Iraq War Vet: "We Were Told to Just Shoot People, and the Officers Would Take Care of Us"

[Belgian_Draft 0]

Don't get me wrong, rhys, I wasn't trying to hijack the thread. You gave up on 911 when the facts got in your way.
I was only using that subject as an example of how you operate in this forum. You, for whatever reason, hate the States and look for any imperfection. Once you find one you believe any propaganda strewn about regardless of how much it has been exagerated and blown out of proportion.
That in itself would be tolerable if you were honest about your intent. But you aren't. You claim you only post such rhetoric because you find the act itself to be deplorable. If that truly were the case you would do as Amazon and others have suggested and post threads condemning the atrocities commited by the insurgents that are many times worse than the acts you posted here.

HAMMER:
Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used as a
kind of divining rod to locate the most expensive parts adjacent the
object we are trying to hit.

[rhys 0]

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Don't get me wrong, rhys, I wasn't trying to hijack the thread. You gave up on 911 when the facts got in your way.
I was only using that subject as an example of how you operate in this forum.

No you were not hijacking the thread, you were trying to discredit me becuase you disagree on a different subject with me. I am not the subject of the thread, don't focus on me focus on the subject.

For example I am agnostic and do not beleive in christianity, but i will still use an accountant, or dentist or any profession if they are christian, I won't hold my opposing thoughts against them, I will just disagree on that one subject and get on with it.

I suggest you learn to use some sort of mutual respect like that you may come across a little better. I can respect you have your opinion on physics and newtons laws, you are entitled to believe what you wan't and I am entitled to disagree.

How about we just talk about the subject rather than one another, or irrelevant points.

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

[rhys 0]

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You, for whatever reason, hate the States and look for any imperfection.

I could point ot many, many problms with New Zealand, there are unethical practices going on all the time on many levels, does that mean I also hate New Zealand?

I love New Zealand, I always will because New Zealand is ultimately represented by its landscape and beauty and no amount of corruption will take that away.

I could start a 'things I like about america' thread if you like? but when did you ever hear that it was a nice day on the news? Maybe after the weather at the end to make you feel better...

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

[Belgian_Draft 0]

So "put your money where your mouth is" and post a thread listing and condemning specific acts of atrocity by the insurgents in Iraq.
You say one thing but do another, i.e. you claim not to hate the States but you only post degrading and disrespectful threads about the States and not other countries. Actions, my friend, speak louder than words.

HAMMER:
Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used as a
kind of divining rod to locate the most expensive parts adjacent the
object we are trying to hit.

[Belgian_Draft 0]

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I can respect you have your opinion on physics and newtons laws, you are entitled to believe what you wan't and I am entitled to disagree.

Neither my opinion nor your beliefs can change the laws of physics. I accept those laws and you do not.

HAMMER:
Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used as a
kind of divining rod to locate the most expensive parts adjacent the
object we are trying to hit.

[redlegphi 0]

I don't really view the enemy as "seemingly endless". Realistically, al Qaeda is a fairly small, globally distributed network of loosely linked terrorist cells. The Taliban are a much more localized fundamentalist group and the main issue they caused for us is they allowed AQ to operate in Afghanistan when they controlled it.
Either way, there are some things that we need to successfully do to achieve our goals in the war on terror:
1) Encourage the non-fundamentalists. We can't "win" this war by killing all the bad guys. While they aren't endless, we're never going to kill all of them either. That'd be an unrealistic goal. A more realistic goal is to find the non-fundies and provide them with assistance. This would gradually shift each countries version of the Overton window away from fundamentalism. It would also encourage people to move away from fundamentalism by showing them that it can be pretty nice being friends with the US, UK, Oz, etc.
2) Strengthen the governments and security forces where we are. It's no secret that most people aren't going to like an occupying army. Even a fairly benevolent occupying army will rub a lot of people the wrong way. Therefore, it's important that we transition the indigenous government to control over the country as quickly and responsibly as possible. Removing our forces from the countries would remove a lot of the current hostility and fighting. The problem, of course, is in the interim our forces need to be there to assist. The other problem is that we've encouraged democracy in Iraq and Afghanistan, which means the people get to pick their own leadership, and we aren't going to be lucky enough to get the Afghan or Iraqi George Washington when they vote. So we have to recognize that the government we're working with isn't going to be perfect and may even be fairly corrupt.
The big disadvantage in this, and any, COIN fight is that it hinges a lot on the will of the people. We can do everything right and they could still choose some America-hating ass hole as their leader and there's not a lot we can do about that. So, at the end of the day, there will always be a chance for failure in both Iraq and Afghanistan. But there's also still a pretty good chance for us to achieve our goals there, so that's while we're still there.

[rhys 0]

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So "put your money where your mouth is" and post a thread listing and condemning specific acts of atrocity by the insurgents in Iraq.

O.k.

lets take a look, lets type in 'iraqi insurgents killing innocent people and see what comes up...


Google search - iraqi insurgents kill innocent civilians

oh damn those conspiracy theorists, lets click on news to see what happens;

Google search - iraqi insurgents kill innocent civilians / news

here we go I got one for ya .

Shithouse isn't it, what do those assholes think they are going to achieve by blowing innocent people up like that. do they think thay are going to win over the population by blowing stuff up, what a bunch of immoral and dispicable assholes!

how about all those stories about america killing innocent people that i had to go through to find that story, I might have to check those out and see what all the fuss is about

I HATE VIOLENCE, get it through your skull.

America is supposed to be the good guys and the badies are supposed to be the bad guys, so how can you justify the good guys doing bad by saying the bad guys do it too?

Lead by example and create peace by being peaceful as much as possible. Violence does not lead a good example.

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix