AdD

Now honestly, you can't blame Saddam for not rebuilding the infrastructure (after the US bombed those devilish water treatment plants), the US used its veto to stop a lot of those reconstruction contracts American companies have now so helpfully accepted. Good old sanctions of mass destruction... Life is ez On the dz Every jumper's dream 3 rigs and an airstream

I think the UN can only be effective if its members cooperate. If members continue to ignore the rules they don't like, why should anyone else abide by them? Life is ez On the dz Every jumper's dream 3 rigs and an airstream

***Let's see the source of this information. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It's has all been discussed here before*** The US funded the terrorist group Unita in Africa well into the 1990's. There is congressional testimony about funding given to them. This is only one example. I suggest reading 9-11 by Noam Chomsky and "Good Muslim, Bad Muslim" by Mahmood Mamdani, there are plenty of cases of the US funding terrorism documented by these authors. Life is ez On the dz Every jumper's dream 3 rigs and an airstream

Naked wingsuit, isn't that just going commando ? Life is ez On the dz Every jumper's dream 3 rigs and an airstream

I think there is some confusion about the actual meaning of the "lesser" jihad. It is not at all about conquest, though like many religous doctrines it has been exploited to serve political agendas from time to time. Tomaz Maztnak (french scholar) insists "jihad cannot be properly defined as a holy war .. it is a doctrine of spiritual effort of which military action is only one possible manifestation;the crusade and the jihad are, strictly speaking, not comparable". Islam does sanction rebellion against an unjust ruler, whether Muslim or not, but it is not based at all on conquest. The koran says that taking an innocent life is the same as killing all of humanity. I strongly disagree with your interpretations of this religion. Don't forget that there are over 1.2 Billion Muslims worldwide, only 250 million of which are Arabs (I don't mean to imply anything about Arabs by this statement). The use of violence by some Muslims should not be taken as the norm for this religion. Life is ez On the dz Every jumper's dream 3 rigs and an airstream

Thinking purely as a skydiver, climate change is not in our best interest. Do we really want the weather to get worse than it already is? Maybe I'll biased cuz I'm from the Maritimes and we hardly get two days of sun in a row, but skydivers of the world must unite on this issue! Life is ez On the dz Every jumper's dream 3 rigs and an airstream

His intention was to cut it away. Nobody who uses a larger and safer canopy is stupid for making the choice to give themselves the extra safety margin provided by larger canopies. Life is ez On the dz Every jumper's dream 3 rigs and an airstream

I find it hypocritical that a country which has financed terrorists during its proxy wars in the Third World can claim to fight a war on terror with out first addressing its own past. I'll give you one example to start things off. Do a little digging into US gov't support for Unita in Angola. This was undeniably a terrorist organization yet they received millions of dollars of US support. In 1991 after the Angolan settlement, post-apartheid South Africa stopped supporting Unita so the US increased its funding. Unita starved civilians in government held areas, planted landmines on paths used by peasants, kidnapped civilians and also conducted direct attacks against civilian targets. There is congressional testimony about the funding given to this group, look it up. Life is ez On the dz Every jumper's dream 3 rigs and an airstream

I thought I made the sources clear. Could you point out which one's you want cited? Life is ez On the dz Every jumper's dream 3 rigs and an airstream

You bring up a good point about the madrassahs. Let me point out that the US was the first to use them for a political reason when they were turned into military training schools to integrate guerilla training with the teachings of Islam. London Based Indian journalist Dilip Hiro commented on their curriculum, saying "Predominant themes were that Islam was a complete sociopolitical identity, that holy Islam was being violated by atheist Soviet troops, and that the Islamic people of Afghanistan should reassert their independence by overthrowing the leftist Afghan regime propped up by Moscow" The following is an example of a fourth grade textbook designed by the University of Nebraska under a $50 million USAID grant. "The speed of a Kalashnikov [the ubiquitous Soviet-made semiautomatic machine gun] bullet is 800 meters per second. If a Russian is at a distance of 3200 meters from a mujahid, and that mujahid aims at the Russian's head, calculate how many seconds it will take for the bullet to strike the Russian in the forehead" He adds, "US sponsored textbooks, which exhort Afghan children to pluck out the eyes of their enemies and cut off their legs, are still widely available in Afghanistan and Pakistan, some in their original form" Life is ez On the dz Every jumper's dream 3 rigs and an airstream

That's a very credible news source you've found there. Iranians are probably thrilled they are next on Bush's hit list of countries to illegally invade. Life is ez On the dz Every jumper's dream 3 rigs and an airstream

No, not at all, it is perfectly legitimate for the US to choose not to do business with Iraq. I am talking about the US using its veto on a subcommission for the administration of aid to Iraq to block reconstructive efforts and humanitarian aid during the period of 1991-1998 . These contracts were not necessarily involving US based companies. There is a difference between refusing to do business with a country and blocking aid desperately required for humanitarian purposes. After the first gulf war, Iraq's infrastructure was decimated. The US blocked reconstructive contracts which would have supplied clean drinking water, medicine and vaccines. Is this not punishing the country's population excessively for the crime of its brutal dictator? When human life ceases to have value, I suppose the numbers do become meaningless. I am bashing the US I guess, but not because I hate it. Why do you think the world has turned against America? It's not because we're jealous, it's because we're afraid. Life is ez On the dz Every jumper's dream 3 rigs and an airstream

WTF !!!!!!!!! Generalization about an entire religion like this because of a single wacko are absolutely ridiculous! Honestly man, of anybody that posts on dz.com you frighten me the most. Islam is far more open to criticism than you would think, many muslims believe that it is an integral part of their faith to interpret the Koran with the consideration that it was written a long time ago and that as society changes, so must the faith modernize. As for criticism from the outside, you can't make that statement on the basis of this isolated incident. Have you ever even met a Muslim? Life is ez On the dz Every jumper's dream 3 rigs and an airstream

The 300,000 children < age 5 died during the 91-98 period due to the sanctions. This is based on a comparison of child mortality rate studies prior to the first gulf war and a UNICEF study done in 1999, and a report to the UN Sub Commission for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in 2000. 10,000 is an estimate of civilian collateral damage post-2003 invasion, as for a source I guess Iraqbodycount.com would be one. I am not going to pretend that there are perfectly reliable body count statistics for the country, but why is that a surprise when it isn't even safe to leave the Green Zone. How could there possibly be a source which proves the exact # and that they were all innocent considering the situation? I was not directing the first part of the post at you, sorry if that was misleading, I was actually replying to Sabredave's post about Iraqi's not being ready to govern themselves as a society, so no it's not just me. I do believe that every country which commits crimes against international law should be held accountable, including France. The fact that other countries break these laws with impunity is not justification for such conduct to continue. The US did not have 17 resolutions justifying unilateral action. Kofi Annan has publically stated that the invasion was a violation of UN law. In response to the Dueffler report, let me quote marine intelligence officer Scott Ritter, the chief weapons inspector from '91 to '98 who resigned in protest that the US government had sabotaged his mission, placing nine American intelligence officers on the inspection team as far back as '92. This is from an interview on CNN in 2002. "As of December 1998 we have accounted for 90 to 95% of Iraq's WMD capability. We have destroyed all the factories, all the means of production and we could not account for some of the weaponry, but chemical weapons have a shelf life of five years. Biological weapons have a shelf life of three years. To have te weapons today, they would have had to rebuild the factories and start the process of producing these weapons since December 1998. " Again however, we haven't found any WMD's or production facilities in Iraq yet. The study indicating up to 100,000 civilians killed SINCE THE INVASION is from the British medical journal the 'Lancet'. This is a study done by John's Hopkins, Columbia University and Al-Mustansiriya University in Baghdad. I am not saying that there is one specific # of deaths that is right, I'm just pointing out what is being reported. So to recap, -300,000 children

The United States does not have the right to step in and govern people simply because it believes they are not capable of governing themselves. This is a classic arguement used to justify colonization and imperialism, and may I add it is a complete contradiction of everything the US is supposed to stand for. Now that the administration's justifications for a pre-emptive attack have been proven baseless, I am deeply troubled that there is no channel through which the US can be held accountable for what is obviously a violation of international law, and that hardly anyone even seems concerned about this. With at least 10,000 innocent civilians killed already, I am ashamed to have initially supported the invasion. The US has no more right to violate international law than Saddam had to invade Kuwait. You ask what would conditions in Iraq be like if Saddam had been left in power? I ask what they would have been like if the US hadn't intentionally wiped out virtually the entire infrastructure of what was once one of the most progressive (I mean this in the sense of modernization, not politically) countries in the Middle East, and then systematically denied BILLIONS of dollars of reconstructive aid using its UN veto, effectively plunging the country into the stone age and effectively killing 300,000 children under the age of 5. (See my post on Brian's Peace thread). With new estimates from American researchers putting the death toll resulting from the war between 30,000 and 100,000 civilians, I feel that there is adequate justification to ask if a crime against humanity has been committed in Iraq. I honestly hope that from these horrors we will see a peaceful prosperous and independent democracy emerge in Iraq, but lets face it, the real US track record has shown that it only supports democracy as long as its own interests are not comprimised. Life is ez On the dz Every jumper's dream 3 rigs and an airstream

So what exactly is the new justification for the war right now? It's so hard to keep up... I guess we'll just have to keep liberating them till all their oil is gone. Life is ez On the dz Every jumper's dream 3 rigs and an airstream

One of my greatest fears is being unable to end my own life if I so chose because of unbearable pain, paralyzation etc. I cannot imagine a worse fate than suffering for years as a conscious person but being unable to interact with the world. If someone decides they no longer want to live but are unable to take steps to that effect, I believe strongly that there should be a legal option for them to take. Our most basic right is that of life, but it is our life, and our ultimately our decision if it should end. Life is ez On the dz Every jumper's dream 3 rigs and an airstream

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld conceded Monday that U.S. intelligence was wrong in its conclusions that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, and appeared to back off earlier statements suggesting former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had links to al Qaeda. "Why the intelligence proved wrong (on WMDs), I'm not in a position to say," Rumsfeld said in remarks to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. "I simply don't know." When asked about any connection between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda, Rumsfeld said, "To my knowledge, I have not seen any strong, hard evidence that links the two." But a short time later, Rumsfeld released a statement: "A question I answered today at an appearance before the Council on Foreign Relations regarding ties between Al Qaeda and Iraq regrettably was misunderstood. "I have acknowledged since September 2002 that there were ties between Al Qaeda and Iraq." (Rumsfeld statement) http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/10/04/rumsfeld.iraq/index.html _____________________________________ Finally he tells the truth, but apparently it was "misunderstood". Hmm, seems pretty clear to me he said he hadn't seen the evidence, I guess like the rest of America he just took Bush's word for it. Life is ez On the dz Every jumper's dream 3 rigs and an airstream

Hmm, someone might have told him that... "According to an August 2003 article in the Washington Post, President Bush has spent all or part of 166 days during his presidency at his Crawford, Texas, ranch or en route. Add the time spent at or en route to the presidential retreat of Camp David and at the Bush family estate in Kennebunkport, Maine, and Bush has taken 250 days off as of August 2003. That's 27% of his presidency spent on vacation. Although to be fair, much of this time is classified as a "working vacation." " http://ask.yahoo.com/ask/20031001.html Life is ez On the dz Every jumper's dream 3 rigs and an airstream

This incorrect explanation of terrorist motivations for attacking the USA is what African scholar Mahmood Mamdani labels 'Culture Talk' in his book "Good Muslim, Bad Muslim". Culture Talk is based on the assumption that cultures have a tangible essence that defines them, and attempts to explain politics based on that assumption. Mamdani says, "Culture Talk after 9-11, qualified the practice of terrorism as Islamic. Islamic terrorism is thus offered both as a description and an explanation of the events of 9-11. It is no longer the market (capitalism), nor the state (democracy), but the culture (modernity) that is said to be the dividing line between those in favor of a peaceful, civic existence and those inclined to terror" . If we choose to explain terrorism as the weapon of a resentful premodern culture, we buy into the thesis of Samuel Huntington that there is an impending "Clash of Civilizations" because Islam is unwilling to accept our Western version of modernity. We cannot afford to make enemies of entire civilizations. Islam is a peaceful religion deeply respectful of freedom. The Islamic terrorism movement is a result of mainly US interference in the ME, the very notion of a Jihad based on terror was invented by the CIA as a way to mobilize Muslims against the USSR in Afghanistan. People like Bin Laden have used what they learned from the CIA in Afghanistan and turned it against those who they perceive to be their enemies, but this was never really based on the hatred of the good things we believe the West stands for, freedom, justice equality etc. They hate us becuase we support those who kill and oppress their people. I can give more examples if you feel like sending a PM, here's one that pissed me off the most. Economic Sanction on Iraq June 2000 Report to the UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights says that the total deaths directly attributable to the sanctions ranged from 500,000 to 1,500,000 , with the majority being children. The US consistently used its veto on the Security Council's 661 Committee to block over 200 humanitarian contracts, including those to supply clean drinking water, the most essential to Iraq's childrens' health. It only once justified itself in 2001 when the Washington Post ran a story on $280 million worth of medical supplies being denied by the veto. The US claimed the vaccines could be used to produce biological weapons, but backed down when confronted with adverse publicity. Many high ranking UN aid administrators resigned in protest. Dennis Halliday said in 1998, "We are in the process of destroying an entire society. Is is as simple and terrifying as that. It is illegal and immoral" Who really killed more Iraqi civilians? Saddam or us? Life is ez On the dz Every jumper's dream 3 rigs and an airstream

What I meant by that was to address the frequent use of the "they hate us because of our freedom" explanation of Islamic terrorism implied in your comment on bin Laden's hating the Western lifestyle. That is to assume that there is some essence of Islam which is incompatible with the western notion of freedom upon which the anti-western jihad is based. I don't agree with the policies of Clark, Bush or Kerry. Secularism is not the answer, it is actually more of a problem in the states than in the ME IMO. Political Islam has been spearheaded by secular individuals more often than religious leaders, unlike the Christian right in America. We tend to struggle with secularism because it has alienated the protestant right, which in turn gave rise to Christian fundamentalists movements dating from the 1920's.

Bin Laden is not a spokesman for Islam. People may buy into what he says on religious grounds, but then again he would not be the first person to use religion as a justification for war. He has simply modified the doctrine of armed Jihad which the US used to mobilize Arabs against the USSR in Afghanistan and turned it against the USA, which taught him the basics of low intensity warfare in the first place. You have misinterpreted his message, which really calls for an end to Western interference in the region. He says that as long as we kill Muslims, he will continue to wage a terrorist war against the West. It is wrong to assume that political Islam, Islamic fundamentalism and Islamic terrorism are the same thing, because they are not. The great parts of the Western lifestyle do not really conflict with Islamic beliefs, which are centered around freedom from oppression. What people don't realize are the real reasons many Muslims hate the West, which are basically that we trample their rights by supporting tyrannical governments and denying them the right to self determination we hold so dear in the West. Life is ez On the dz Every jumper's dream 3 rigs and an airstream

And the US is not? Nicaragua, Guatemala, Indonesia... the list goes on. Countless civilians slaughtered by US backed militia attacking 'soft' targets. Any time civilians are killed (which is terrifying) for political gains it's terrorism. Life is ez On the dz Every jumper's dream 3 rigs and an airstream

So what's the best drink to mix with this stuff? Has anyone got stories about their absynth experiences? Life is ez On the dz Every jumper's dream 3 rigs and an airstream

My only experience was with a Turbo Z 165, but I can say I had consistently awesome on heading openings. Life is ez On the dz Every jumper's dream 3 rigs and an airstream