Originally posted by Sitarro:
Why wasn't something done about him. Why haven't the countries that sold him arms during the embargo been punished. What will happen to the UN officials that were involved with helping Saddam? Why hasn't he received one hundreth the criticism that is directed at America and our President?
Good questions. I think it has to do with the blatant hypocrisy on all levels, since more and more governments bow to the will of large corporatios instead of the will of the people. This is not just the case with your government that has been paid some 80 million by the oil industry and is working to take care of this industry. It is the case in many countries around the world. That is indeed a sad prospect.
Everyone can be bought, including presidents and UN representatives, so that is basically what is happening all over the place. Hell, IÂ’ve even sent the UN an email at the beginning of the Iraq war warning them for a global peasant revolution if they refrain from controlling the greed of their members. Not that anyone read it of course.
The only way to stop these multinational corporations is to rein them in by the people. Since multinationals transcend the will of nations – if they are not allowed to continue their practices they can just build their factories somewhere else, preferrably in some corrupt third world nation, where governments are even cheaper to buy – there is nothing much a single nation can do about it.
Thus I, in all my youthful ignorance and idealism would like to see some multinational governmental institution that can back them down when they go too far.
Obviously, this will require hard work and will not be accomplished any time soon. And itÂ’s a sad fact that the present UN is in no shape to take on this role.
I think IÂ’ve made it clear that many people in the world hate Saddam with all their hearts. He is, was and will be a son of a ***** that deserves to be publicly executed in my view. However, first he will have a fair trial where he may say whatever he likes in his defence.
Originally posted by Sitarro:
How would you know what we hear in the media? If the government has so much control over the media, how do you explain the extremely one sided reporting against President Bush and his administration. There is absolutely no control over the internet . . . obviously I am talking to you and if you want you can easily reveal the truth that we naive Americans aren't hearing. I have heard that crap from my European friends and they can't explain how the media as a whole is so antiBush, kinda blows that whole theory out of the water.
Ever heard of good cop, bad cop?
That is what they’ve been playing on the American people for quite a while now. You’re either “with us, or against us” remember? That statement was referring not just to the terrorists, but to the American people, the press and the rest of the world as well. Everyone that has dared to seriously criticize the governments policies and had a serious job was ousted very quickly. And when televised debates drop to the level of the left vs. the right, I think the true point is missed. It’s not about left or right, but about humanity as a whole. (This is the extreme point of view)
Of course, we get a biased view of the American public here in Europe. And I am well aware that there are programs that do critisize your governmentÂ’s policies but they do not seem to get to the bottom of things very fast. Yes, there are numerous scandals that are being prepared for the courtroom, such as the Valerie Plame affair involving Karl Rove and such, but what about HaliburtonÂ’s connections to Cheney? I know it has been in the news, but no serious follow up investigation has been started as far as I can tell.
Originally posted by Sitarro:
Torture? really is that what Europe is calling torture these days? Seems I remember walking skeletons being led to gas chambers in the heart of Europe a mere 43 years ago. Panties on the head is not torture, stacking these clowns naked is not unusual, these aren't boyscouts they are killers and need to be kept secure, they want to kill you and me and their guards just because. I wouldn't have bothered holding on to them, I would let them try something so I could kill them and be done with it.
IÂ’m not equating the sacks over heads and wires on arms with nazi deathcamps. However, that is not all that is going on in Gitmo and Abu Graib prison. Reported deaths of inmates, rape and torture of inmates, innocent people held indefinately without charges, those are serious accusations, made by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.
All I’m saying is if that is what does get out, it is the top of the iceberg. Germans said after WWII “Wir haben es nicht gewusst” which means “we didn’t know”. They really had no clue as to what was going on in those deathcamps. Sure, there was hard labour and rough conditions, but it was a prison camp, wasn’t it? I don’t believe there are gaschambers at Guantanamo, but what is there is an outrage and should be more transparent to prevent the US from losing any credibility it has left in the international community.
Originally posted by Sitarro:
Still don't know what freedoms I, a law abiding citizen of the U.S., has given up, please enlighten me.
I confess I do not know exactly what the Patriot Acts all encompassing effects are.
However, they do allow for the imprisonment of innocent civilians, suspected of being part of a “terrorist” group. No trial, no specific charges, no lawyer, no nothing. Sure, if you are a law abiding citizen you’re going to be allright. Just remember it was the jews first in the Third Reich and nobody cared, because they weren’t jews.
I believe it was Thomas Jefferson that said: “
He who trades liberty for security deserves neither and will lose both.”
This professor of constitutional law, David Cole, sums it up better than I could:
http://www.fpif.org/papers/post9-11_body.html
Originally posted by Sitarro:
I do follow numerous sources, why do you think I know what crap is written about the U.S. in Euro papers. Fox news is nomore slanted than the BBC, ABC, NBC, Al Jazerraor any of the other news sources that I monitor.
I agree Al Jazeera is crap. IÂ’ve monitored it for a while until I was offended by itÂ’s extreme biased view, which did not hold any more truth than Fox news for that matter.
I do now check the Asia Times, Russian Pravda (no, IÂ’m no communist), the British BBC, CNN, the dutch news, and numerous blogs that I have found to be credible after cross examination.
Originally posted by Sitarro:
Radical Christians don't saw innocent people's heads off. The worst they will do is pray for you.
Partly true, apparently the IRA quit now, because the competition was getting too lethal for them. However, they did not refrain from bombing innocent civilians not too long ago. Look, we both agree that radical Muslims are an insane evil bunch of f*ckheads.
But radical Muslims have been at the worst end of the table for a while, as compared to radical christians. Thus they employ the more desperate measures.
IÂ’m only saying itÂ’s logical. This does not make it right.
Originally posted by Sitarro:
I thought I remembered that Spain was bombed after it left Iraq.
Nope. The Madrid bombing took place at 11 march 2004.
Three days after the attack, at 14 march, the residing Spanish government that backed the invasion of Iraq was defeated in the Spanish general elections. Election turnout was a massive 77,2 percent, and the newly elected prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero pledged to bring home the 1300 troops that Spain has stationed in Iraq when their tour of duty was supposed to end in July 2004. For more, see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/11_March_2004_Madrid_train_bombings
Originally posted by Sitarro:
The UN inspectors were a joke and Saddam knew it. I would think Hans Blix was deep in saddam's pocket, he certainly acts like it. I doubt he could find his dick in a tight low rise brief.
You had every right to be suspicious of Hans Blix or any other inspector.
However, they have all been proven right: no weapons of mass destruction.
Saddam in all fired 1 scud missile at Israel, that completely went off course.
Originally posted by Sitarro:
It really gets tiring leading by example and having other companies lie and cheat and still call the U.S. wrong. Why shouldn't we play the same game as the rest of the world.
Apparently.
For most European nations however, leading by example is still considered to be the way forward. Obviously they are not always very good or even honest about it. But IÂ’m repeating myself. It beats leading by disaster anytime though.
Originally posted by Sitarro:
How do you negotiate with assholes that send children to their death by strapping bombs to them. Take the crustiest old American military man and I'll guarantee that he would be the one to strap on the bomb before they would let a kid do it. This bombing campaign was forecasted months in advance and very expensive guided bombs were used, it was he most careful bombing campaign in history. The U.S. has lost a lot of great young men by fighting this war in a politically correct way. If I was in charge, Fallujah would be rubble and dust.
The people that persuade others to strap bombs on their bodies and send them on suicide missions are very cowardly indeed. The people that persuade others to wear some crap body armour and send them on suicide missions are very cowardly as well.
Both of these kinds of people are in a position of power to tell others what to do.
Both kinds are chickenshit individuals when it comes down to it.
I find it really sad, and it angers me more than I can put in words.
I understand your military men are brave individuals. They really are.
The ones that send them over there however, are a different stock.
The bombing campaign was very likely the most precise in human history. It was also a very massive one – shock and awe I believe was the catchphrase.
Imagine things the other way around for a change, suppose America is warned of imminent attack for whatever reason.
Imagine you had no money, nor a car, nor a licence to leave the city in advance.
Imagine 10,000 cruise missiles falling from the skies on the key buildings of a single city in the first two days alone.
Imagine the secondary damage that might result from such a campaign.
Imagine the hatred for the indiscrimate death that seems to be surrounding you.
Originally posted by Sitarro:
My own family members get into huge fights, it's human nature, Utopia is not. Saddam started the fight 14 years ago, the world agreed and we should have destroyed him then, the world had different ideas. He tried to kill an exPresident, that's good enough for me. . . and that could have been Clinton, it wouldn't matter. . . his as would have been taken out.
I disagree utterly with the way America has handled things and is still handling things. There are so many assholes in the world, but instead of coming to a consensus with the UN as how to handle these, like the genocide in Darfur, the US has chosen exile.
Yes, the world should have acted long before in both Darfur and Iraq, but multilaterally. Unilateral interventions always increase the slaughter.
Whatever I try to convince you of, pointing a gun in your face to prove my point will only work for the very short term. And not because youÂ’d agree either, only because you fear the gun.
Damn these posts get bigger every time. . . must . .stop. . typing. . ARGHL.