Good Old Neon Posted July 9, 2008 Author Share Posted July 9, 2008 i agree w/ matt, there is a huge amount of grey here...however, to be fair, a lot of the statements comparing the us military to al qaeda are falling way outside said grey area. 'suicide missions that will take out large numbers of civilians' completely removes any shade of intent for the safety/survival of our soldiers and as few civilian casualties as possible. the level of disregard between one and the other makes the comparison extremely weak...and, much like the brouhaha last week w/ the hitler comparisons, the hyperbole adds a potential level of ire that can, IMO, shut down any level of intelligent debate and replace it w/ a fight instead. True, but mostly because proportionally, the US is responsible for the deaths of far more civilians than Al Qaeda itself can claim. We talk a good game, but keep in mind, Iraq is a disaster of our own making Quote Link to post Share on other sites
EL the Famous Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 Act 1: topic of thread.Act 2: thread veers off course to discuss Hitler/Bush/God/SkygodAct 3: reasonable efforts at maintaining level headed discourseAct 4: reasonable efforts crash and burnAct 5: thread veers off course to discuss naked women/irrelevant posts/general snarkinessAct 6: thread dies or GoTo Act 3 and repeat. You think the two (Act 1 and 2) are mutually exclusive? jnick, i'm not going to argue w/ you changing the basis of the comparison from one of intent to one of proportion. i don't agree w/ our presence or rationale for being there at all...i just can't go as far in comparing it to an al qaeda suicide bombing. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Cousin Tupelo Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 And, if any other country, other than the US, carried out this sort of war, we would brand it as unconscionable and demand that the invading country be held fully accountable Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Good Old Neon Posted July 9, 2008 Author Share Posted July 9, 2008 jnick, i'm not going to argue w/ you changing the basis of the comparison from one of intent to one of proportion. i don't agree w/ our presence or rationale for being there at all...i just can't go as far in comparing it to an al qaeda suicide bombing. Fair enough Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Jules Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 Matt and MrRain, I did not intentionally not respond to your questions. El stepped in and expressed it better than I could have, so I will not repeat it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MattZ Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 Matt and MrRain, I did not intentionally not respond to your questions. El stepped in and expressed it better than I could have, so I will not repeat it. El stepped in and expressed much of what I meant better than I could have too. So I won't repeat either. (BTW, we are in Act 3 again, people). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bobbob1313 Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 And, if any other country, other than the US, carried out this sort of war, we would brand it as unconscionable and demand that the invading country be held fully accountable – up to and including war crimes. But, since we are the self described rulers of the universe, it will never happen. I actively disagree with this. There are countless exampled of countries doing far worse than us and we've turned our heads to it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
EL the Famous Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 El stepped in and expressed much of what I meant better than I could have too. i'm altruistic as a motherfucker. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Good Old Neon Posted July 9, 2008 Author Share Posted July 9, 2008 I actively disagree with this. There are countless exampled of countries doing far worse than us and we've turned our heads to it. You Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Cousin Tupelo Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 i'm altruistic as a motherfucker.The mothers send along their thanks. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Good Old Neon Posted July 9, 2008 Author Share Posted July 9, 2008 So you were wrong, in other words. No, as I Quote Link to post Share on other sites
caliber66 Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 And, if any other country, other than the US, carried out this sort of war, we would brand it as unconscionable and demand that the invading country be held fully accountable Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Good Old Neon Posted July 9, 2008 Author Share Posted July 9, 2008 What part of "any other country" leaves room for exceptions? And, if any other country, other than the US, carried out this sort of war, we would brand it as unconscionable and demand that the invading country be held fully accountable Quote Link to post Share on other sites
austrya Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 Act 1: topic of thread.Act 2: thread veers off course to discuss Hitler/Bush/God/SkygodAct 3: reasonable efforts at maintaining level headed discourseAct 4: reasonable efforts crash and burnAct 5: thread veers off course to discuss naked women/irrelevant posts/general snarkinessAct 6: thread dies or GoTo Act 3 and repeat. This thread can't be over until abortion and gay marriage get brought up. Carry on... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bobbob1313 Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 Just the sort of false pretenses that preceded the final paragraph? This part: So you are backtracking? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MrRain422 Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 He's not backtracking at all. Jeez. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bobbob1313 Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 I mean, ok. He is. But ok. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Good Old Neon Posted July 10, 2008 Author Share Posted July 10, 2008 So you are backtracking? No, not at all - it Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MrRain422 Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 Sometimes this board just turns into a big gotcha game rather than actually considering people's points. It's sort of annoying. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Good Old Neon Posted July 10, 2008 Author Share Posted July 10, 2008 Here, let me make it easier, let Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Winston Legthigh Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 I mean, ok. He is. But ok. Then what's the point of doing that? The only reason I can see someone doing that is so that they can go "AHA! You don't really believe what you believe! Gotcha!" It seems dumb. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Edie Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 I heard on NPR that as part of this new timetable thingy that the Iraqi government wants, is that they want to limit the ability for the US to unilaterally conduct military operations there both with the military and so called contractors. This is not making the administration happy -- and frankly makes the argument for O-I-L as being the real reason that we are there (or at least why we remain there). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bjorn_skurj Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 Sometimes this board just turns into a big gotcha game rather than actually considering people's points. It's sort of annoying.Funny how that mirrors politics in America in general. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MrRain422 Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 So true. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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