase
hit counts and ad revenues. He is doing his job and harming
no one.
\_ Peddling hate hurts no one? Tell that to all the Iraqis
dead by sectarian violence.
\_ Please quote a few lines of "hate" with context. And
generally, yes, even if he was a hate peddler, it hurts
no one because he has no power or influence.
\_ Many of us warned his ilk that civil war would be the inevitable
outcome of breaking up the "strong center" in Iraq. The arrogant
neocons ignored us, as they ignored most of the world's warnings.
Now blood is on their hands and they want to deny responsibility
for it. Bullshit. These guys are just as responsible for the
upcoming deaths of millions as Stalin was for starving the Kulaks.
\_ I believe the problem wasn't taking out Saddam but having no
real post-Saddam plan. I became very concerned when the invasion
part was over and they didn't declare martial law and mop up.
I'm not sure what they did for those first few precious weeks but
I think everything was lost right there.
\_ Considering the very long history of Sunni-Shi'ite violence
I don't think it would have mattered. Just maybe we could
have replaced one strongman with another. In any case, hubris
led to the neocons and those in power to not have a contingency
plan.
\_ The Sunni and Shia live in neighboring countries and as
neighbors within countries all over the middle east without
killing each other on a daily basis. There is no reason
to believe that only a mass murderer like Hussein could
keep that in check. Or actually, no, he didn't try, he
was Sunni and was butching about 5,000 Sunni a month for
decades. |
| 2007/1/30-2/1 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Israel] UID:45614 Activity:nil |
1/29 This is wickedly fucked up (dead man's sperm to impregnate a woman
he never met):
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/01/29/israel.deadmansperm.ap |
| 2007/1/7-16 [Politics/Domestic/President/Bush, Politics/Foreign/Asia/India, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:45540 Activity:nil |
1/11 21,500 more troops, yay!!! Let's kill all the bad people!
\_ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16576547
Pentagon wants 92,000 more. "Failure is not an option."
\_ Where are they gonna got 92,000 more when recruitment is down?
\_ hmm, I recall that we have roughly 20,000 casualties (3000 dead, rest
of them wounded). If anything, this "surge" is nothing but
replenishment for the casualties, no?
\_ for once, I actually *AGREE* with Bush that we need a "surge."
however, I really think we should use this "surge" in Afghanistan
instead of Iraq. These 20k soldiers would probably made a big
differences in Afghanistan. |
| 2007/1/7-16 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Others] UID:45531 Activity:nil |
1/14 Guys, I am a bit nervous. I think we are going to attack Iran next...
Well, in a way, we've already did. Last time I checked, embassy is
considered as sovereign territory of a nation. As we have raided the
Iranian embassy in Iraq, we are in effect attack Iran territory.
http://www.payvand.com/news/07/jan/1131.html
Under normal circumstances, this would considered as an act of war.
On top of this, we are moving a carrier strike group to Persian Golf.
http://csua.org/u/hvx
I am no military expert, but my knowledge tells me that carrier strike
group is not the best tool to fight insurgency in Iraq.
\_ That wasn't an embassy. Although if it was an embassy that
would just be karmic anyway.
\_ I just think Bush's secret plan B is to escalate the war with
Iran.
\_ Bring it on!
\_ Hey, you mean like we were supposed to have a military draft in
2006?
\_ if we were doing things right, we supposed to have a draft in
2003, blanked Iraq with one million draftees, commit entire nation
into this Iraqii mess. Then again, may be you still think the
war is going well. I am still waiting to see that beacon of
democracy in the middle east.
2003, blanked Iraq with one million draftees, commit entire
nation into this Iraqii mess. Then again, may be you still
think the war is going well. I am still waiting to see that
beacon of democracy in the middle east.
\_ There have been numerous connections between the Iraq insurgency and
Syria & Iran (weapons, personnel, etc.). Stopping Iran from
supplying weapons could very well help fighting the insurgents.
\_ This is true. However, invading/waging war on Iran with the
forces currently available to us is not likely to produce the
result of "stopping Iran from supplying weapons" in the long run,
unless we swallowed our pride and asked for help from Syria in
pacifying Iraq. And hell, if we're going to go that route, why
not just negotiate with Iran in the first place? |
| 2006/12/29-30 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:45515 Activity:high |
12/29 I personally don't know anyone who supports Bush's War in Iraq. However
according to the polls 35% of the Americans still do. WHO ARE THESE
PEOPLE? What do they do? Where do they live? What are they like?
\_ People like that exist everywhere. Emarkp is a fine example.
Is your sample based in San Francisco or nearby academia?
If so I wouldn't be surprised.
\_ You /do/ realize the bias of polling people you know, right? -emarkp
\_ The OP does not or wouldn't have posed the question.
\_ 28%
\_ consider how many people voted for Bush in 2004, why you are
surprise? |
| 2006/12/29-30 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:45514 Activity:very high |
12/29 R.I.H. Saddam Hussein
\_ Hope GWB joins him soon.
\_ YES! Death to all tyrants in the world! Now there will be peace
` \_ E_SICSEMPERTYRANNIS
and harmony in the middle east again, where Shiites and Sunnis
will hold hands and celebrate. We can now bring the troops back.
We won the war! Hoooray!
\_ No one ever said excuting Saddam would bring peace to anyone.
\_ Perhaps you mean R.I.G. or R.I.I.? R.I.T.?
\_ in that regard, Bush also deserve to go to hell too, right?
hundreds of thousands of people died since the invasion.
\_ You're going to quote the top end figure from the Lancet
study as if it was fact? Why not quote the bottom end? Or
the average? Or the median? |
| 2006/12/27-30 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:45504 Activity:nil |
12/26 The panic and confusion were as great as if it had been the City
and not the camp that was invested. The consul Nautius was
summoned home, but as he did nothing equal to the emergency,
they decided to appoint a Dictator to retrieve the threatening
position of affairs. By universal consent L. Quinctius
Cincinnatus was called to the office ... The novelty and mystery
of the thing drew the attention of the plebs towards him whilst
those who knew nothing of the plot asked what disturbance or
sudden outbreak of war called for the supreme authority of a
Dictator or required Quinctius, after reaching his eightieth
year, to assume the government of the republic. Servilius, the
Master of the Horse, was despatched by the Dictator ... with the
message: "The Dictator summons you."
--History of Rome, Book III, IV
Titus Livy |
| 2006/12/26-30 [Politics/Foreign/Asia/India, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:45495 Activity:nil |
12/26 http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/12/26/news/military.php "It's the French Foreign Legion for me!" |
| 2006/12/20-23 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:45482 Activity:high |
12/20 More attempts to track down the elusive "Capt. Hussein"
http://michellemalkin.com/archives/006579.htm
\_ she's pretty hot, I'll convert to a Republican to screw her.
\_ I haven't read the above url, but I've read a lot of MM urls,
and she is a troll of the highest order. Doesn't contribute
anything, is thin skinned, isn't particularly witty, I'm
just not gonna do it anymore. Even Andrew Sullivan
and Pat Buchanan make points that I can agree with
now and then. MM should be ejected into the sun.
\_ "Written by fools to be read by imbeciles."
\_ Wow, I'm glad you're so damn open-minded. The post is about
trying to track down the fake Cap. Hussein. It's not nearly as
much opinion as simple investigation.
\_ It doesn't even matter. CNN/AP/Reuters/NBC/etc have been
busted making up stories or twisting the truth so many times
it isn't possible to read their stories as anything more
than that anymore: stories. This Captain Hussein thing is
just one more in a long long long list of lies.
\_ Do the voices tell you to do things? -dans
\_ I'm trying to figure out the desired end result here. So you
and MM are saying that someone is deliberately exaggerating
the number of violent incidents around Baghdad? Is that it?
I happen to think that it's all underreported. I think there
are tons of violent incidents in Baghdad and the surrounding
areas that are a result of sectarian civil whatever the hell
you want to call it violence, and a lot of horrible things
happen but it's not reported, since reporters cannot safely
travel anywhere in Iraq. It all sucks. MM sucks.
\_ The desired end result is that the media report the truth, not
report what they think or want the truth to be even if they
sometimes guess right. No one is denying there are deaths,
death squads, violence, etc.
\_ This Hussein thing must be under my radar. I scan
paper copies of the Chronicle, NY Times, and WSJ nearly
every day and I've never heard of it.
\_ Exactly. Look at your news sources.
\_ All right smart guy, I try to stay informed. I read.
I read the above 3 papers. I watch Fox to get a good
chuckle now and then. WHAT SHOULD I BE READING?
Your fucking retarded MM blog? Or maybe Little
Green Footballs? The WSJ, if you ignore the editorial
page, is one of the finest news sources around.
\_ It isn't "my fucking retarded MM blog". Anyway, I
don't think it matters what _you_ read. Your mind
is set. Read whatever reinforces whatever you
already want to believe and be happy.
\_ I actually don't know why anyone would object to that
list. Though the Chron is one of the most biased rags
I've ever seen. -op
\_ Actually, it doesn't even really qualify as a blog
since she doesn't allow any reader comments. More
of a self-published amateur diary.
\_ She used to... but then people started posting
naked penii redirects all over her pages. She should
have hired a right wing CAPTCHA dude.
naked penii redirects all over her pages. She
should have hired a right wing CAPTCHA dude.
\_ The plural of Penis is not Penii.
\_ The stories citing this mythical Capt Hussein are invariably the
most extreme examples. The story about people throwing kerosene
on worshippers leaving a mosque and lighting them on fire as
Iraqi police were watching for instance. -op
\_ You are right, MM is so fair and balanced and unbiased,
I am glad you showed me the light. I can now stop wasting
my time reading the WSJ, NYT, The Economist, The Week and
all that other MSM trash and just get all my information
about the outside world from the brilliant and beautiful
MM.
\_ I haven't been saying anything about your reading choices.
But you're not responding to the points about Hussein. -op
\_ Points were made about Hussein in this thread? I don't
see any. -dans |
| 2006/12/19-23 [Politics/Domestic/RepublicanMedia, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:45476 Activity:nil |
12/19 http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061219/ts_nm/iraq_usa_army_suicides_dc_1 Will Fox News report that the number of homicides is up? |
| 12/24 |