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thefilmchick
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Joined: 22 May 2006
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Location: Albany, NY
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 Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2007 6:30 pm Post subject: Important war news article from Sunday's paper |
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POV of American soldiers in Iraq and the current situation:
Read it. Note: It's pretty densely written, but it's still worth a read.
Selected quotes for people who don't want to read the whole thing:
| Quote: | | In short, we operate in a bewildering context of determined enemies and questionable allies, one where the balance of forces on the ground remains entirely unclear. (In the course of writing this article, this fact became all too clear: one of us, Staff Sergeant Murphy, an Army Ranger and reconnaissance team leader, was shot in the head during a “time-sensitive target acquisition mission” on Aug. 12; he is expected to survive and is being flown to a military hospital in the United States.) |
| Quote: | | Political reconciliation in Iraq will occur, but not at our insistence or in ways that meet our benchmarks. It will happen on Iraqi terms when the reality on the battlefield is congruent with that in the political sphere. There will be no magnanimous solutions that please every party the way we expect, and there will be winners and losers. The choice we have left is to decide which side we will take. Trying to please every party in the conflict — as we do now — will only ensure we are hated by all in the long run. |
| Quote: | In a lawless environment where men with guns rule the streets, engaging in the banalities of life has become a death-defying act. Four years into our occupation, we have failed on every promise, while we have substituted Baath Party tyranny with a tyranny of Islamist, militia and criminal violence. When the primary preoccupation of average Iraqis is when and how they are likely to be killed, we can hardly feel smug as we hand out care packages. As an Iraqi man told us a few days ago with deep resignation, “We need security, not free food.”
In the end, we need to recognize that our presence may have released Iraqis from the grip of a tyrant, but that it has also robbed them of their self-respect. They will soon realize that the best way to regain dignity is to call us what we are — an army of occupation — and force our withdrawal. |
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SuperKC
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Joined: 24 Feb 2005
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| Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2007 5:24 am Post subject: |
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| And we've been saying it for years. When will someone with power listen? |
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mistojen
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Joined: 12 Jun 2006
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Location: Corning, NY
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| Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2007 7:38 am Post subject: |
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As soon as Bush gets booted?  He's such an idiot. 
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thefilmchick
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Joined: 22 May 2006
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Location: Albany, NY
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| Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2007 7:56 am Post subject: |
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Even when Bush gets booted, you still have a contingency in the US that supports him. Well over a third of the US population, as of August 8th (too tired to find more recent statistics) thinks that the US did the right thing in invading Iraq, and a quarter of the US population thinks that things are going 'somewhat well' to 'very well' in Iraq. Yes, the negative numbers are high, but that's a larger proportion than it should be, in my book.
Plus, the people that say that are people who get out and vote much more than people who are stuck in the middle. The reactionary bases on both sides (speaking as a hard-left liberal here, and including myself in that) decide elections, not the centrists, and they will be the people voting for the next president. With warmongers' support even more reactionary than it was in the election runoff against Kerry, it may be tougher to get any sort of forward motion in Iraq under the new president than it was under the Shrub.
(Statistics culled from here.)
Furthermore, the power base around Bush hasn't listened since the '60s, if not earlier. Watch Rumsfeld's War - they have been slowly worming their way up to power for longer than any of us (yes, even Aislynn  ) have been alive, and now that they have it, they've done a pretty incalculable amount of damage in the United States alone, to say nothing of Iraq.
Disclaimer: I am against the Iraq War. I ran a chapter of Amnesty International in college, which works to combat human rights abuses, torture, and cruel/degrading treatment of political prisoners. I am by no means an unbiased party.
(Yes, it's late, so I'm philosophical/political. Sorry!)
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I saw a werewolf drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic's. His hair was perfect.
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thefilmchick
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Joined: 22 May 2006
Posts: 4030
Location: Albany, NY
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| Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2007 3:33 am Post subject: |
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OK. Now I am actually angry, again. (Warning: Long post, very political, and only my opinion. Feel free to disagree. Disagreement is healthy, and civil discourse rocks my world. I have people disagreeing with me on many, many issues day-to-day in law school, and am still friends with them. In fact, my closest friends at the school are two conservatives and a moderate, and I am hard-left liberal, leaning pretty far towards socialism. I respect people and their beliefs, so long as they're honest and intelligently articulated, even if I disagree with them.)
Just saw a political commercial, paid for by 'Freedom's Watch' (their website, and you have to love the incredibly patriotic title graphic), about calling your congressman or senator to urge them not to pull the troops out of Iraq.
Fairly typical commercial, where they phrase the pullout in terms of 'surrender,' rant about 'terrorists,' blahblahblah, and have testimonials from people who knew soldiers that died (and so do I, for the record - two of the people I knew from high school have died in Iraq.)
The last statement, however, blew my mind:
"We already had one 9/11. We don't need another."
... because the well-heeled Saudi kids that crashed planes into the Twin Towers are apparently the exact same people as the Iraqis whose country we are in at the moment.
... because this war has certainly helped our international image, particularly in the countries we have occupied.
... because this war will definitely prevent another 9/11, and has made the 'terrorists' (whomever they are, since you haven't defined them) relent towards us.
Right?
Jesus. I need a drink. Sorry for continuing to be the local politico, but how they can air that crap and not recognize what they're saying blows my mind. Their website says that their mission is to "give hope." Instead, their commercial instills only more hatred and fear. Nice going, guys. From their website:
| Quote: | | Has America forgotten that there are terrorists around the world who wish to bring harm to our nation and its citizens? Have some forgotten the scars left on our nation by the events that took place 6 years ago? |
No. I think of the guys that died from my dad's law firm, the boyfriend of a girl I was close friends at college with, and the dad of my college hall-mate quite frequently. However, I don't live in fear every day.
| Quote: | | Have some forgotten the reason our troops are abroad, fighting to preserve the freedoms we enjoy? |
Begging the question, logical fallacy. Furthermore, I didn't know there was just one reason the troops were abroad. I thought that any war was a multitude of reasons. I can think of many reasons for the current war, some good, some bad.
| Quote: | | It would appear that they have. |
How do you know? Who are you to say what people remember and don't remember, or to validate or invalidate our feelings? Oh, that's right. You're a nonprofit "organization" that hasn't even filed appropriate paperwork with the IRS, according to your legal disclaimer. There's a few legal words for that, you know. Most of them aren't complimentary.
| Quote: | | Even now, some are trying to put a stop to the war on terror, when the threat to our nation is still very real. |
Again, I don't live in fear. It's a shame that you people do. Furthermore, stopping the war in Iraq is not necessarily stopping the war on terror (there are multiple battlefields and theaters at the moment), and there is nothing saying that stopping it (or not stopping it) will make "terror" decrease or increase. Terrorism according to the Bush administration is such a nebulous concept that they can make it bigger or smaller as they wish. Provide some defined objectives, goals, and statistics.
| Quote: | | Our military and their families have made great sacrifices, |
True. Nobody is arguing this. Why do you people keep on insisting that it's an argument?
| Quote: | | and they've made significant military progress. |
Prove this.
| Quote: | | We must complete our mission and successfully stabilize Iraq so the Iraqis can safely run their own affairs. |
And who is to say that our continued presence will help them stabilize anything? Who is to say that our mission includes staying there for multiple more years? Who is to say that our mission, whatever the hell that is (and nice job not articulating it), has not already been achieved? Certainly, you people at Freedom Watch don't know, because you don't provide us with any details - just fearmongering and cheap scare tactics.
| Quote: | | We must not quit now and hand a victory to those who seek to strike the American homeland. This cannot be allowed to happen. |
Define 'victory.' I would say ruining countries and decimating their populations isn't exactly a victory for the people in those countries. Furthermore, when have the Iraqis ever 'struck the American homeland'? And who are you to know what they seek to do? Maybe it's just me, but I would think staying alive, and having basic needs, and having self-respect, would be higher goals than getting back at the United States.
| Quote: | | Don’t miss out on your chance to fight for the ideals and values that keep America strong and prosperous. |
Like respecting other countries, respecting the world as a whole, and being a democratic, fair, and just nation whose actions reflect that. Right? I sure hope so.
In conclusion: This commercial made me very angry. These are, once more, just my politics, and I do not propose to speak for anyone else. My apologies to anyone who read this far, but it made me sad and mad, and I had to comment.
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I saw a werewolf drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic's. His hair was perfect.
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SuperKC
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Joined: 24 Feb 2005
Posts: 3667
Location: On a Stick
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| Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2007 2:29 pm Post subject: |
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Dude. From my brain to your lips. Hahaha.
ITA with every word you've said here. |
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thefilmchick
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Joined: 22 May 2006
Posts: 4030
Location: Albany, NY
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| Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2007 6:11 pm Post subject: |
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Heh. Sorry for ranting. It just angers me whenever anyone, left or right, uses 9/11 for their politics.
Tragedy should not be a political issue. I am so tired of people using it as a justification for anything.
And their supposed 'mission statement' on their website was so laughably awful that I had to comment. I love how vague, self-contradictory, jingoistic, and presumptive it is. Only their mission is the proper one. Only their values are the proper one. Only they have the right to decide what happens with the war.
I didn't break out the booze and get drunk last night, but I came very close, and I don't like drinking to get drunk. 
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I saw a werewolf drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic's. His hair was perfect.
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thefilmchick
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Joined: 22 May 2006
Posts: 4030
Location: Albany, NY
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| Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 10:05 pm Post subject: |
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If anyone in the US is interested, I just received this action alert about Iraqi refugees in the E-mail today. Should anyone want to take action, here you go.
(If any non-Americans here are also interested, I will see if I can find global information.)
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I saw a werewolf drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic's. His hair was perfect.
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wrazz
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