We attacked sovereign nation under false pre-tenses. Not too sure about the US, but here in Great Britain that shit is wrong and illegal.JohnG@lt wrote:
Nope, never said that I agreed that it was an illegal war. It certainly wasn't illegal by any means. It was just a continuation of the first Gulf War because Saddam thumbed his nose at the UN and kicked out the weapons inspectors. It also wasn't illegal here in the US because both houses of Congress voted in favor of the invasion. We're a sovereign nation beholden to no one and can do as we please. The UN is not a government in itself and has zero power over US citizens. So all this 'Bush needs to hang for war crimes' garbage that keeps being spewed by leftists is nothing more than impotent rage on their part.mafia996630 wrote:
SO you agree that it was an illegal war ? so you agree it was something to do with Oil ? So if a civil war does break out then it was all for nothing?
Hatred and idealism? not at all.
Iraqi government still owns Iraqi oil. Like most countries, they sell it to companies to extract the oil and refine it. Nothing wrong with that...RTHKI wrote:
i have to add that even if there were no wmds, going to war to get rid of a tyrant isnt a bad thing..
now saying we are going to war to take the oil in iraq. thats something else. i wouldnt say its illegal for a country to do so...just not the best decision..
Certainly some of the men were combatants, but not all, personally i would have tried to pick out individual targets, but of course you are under a lot of pressure and mistakes can be made, however the Van i find completely unacceptable and war crimes should be accounted for.ATG wrote:
Do me a favor bud; go to a war zone and get those pesky native to fill out their official combatant certification card.ruisleipa wrote:
The helicopter was maybe looking for suspicious activity. But there were NO certified combatants. there were a few guys with what the pilots thought were guns. That does NOT equal certified enemy combatants, does it?
Are you actually that stupid, or is this just the usual pointless shit talking?
Oh yeah? GB made up excuses to invade sovereign nations for centuries. Ready to get off your high horse yet? At least we're not playing for keeps and building an empire.mafia996630 wrote:
We attacked sovereign nation under false pre-tenses. Not too sure about the US, but here in Great Britain that shit is wrong and illegal.JohnG@lt wrote:
Nope, never said that I agreed that it was an illegal war. It certainly wasn't illegal by any means. It was just a continuation of the first Gulf War because Saddam thumbed his nose at the UN and kicked out the weapons inspectors. It also wasn't illegal here in the US because both houses of Congress voted in favor of the invasion. We're a sovereign nation beholden to no one and can do as we please. The UN is not a government in itself and has zero power over US citizens. So all this 'Bush needs to hang for war crimes' garbage that keeps being spewed by leftists is nothing more than impotent rage on their part.mafia996630 wrote:
SO you agree that it was an illegal war ? so you agree it was something to do with Oil ? So if a civil war does break out then it was all for nothing?
Hatred and idealism? not at all.
Last edited by JohnG@lt (2010-04-06 11:29:38)
"Ah, you miserable creatures! You who think that you are so great! You who judge humanity to be so small! You who wish to reform everything! Why don't you reform yourselves? That task would be sufficient enough."
-Frederick Bastiat
-Frederick Bastiat
High horse ?Dude, its simple expectations. Just like the whole controversy around torturing.JohnG@lt wrote:
Oh yeah? GB made up excuses to invade sovereign nations for centuries. Ready to get off your high horse yet? At least we're not playing for keeps and building an empire.mafia996630 wrote:
We attacked sovereign nation under false pre-tenses. Not too sure about the US, but here in Great Britain that shit is wrong and illegal.JohnG@lt wrote:
Nope, never said that I agreed that it was an illegal war. It certainly wasn't illegal by any means. It was just a continuation of the first Gulf War because Saddam thumbed his nose at the UN and kicked out the weapons inspectors. It also wasn't illegal here in the US because both houses of Congress voted in favor of the invasion. We're a sovereign nation beholden to no one and can do as we please. The UN is not a government in itself and has zero power over US citizens. So all this 'Bush needs to hang for war crimes' garbage that keeps being spewed by leftists is nothing more than impotent rage on their part.
Then what is it for because if you say the Iraqi people i will literally piss myself in laughter.JohnG@lt wrote:
Oh yeah? GB made up excuses to invade sovereign nations for centuries. Ready to get off your high horse yet? At least we're not playing for keeps and building an empire.mafia996630 wrote:
We attacked sovereign nation under false pre-tenses. Not too sure about the US, but here in Great Britain that shit is wrong and illegal.JohnG@lt wrote:
Nope, never said that I agreed that it was an illegal war. It certainly wasn't illegal by any means. It was just a continuation of the first Gulf War because Saddam thumbed his nose at the UN and kicked out the weapons inspectors. It also wasn't illegal here in the US because both houses of Congress voted in favor of the invasion. We're a sovereign nation beholden to no one and can do as we please. The UN is not a government in itself and has zero power over US citizens. So all this 'Bush needs to hang for war crimes' garbage that keeps being spewed by leftists is nothing more than impotent rage on their part.
I just watched it and I have only one qualm:
Why were the Iraqis sauntering around so casually while a US attack helicopter had their sights trained on them? I find that odd.
Other than that, and given that I have no experience of warfare, the footage was very enlightening and thought provoking in the following ways:
- Modern warfare as perpetrated by modern westernised nations against undeveloped nations is, in the context of the match-up, quite cowardly. They are obviously more powerful and it would be illogical to suggest they should fight them 'at their level', but I never realised how much of a mismatch and how unfair/cowardly it is (certainly in terms of non-infantry warfare - the helicopter can just rattle off at anyone and tear them to shreds). You kind of wonder (civilians aside) why the modern western nations complain so grievously about IEDs and suicide bombings - pretty much the solitary means of getting at the enemy given the imbalance between the sides. Western troops rolling around under inches of protective armour or flying around picking off whomsoever they deem to be a combatant in dusty backward nations they have no right or reason to be in, where they aren't popularly wanted and never were, thousands of miles from home, doesn't exactly hark back to the Omaha beach landing in terms of bravery, moral courage, justice and righteousness. If this were Afghanistan I might have a different opinion on the righteousness front but not in Iraq. And as for the 'Yay! We killed em.' attitude some showed and the tone of apathy/self-justification in comments about 'they shouldn't bring kids into battle', well I'd say those soldiers need a good dose of remorse (which they probably in hindsight expressed but whatever). I would imagine battle would obviously be quite stressful no matter how much armour you have between you and the enemy and that things you do in the heat of the battle you will live with for the rest of your life. I'm not calling individual soldiers cowards, anyone who puts their life at any level of risk is not a coward. The means of warfare is cowardly however. One side can easily raze an entire area of land at the hint of the presence of so much as one combatant, sitting well outside of the range of their enemy or with an almost impenetrable wall of armour between them and the enemy. To get a few combatants it seems the west are content to take down a few scores of whoever is standing in the vicinity if it means the paintwork on their Apache doesn't get scratched. I can imagine this comment will be treated with disdain and contempt, but like I say I've never been in combat and don't know what it's like - I'm just calling it as I see it in that movie.
Why were the Iraqis sauntering around so casually while a US attack helicopter had their sights trained on them? I find that odd.
Other than that, and given that I have no experience of warfare, the footage was very enlightening and thought provoking in the following ways:
- Modern warfare as perpetrated by modern westernised nations against undeveloped nations is, in the context of the match-up, quite cowardly. They are obviously more powerful and it would be illogical to suggest they should fight them 'at their level', but I never realised how much of a mismatch and how unfair/cowardly it is (certainly in terms of non-infantry warfare - the helicopter can just rattle off at anyone and tear them to shreds). You kind of wonder (civilians aside) why the modern western nations complain so grievously about IEDs and suicide bombings - pretty much the solitary means of getting at the enemy given the imbalance between the sides. Western troops rolling around under inches of protective armour or flying around picking off whomsoever they deem to be a combatant in dusty backward nations they have no right or reason to be in, where they aren't popularly wanted and never were, thousands of miles from home, doesn't exactly hark back to the Omaha beach landing in terms of bravery, moral courage, justice and righteousness. If this were Afghanistan I might have a different opinion on the righteousness front but not in Iraq. And as for the 'Yay! We killed em.' attitude some showed and the tone of apathy/self-justification in comments about 'they shouldn't bring kids into battle', well I'd say those soldiers need a good dose of remorse (which they probably in hindsight expressed but whatever). I would imagine battle would obviously be quite stressful no matter how much armour you have between you and the enemy and that things you do in the heat of the battle you will live with for the rest of your life. I'm not calling individual soldiers cowards, anyone who puts their life at any level of risk is not a coward. The means of warfare is cowardly however. One side can easily raze an entire area of land at the hint of the presence of so much as one combatant, sitting well outside of the range of their enemy or with an almost impenetrable wall of armour between them and the enemy. To get a few combatants it seems the west are content to take down a few scores of whoever is standing in the vicinity if it means the paintwork on their Apache doesn't get scratched. I can imagine this comment will be treated with disdain and contempt, but like I say I've never been in combat and don't know what it's like - I'm just calling it as I see it in that movie.
Last edited by CameronPoe (2010-04-06 11:37:47)
Expectations based on what? How you feel people and governments should behave? How your professors feel they should behave? What is your basis for complaint? Any loss of human life is a tragedy? Ok, then where does torture fall in with that? They're still alive aren't they? Sure, their quality of life may have degraded but perhaps they've now learned not to take up arms.mafia996630 wrote:
High horse ?Dude, its simple expectations. Just like the whole controversy around torturing.
Is it better to die with a bullet in the head on the battlefield or is it better to surrender, suffer through mild torture and then go on about your life? One is final. The other is not.
"Ah, you miserable creatures! You who think that you are so great! You who judge humanity to be so small! You who wish to reform everything! Why don't you reform yourselves? That task would be sufficient enough."
-Frederick Bastiat
-Frederick Bastiat
Cowardly? I call it compassionate. The US could easily exterminate these people. The fact that we haven't speaks volumes.CameronPoe wrote:
I just watched it and I have only one qualm:
Why were the Iraqis sauntering around so casually while a US attack helicopter had their sights trained on them? I find that odd.
Other than that, and given that I have no experience of warfare, the footage was very enlightening and thought provoking in the following ways:
- Modern warfare as perpetrated by modern westernised nations against undeveloped nations is, in the context of the match-up, quite cowardly. They are obviously more powerful and it would be illogical to suggest they should fight them 'at their level', but I never realised how much of a mismatch and how unfair/cowardly it is (certainly in terms of non-infantry warfare - the helicopter can just rattle off at anyone and tear them to shreds). You kind of wonder (civilians aside) why the modern western nations complain so grievously about IEDs and suicide bombings - pretty much the solitary means of getting at the enemy given the imbalance between the sides. Western troops rolling around under inches of protective armour or flying around picking off whomsoever they deem to be a combatant in dusty backward nations they have no right or reason to be in, where they aren't popularly wanted and never were, thousands of miles from home, doesn't exactly hark back to the Omaha beach landing in terms of bravery, moral courage, justice and righteousness. If this were Afghanistan I might have a different opinion on the righteousness front but not in Iraq. And as for the 'Yay! We killed em.' attitude some showed and the tone of apathy/self-justification in comments about 'they shouldn't bring kids into battle', well I'd say those soldiers need a good dose of remorse (which they probably in hindsight expressed but whatever). I would imagine battle would obviously be quite stressful no matter how much armour you have between you and the enemy and that things you do in the heat of the battle you will live with for the rest of your life. I'm not calling individual soldiers cowards, anyone who puts their life at any level of risk is not a coward. The means of warfare is cowardly however. One side can easily raze an entire area of land at the hint of the presence of so much as one combatant, sitting well outside of the range of their enemy or with an almost impenetrable wall of armour between them and the enemy. To get a few combatants it seems the west are content to take down a few scores of whoever is standing in the vicinity if it means the paintwork on their apache might get scratched. I can imagine this comment will be treated with disdain and contempt, but like I say I've never been in combat and don't know what it's like - I'm just calling it as I see it in that movie.
*edit: I highly doubt these particular enemies would hesitate to nuke the US if given the means or opportunity.
Last edited by DBBrinson1 (2010-04-06 11:39:33)
I stood in line for four hours. They better give me a Wal-Mart gift card, or something. - Rodney Booker, Job Fair attendee.
No it's not illegal. UN Reso 1441 WITH A UNANIMOUS (EVEN FROM SYRIA) 15-0 vote in the security council pushed Iraq to allow weapons inspectors into the country or "We will fuck shit up" with I'll admit, vague legal language. So technically, the UN did approve of the Iraq war and it worked under the Kellogg-Briand Pact.mafia996630 wrote:
We attacked sovereign nation under false pre-tenses. Not too sure about the US, but here in Great Britain that shit is wrong and illegal.JohnG@lt wrote:
Nope, never said that I agreed that it was an illegal war. It certainly wasn't illegal by any means. It was just a continuation of the first Gulf War because Saddam thumbed his nose at the UN and kicked out the weapons inspectors. It also wasn't illegal here in the US because both houses of Congress voted in favor of the invasion. We're a sovereign nation beholden to no one and can do as we please. The UN is not a government in itself and has zero power over US citizens. So all this 'Bush needs to hang for war crimes' garbage that keeps being spewed by leftists is nothing more than impotent rage on their part.mafia996630 wrote:
SO you agree that it was an illegal war ? so you agree it was something to do with Oil ? So if a civil war does break out then it was all for nothing?
Hatred and idealism? not at all.
galt i love it how you ALWAYS bring up the 'oh yeah well you/they have done as bad/worse shit so I don't care' card. It's such a non sequitur it's embarassing.JohnG@lt wrote:
Oh yeah? GB made up excuses to invade sovereign nations for centuries. Ready to get off your high horse yet? At least we're not playing for keeps and building an empire.
As for not building an empire....lol.
Why would you exterminate them? What have they done to deserve it?DBBrinson1 wrote:
Cowardly? I call it compassionate. The US could easily exterminate these people. The fact that we haven't speaks volumes.
Attack helicopters are equipped with long range camera gear. They can see and shoot at targets while appearing as only a spec on the horizon to them. They don't hover directly over the target.CameronPoe wrote:
I just watched it and I have only one qualm:
Why were the Iraqis sauntering around so casually while a US attack helicopter had their sights trained on them? I find that odd.
Other than that, and given that I have no experience of warfare, the footage was very enlightening and thought provoking in the following ways:
"Ah, you miserable creatures! You who think that you are so great! You who judge humanity to be so small! You who wish to reform everything! Why don't you reform yourselves? That task would be sufficient enough."
-Frederick Bastiat
-Frederick Bastiat
errr..did you watch the video of the US exterminating some people?DBBrinson1 wrote:
Cowardly? I call it compassionate. The US could easily exterminate these people. The fact that we haven't speaks volumes.
It doesn't speak volumes if you don't nuke a country, it just means you're not total dickheads.
Shrug, no one gives a rats ass what you have to say on any subject so you being embarrassed for me when I bring up the British Empire has no bearing on either me or my arguments. You're like a gnat buzzing around that just won't go away or die. Please do either.ruisleipa wrote:
galt i love it how you ALWAYS bring up the 'oh yeah well you/they have done as bad/worse shit so I don't care' card. It's such a non sequitur it's embarassing.JohnG@lt wrote:
Oh yeah? GB made up excuses to invade sovereign nations for centuries. Ready to get off your high horse yet? At least we're not playing for keeps and building an empire.
As for not building an empire....lol.
"Ah, you miserable creatures! You who think that you are so great! You who judge humanity to be so small! You who wish to reform everything! Why don't you reform yourselves? That task would be sufficient enough."
-Frederick Bastiat
-Frederick Bastiat
For crying out loud...ruisleipa wrote:
errr..did you watch the video of the US exterminating some people?DBBrinson1 wrote:
Cowardly? I call it compassionate. The US could easily exterminate these people. The fact that we haven't speaks volumes.
We haven't. We recognize that genocide isn't the answer. Our foes haven't. That is what makes us compassionate... But Cam, after watching this video -do you find that the pilots acted irresponsible?CameronPoe wrote:
Why would you exterminate them? What have they done to deserve it?DBBrinson1 wrote:
Cowardly? I call it compassionate. The US could easily exterminate these people. The fact that we haven't speaks volumes.
I stood in line for four hours. They better give me a Wal-Mart gift card, or something. - Rodney Booker, Job Fair attendee.
It's not fair, but then life isn't fair. To do anything but roll over in the face of a vastly technologically superior enemy and then claim the enemy is a coward for using the weapons at their disposal is pretty ridiculous. Bringing a knife to a gun fight and then calling the guy a coward for using the gun is stupid.
Which is surely unreachable or nearly unreachable in terms of the RPG the crew expressed concern about?JohnG@lt wrote:
Attack helicopters are equipped with long range camera gear. They can see and shoot at targets while appearing as only a spec on the horizon to them. They don't hover directly over the target.
So how do you know that they all were civilians? Cause the video said so?ruisleipa wrote:
errr..did you watch the video of the US exterminating some people?DBBrinson1 wrote:
Cowardly? I call it compassionate. The US could easily exterminate these people. The fact that we haven't speaks volumes.
It doesn't speak volumes if you don't nuke a country, it just means you're not total dickheads.
I stood in line for four hours. They better give me a Wal-Mart gift card, or something. - Rodney Booker, Job Fair attendee.
Life is not fair. Correct. It doesn't make the school bully who beats the cripple for his lunch money any less of a coward. You are basically saying 'might conquers all and you can't do anything about it so fuck off and roll over for me'.Flaming_Maniac wrote:
It's not fair, but then life isn't fair. To do anything but roll over in the face of a vastly technologically superior enemy and then claim the enemy is a coward for using the weapons at their disposal is pretty ridiculous. Bringing a knife to a gun fight and then calling the guy a coward for using the gun is stupid.
Last edited by CameronPoe (2010-04-06 11:45:08)
what arguments? you HAVE no arguments, as your bringing up the BE proves.JohnG@lt wrote:
Shrug, no one gives a rats ass what you have to say on any subject so you being embarrassed for me when I bring up the British Empire has no bearing on either me or my arguments.
Again, the Apache was clearing the way for an armored convoy, which the RPG would have most certainly presented a threat to.CameronPoe wrote:
Which is surely unreachable or nearly unreachable in terms of the RPG the crew expressed concern about?JohnG@lt wrote:
Attack helicopters are equipped with long range camera gear. They can see and shoot at targets while appearing as only a spec on the horizon to them. They don't hover directly over the target.
Ha! I spoke with an Iraqi one day over tea at lunch and he explained to me that the country was made up of 170 or so different tribes with their own customs, accents etc. He told me they had been fighting each other for hundreds of years and he didn't see it changing in the future. He told me the only way we could fix the country would be to pack up all our gear, fly away and carpet bomb the country with nukes on our way out. He, of course, requested that he and his family be allowed on the plane with us before we nuked themDBBrinson1 wrote:
We haven't. We recognize that genocide isn't the answer. Our foes haven't. That is what makes us compassionate... But Cam, after watching this video -do you find that the pilots acted irresponsible?CameronPoe wrote:
Why would you exterminate them? What have they done to deserve it?DBBrinson1 wrote:
Cowardly? I call it compassionate. The US could easily exterminate these people. The fact that we haven't speaks volumes.
"Ah, you miserable creatures! You who think that you are so great! You who judge humanity to be so small! You who wish to reform everything! Why don't you reform yourselves? That task would be sufficient enough."
-Frederick Bastiat
-Frederick Bastiat
You really can't compare the two.CameronPoe wrote:
Life is not fair. Correct. It doesn't make the school bully who beats the cripple for his lunch money any less of a coward. You are basically saying 'might conquers all and you can't do anything about it so fuck off and roll over for me'.Flaming_Maniac wrote:
It's not fair, but then life isn't fair. To do anything but roll over in the face of a vastly technologically superior enemy and then claim the enemy is a coward for using the weapons at their disposal is pretty ridiculous. Bringing a knife to a gun fight and then calling the guy a coward for using the gun is stupid.
I stood in line for four hours. They better give me a Wal-Mart gift card, or something. - Rodney Booker, Job Fair attendee.