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2012-01-13 15:37:23
Jay
Bork! Bork! Bork!
+2,006|5609|London, England
No, the only reason they'll be punished is because the military probably spends as much on public relations as it spends on new equipment. Anything that could potentially embarrass the military and therefor endanger their outsized budget is crushed as quickly as possible. It's why when one of these stories emerges, it goes viral. It's not that shit like this doesn't happen, they're just experts in covering stuff up, or spinning it. The Pentagon doesn't want their troops portrayed as mostly ghetto or white trash hired killers that get off on a bit of sadism when they can get away with it. No, they're freedom fighters willing to lay down their life for God and Country while extending the olive branch of peace and democracy to the rest of the world.
"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
2012-01-13 15:38:01
Turquoise
O Canada
+1,596|6656|North Carolina

Dilbert_X wrote:

Jay wrote:

English majors the world over revel in the story of the fallen Hector being dragged around the city of Troy by his victor, Achilles. They read stories and plays where the vanquished was dismembered. Yet a little salty water sprayed on the dead body is an atrocity. It's amazing how much the human race has changed over the centuries.
They didn't have a Geneva convention or US uniform code etc back then, so your argument is irrelevant.
They broke their own rules, which is why they'll be punished, and it raises the question of what other rules do they think its 'epic lulz' to break?
I think the growing significance of asymmetrical war suggests that we either need to revise the rules again or just scrap them.
2012-01-13 15:42:16
Dilbert_X
The X stands for
+1,815|6357|eXtreme to the maX

Turquoise wrote:

I think the growing significance of asymmetrical war suggests that we either need to revise the rules again or just scrap them.
Because allowing troops to desecrate corpses would really help?

What 'rules' are standing in the way of 'winning' in Afghanistan?
Russians didn't have any, they didn't win.

Jay wrote:

No, the only reason they'll be punished is because the military probably spends as much on public relations as it spends on new equipment. Anything that could potentially embarrass the military and therefor endanger their outsized budget is crushed as quickly as possible.
In a 'hearts and minds' campaign I would have thought PR was important.
Fuck Israel
2012-01-13 15:49:41
Turquoise
O Canada
+1,596|6656|North Carolina

Dilbert_X wrote:

Turquoise wrote:

I think the growing significance of asymmetrical war suggests that we either need to revise the rules again or just scrap them.
Because allowing troops to desecrate corpses would really help?

What 'rules' are standing in the way of 'winning' in Afghanistan?
Russians didn't have any, they didn't win.
The Russians didn't win because we were arming the mujahideen, and Afghanistan just wasn't that important to them.

The only reason Afghanistan is the "graveyard of empires" is because, whenever people invade the area, they realize a little too late that they're literally dying for one of the shittiest places on earth.

The real losers in any conflict there are the ones who are stuck living there.

It's a lot like Vietnam in that respect.  One is a desert hellhole, while the other is a jungle one.

It's not about the corpse thing.  What I was referring to was how conventional forces have to abide by rules that insurgencies don't.

The rules aren't very realistic when considering that insurgencies don't really give a damn about international treaties.
2012-01-13 15:51:55
Macbeth
Banned
+2,444|5836

Turquoise wrote:

The only reason Afghanistan is the "graveyard of empires" is because, whenever people invade the area, they realize a little too late that they're literally dying for one of the shittiest places on earth.
Afghanistan isn't the grave yard of empires. That is the most Eurocentric crap out there.
2012-01-13 15:54:54
Turquoise
O Canada
+1,596|6656|North Carolina

Macbeth wrote:

Turquoise wrote:

The only reason Afghanistan is the "graveyard of empires" is because, whenever people invade the area, they realize a little too late that they're literally dying for one of the shittiest places on earth.
Afghanistan isn't the grave yard of empires. That is the most Eurocentric crap out there.
Don't blame me.  I didn't coin the phrase.
2012-01-13 16:00:05
Macbeth
Banned
+2,444|5836

Babur's campaign into India was launched from Afghanistan and Pakistan. Ghanzi empire was based out of Afghanistan. Ghorid's held it down. Various Persians empires controlled it. Muslim Empires managed to hold it. Turkish Empire. Mongols. Timurid. and a bunch others that I can't recall off the top of my head.

The USSR collapsed because of their economic situation. Alexander the Great caught Malaria on the way home from India. The British Empire was already in terminal decline.

It's one of those phrases that seem clever and witty but once you look into you realize it's nonsense.
2012-01-13 16:55:54
Dilbert_X
The X stands for
+1,815|6357|eXtreme to the maX

Turquoise wrote:

It's not about the corpse thing.  What I was referring to was how conventional forces have to abide by rules that insurgencies don't.

The rules aren't very realistic when considering that insurgencies don't really give a damn about international treaties.
Again, which specific rules are standing in the way of 'winning'?
We're killing anyone we like, what else needs to be done?
Fuck Israel
2012-01-13 17:06:40
eleven bravo
Member
+1,399|5510|foggy bottom

Macbeth wrote:

Afghanistan isn't the grave yard of empires. That is the most Eurocentric crap out there.
it really is bullshit.  afhanistan has been one of the most conquered pieces of land in human civilization

Last edited by eleven bravo (2012-01-13 17:10:58)

Tu Stultus Es
2012-01-13 20:46:39
FEOS
Bellicose Yankee Air Pirate
+1,182|6662|'Murka

Euros are just mad because they are used to paying extra to get peed on.
“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
― Albert Einstein
Doing the popular thing is not always right. Doing the right thing is not always popular

 

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