It's the difference between saying "I disagree with you" and saying "You support the enemy" plus "You clearly hate America."
Those elements are not necessarily inherently tied to the anti-war stance. However, they are not eliminated as possibilities, as well. One only needs to examine the contexts of the posts to ascertain if either, both, or neither are true about the person.
Quote:
No. Berg's death is a great tragedy. No one deserves to die in such a horrible manner. Berg most certainly did not ask for this to happen to him. Berg did willingly enter a war-zone, however, and it's more than a bit disingenuous to argue as if he were unaware of this fact.
So you would bemoan the deaths of innocent Iraqis caught in crossfire over and over, yet when an innocent American gets entangled into same, he should have known better (hence the natives are absolved from guilt in participating in the act)?
Quote:
I don't know what bizarro world you live in, but I don't know ANYONE who thinks that AQ is "blameless"--even for things that they were unconnected with. Indeed, for the past decade, AQ has been public enemy number one.
It's not a bizzare world at all. You can actually read of people who speak of absolving AQ of this and that in varied degrees, and quickly pointing to all the atrocity done by the US to divert the ensuing discussion. If you are not aware that these posts exist (or even aware of its presence in your own posts to a particular degree ), that really begs the issue of blinders.
Quote:
No. When our soldiers, who our tax dollars have trained, and who wear the American flag on their uniforms, and who, in those uniforms, are de facto representatives of the US, beat people to death, rape them, sic dogs on them, force them to simulate homosexual sex acts, parade them around naked in front of women, force them to masturbate in front of women, and are IDIOTIC ENOUGH TO PHOTOGRAPH AND VIDEOTAPE IT like some teenagers our videotaping a crime spree, we hold them accountable.
Yes, too bad the enemy doesn't do the same for their own members. You also do our soldiers a disservice by implying that the acts of a few are representative of the whole. It is also naive to expect that beatings, rapes, deaths, and the like do not occur in prisons. Ideally, we should get this situation cleaned up, but it is a prison, not a hospital ward, and the inmates aren't exactly "tourists".
Quote:
Paranoia and hyperbole are no substitute for argument.
It does emphasize a point. If you missed the argument, you should go back and read more carefully.
Quote:
Your implication here is that if AQ had its own country and military, it would still use unconventional paramilitary tactics to bring about political change. Is this the case? Seriously. Is this what you're arguing?
You read too much into it. All I was saying is that they will seize opportunities to terrorize and develop a control base wherever/whenever they come. They are not watching event for event and deciding, "we got to get them back for this." They'll label it as such, when something comes up, but if nothing comes up, it's not like they go on layoff.
Quote:
I don't understand this sentence. Could you explain what you mean? I'm sincere about this.
As opposed to? I'm really not sure where you're headed here.
No elaboration required. If it has no meaning when you read it, disregard it.
Quote:
I don't understand this. Are you suggesting that we should abandon the "standards" (by which I assume you mean moral/ethical standards) we held when we entered the war? Are you suggesting that we should feel free to torture and behead and mutilate and rape prisoners?
This is a problem (on your part). I just got done saying we should maintain the standards we had when we came into this. Your claiming that I've said the complete opposite amounts to no more than putting words in my mouth. Do not proceed.
Quote:
OK. Sure. You're the one going around and saying that everyone who disagrees with you is a de facto member of al Qaeda.
No where have I identified anyone specifically. Therefore, the claim that I have addressed "everyone who disagrees with me" as falling into a particular category is invalid. Perhaps, you have identified that you disagree with me based on the descriptions I gave. Either you feel it applies to you or not. That can be indicative of something or nothing at all. A lot of it will come from how aggressively you reply, I suppose. Anyone is free to draw their own conclusion... I simply put something that has been hanging in the air finally into words.
The difference, 7E7, is that the prison abuse was carried out by members of the US military. Whether the administration had anything to do with it or not, we don't know yet, but they are still ultimately responsible for the actions of their military. It's similar to a recent law that can put a CEO of a food company in jail if that company distributes food that causes people to die. Even if the CEO didn't know about the infractions, he is still ultimately responsible for his company's actions. "The buck stops here," as President Truman once said. At least Bush or Rumsfeld should apologize for the actions of the military. Not just "regret" them, or "express disgust" towards them.
With the Nick Berg incident, we actually don't know who did it, although it certainly seems like Al Qaeda could have.
Well, then why do I read editorials written by liberals calling for Rumsfeld's resignation and thereby laying this mess entirely at the President's feet? The President has clearly and very sincerely expressed his disgust and outrage at what happened. Oh, I guess it is okay for a liberal to assign blame but it is wrong that Al Qaeda be blamed for this act even though it fits their MO like a tailor made suit? There has been no evidence of any cover-up in this prison abuse scandal. If anything I see actions that indicate that our response to these atrocities has been entirely appropriate. Public apologies have been expressed and investigations are being conducted and have been for quite some time. We will discipline our own. I cannot say the same for Al Qaeda. There will be no investigations - only promises of a better after-life to those who perpetrated this horrible crime.
And if the whistle blower hadnt have come forward, when would we have heard about what was going on? Thuis stuff was going on for ONE YEAR before the 60 Minutes show....and not a peep from any government official.
Off topic, but you're not quite right on a couple of points here at least. Saddam was initially popular because he electrified almost all of Iraq, and there is still no regular supply even in Baghdad, a source of great discontent. The oil isn't 'flowing again' and the money it makes when it will is going to go towards rebuilding costs before a single Iraqi will benefit.
The reports I saw said that much of Iraq did NOT have electricity and this was done at the expense of the major cities like Baghdad. This may not have always been the case but may have happened since the economic sanctions have been in place. If this is not the case I stand corrected.
Are you saying no progress has been made? Oil is flowing again and things would be doing even better if terrorists were not blowing up the refineries and pipelines over there. Are we the blame for everything over there. I never realized how great the Iraqis had it before we showed up...
The difference, 7E7, is that the prison abuse was carried out by members of the US military. Whether the administration had anything to do with it or not, we don't know yet, but they are still ultimately responsible for the actions of their military. It's similar to a recent law that can put a CEO of a food company in jail if that company distributes food that causes people to die. Even if the CEO didn't know about the infractions, he is still ultimately responsible for his company's actions. "The buck stops here," as President Truman once said. At least Bush or Rumsfeld should apologize for the actions of the military. Not just "regret" them, or "express disgust" towards them.
With the Nick Berg incident, we actually don't know who did it, although it certainly seems like Al Qaeda could have.
They already did apologize. Were you paying attention?
The reports I saw said that much of Iraq did NOT have electricity and this was done at the expense of the major cities like Baghdad.
Huh?
Quote:
Are you saying no progress has been made? Oil is flowing again and things would be doing even better if terrorists were not blowing up the refineries and pipelines over there.
Heh. Are you really sure you want to argue that we'd be making better progress against the terrorists if it weren't for the terrorists?
Quote:
Are we the blame for everything over there.
Welcome to what happens when you invade another country.
Quote:
I never realized how great the Iraqis had it before we showed up
Indeed. Seems like old times, doesn't it? The Baath party is coming back and the prisons are being used for torture, rape, and murders!
I never realized how great the Iraqis had it before we showed up...
If you're referring to before the US supported the tyrant Saddam as a secular bulwark against the facless islamic hordes of Iran, then yes, they did have it pretty good with a modern, prosperous, secular society that shamed their neighbours (Saudi, Kuwait) who excelled in inequality and middle-ages style religion.
If you mean after bombing the country and then letting it rot under ineffective and cruel UN sanctions for 12 years then no, not so good.
First of all when i hear "with us, or against us" it makes me sick.
Secondly, when i read such replies as "let's get them all", "It's AQ, grab your pitchforks".. this is so unbelievably naive..
As you very well realize, things are not black and white.
Whoever these people are, they are sick bastards, and deserve the worst.
The terrorists, and by that i mean people who blow up innocent civilians, murderers, people who have no respect for live of others, schould be punished, including death sentences.
What US is doing now is not that much different, sure they don't chop people heads off (right...? ), but human lives have no value to many of these soldiers, as well as to people above them in the chain of command.
Don't tell me people "here" support chopping of heads, or raping people in prisons...
Why when one opposes us invasion it automatically means one supports "the terrorists" ???
US created bigger mess than it was there before, moreover it will continue for years on. Does that mean i'm a supporter of AQ to you?
Quite the contrary, if these people will ever be found and prosecuted, they deserve to be shot. Just as much as commanders giving orders to chopper pilots to kill unidentified "targets" on the ground, and "finish off" wounded. These animals should face the court, and if found guilty get the bullet.
I don't think in any way shape or form that it has to do with being mature enough to have political discussions. That is some very weird macho BS.
I should have been more specific and said "war" threads, not political threads. But no macho involved. If you can't handle a video like that then you really shouldn't be involved in discussions supporting a war. That's just my two cents.
I don't think we can draw too strong parallels between this and the Pearl situation. When Pearl was killed he was working on stories involving ISI connections to Bin Laden. The reasons he was killed most likely had to do with him being "over-intrusive" and "over-involved," as Musharraf himself put it. It was far less a political statement than a strategic killing.
OTOH, Berg's story is clearly quite different. However, it seems it isn't totally simple.
Quote:
Berg first went to Iraq in late December and left in early February. He returned on March 14 but was unable to find work and was preparing to return home at the end of that month. He stayed in constant contact with his parents back home, but on March 24 that contact ended.
Within days, the FBI showed up at the family home in Pennsylvania and told the Bergs their son had been picked up by Iraqi police in Mosul and transferred to U.S. authority. That was all the information the family received.
Frustrated, the Bergs went to federal court in early April and sued Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and the Defense Department for holding their son without merit. The next day, April 6, Berg was released, and the suit was declared moot shortly afterward.
He told his parents he would try to get out of Iraq as quickly as possible. But after April 9, his family never heard from him again.
Perhaps the method was inspired by the Pearl killing. But as far as motive and the people behind it, there is little chance of a connection to Pearl's case.
1) I refuse to watch the video; thanks to all who watched, regretted it and then passed on a warning. I almost did watch it but there's no way in hell I will do so now. Serves no purpose other than to give the be-headers (whoever they were) what they want: viewers. I won't do it.
They can stick their cause (whatever it is) right up their ass.
2) While the entertainment and news media are guilty of frequently showing the most disgusting / disturbing footage possible (whether war related or what's happening in your own state) -- almost always in an effort to get ratings -- you can't overlook the fact that we see a lot more of these types of events during wartime than we used to.
During World War II, especially in the Pacific theatre, the Japanese were known to do things equally or more disgusting than all of the things we've been talking about, to scores of their prisoners and/or civilians from "the other side". Torture, rape (or forced prostitution) and beheadings were common.
For that matter, nobody ever saw the skin melting off Japanese bomb victims on the evening news either. Nobody saw that until much later. Societal norms were different back then; people (in any country) were not comfortable with such things being aired to their families, even if they wanted to read about it elsewhere in some cases.
The coverage was always about "the front" and who was advancing where and which generals / admirals were doing what, and who was entertaining the boys on the USO tour. Was probably something analagous in other countries as they reported on their own soldiers.
So my point here is not that these things happening in Iraq aren't an attrocity. They are as inhuman and perverse as you can get. But the plain fact is, historically speaking such things are common in war. We just don't see all of them all on TV or in the paper; many go unreported and eventually forgotten.
3) Which brings me to my next point: we seem to have forgotten that war itself is an attrocity. That is not to say that war is never warranted (the specifics of Iraq set aside for a moment), but that really, when you think about it... why is it less of a tragedy or attrocity when a civilian bystander gets his intestines strewn onto the street by a mortar, than it is for a civilian contractor to get be-headed?
Is it not an attrocity when a combatant gets his head blown off by a couple machine gun rounds, just because he's got a gun in his hand too? Is not horrific when soldiers sitting in a shelter somewhere get impaled by hundreds of shards of flying glass when a bomb drops on a nearby building? Less disturbing when a Captain gets his leg blown off by a land mine, because he's got double-bars on his shoulder? Does it matter what uniform you're wearing?
Thousands of disgusting and horrific things like this happen in every war, by definition. War is the systematic slaughtering of human beings, whether the reason is relatively just or not.
Don't try to logically separate the acts from the conflict. Whether sanctioned by recognizeable governing bodies or not, these kinds of things happen in every war. Israeli-Palestinian wars included (rockets, human bombs, bulldozers, etc). It would behoove us all never to forget it so the next time one is upon us, we have a full grasp of "what happens next".
Dilby.com has some (perhaps questionable) info that more extreme photos are going to be forthcoming which the Pentagon wants to stop but have been 'leaked' - but by who ? And what is their agenda ?
I saw some speculation somewhere that the photos were leaked to Hersh by Gary Myers, an attorney involved in the case and was also involved in the My Lai prosecutions.
Brilliant post - basically things are the same on the ground as they always were. The difference is that it's just a propaganda war now too and we are all on the front line - whether watching the news or posting on these boards.
Which kinds of begs a question I have been pondering - the actual mechanisms behind the release of these photos rather than the content itself.
I mean I am assuming the Pentagon would want to keep a lid on them rather than publish and would assume they have the power to do so. So how did they get released ? From some third party ? Or from the Pentagon itself ?
I was wondering why Rumsfeld said that 'people should prepare for the release of worse pictures' or something similar - where are they being released from ? And why ?
Dilby.com has some (perhaps questionable) info that more extreme photos are going to be forthcoming which the Pentagon wants to stop but have been 'leaked' - but by who ? And what is their agenda ?
I really don't know the answer to this but it seems to me more than just a scandal that has come to light now - especially as it seems it has been known about for some considerable time by the administration. Certainly Ordinary Iraqis have long known about the abuse at Abu Ghraib. So who is leaking this stuff now and why ?
I highly doubt that the pentigon released the pictures. Any leak would jeopardize the legal cases against those people, not to mention the PR hit.
It will turn out to be some left wing radical or some irresponsible journalist trying to get the prime time spot. I would bet on that.
I watched it last night. I regretted it.... Anyway, did anyone else notice the timestamp change between the "speech" and the beheading? And the quality of the video decrease markedly? Something wasn't quite right about the video...
I watched it last night. I regretted it.... Anyway, did anyone else notice the timestamp change between the "speech" and the beheading? And the quality of the video decrease markedly? Something wasn't quite right about the video...
Did anyone else notice it?
didn't notice.
Randycat99, AQ supporters here? be real dude
piwozniak, why are you hassling NaplesX. you should get banned for a while
The video isn't that bad. If you can't stomach it then I don't think you're experienced or mature enough to participate in political discussions here in AO.
i don't think that's fair to say. but i will say i was sort of desensitived with all the stuff you see in movie and on TV. luckily the video wasn't the greatest quality
has anyone hear seen any of those 'Faces of Death' movies? granted some of it is faked i'm sure, but when i was teenager i had nightmares after seeing one, and supposedly i didn't even the worse one!
last night i didn't have any nightmares, thank God, but i didn't sleep well, not deep at all
Comments
Originally posted by midwinter
It's the difference between saying "I disagree with you" and saying "You support the enemy" plus "You clearly hate America."
Those elements are not necessarily inherently tied to the anti-war stance. However, they are not eliminated as possibilities, as well. One only needs to examine the contexts of the posts to ascertain if either, both, or neither are true about the person.
Quote:
No. Berg's death is a great tragedy. No one deserves to die in such a horrible manner. Berg most certainly did not ask for this to happen to him. Berg did willingly enter a war-zone, however, and it's more than a bit disingenuous to argue as if he were unaware of this fact.
So you would bemoan the deaths of innocent Iraqis caught in crossfire over and over, yet when an innocent American gets entangled into same, he should have known better (hence the natives are absolved from guilt in participating in the act)?
Quote:
I don't know what bizarro world you live in, but I don't know ANYONE who thinks that AQ is "blameless"--even for things that they were unconnected with. Indeed, for the past decade, AQ has been public enemy number one.
It's not a bizzare world at all. You can actually read of people who speak of absolving AQ of this and that in varied degrees, and quickly pointing to all the atrocity done by the US to divert the ensuing discussion. If you are not aware that these posts exist (or even aware of its presence in your own posts to a particular degree ), that really begs the issue of blinders.
Quote:
No. When our soldiers, who our tax dollars have trained, and who wear the American flag on their uniforms, and who, in those uniforms, are de facto representatives of the US, beat people to death, rape them, sic dogs on them, force them to simulate homosexual sex acts, parade them around naked in front of women, force them to masturbate in front of women, and are IDIOTIC ENOUGH TO PHOTOGRAPH AND VIDEOTAPE IT like some teenagers our videotaping a crime spree, we hold them accountable.
Yes, too bad the enemy doesn't do the same for their own members. You also do our soldiers a disservice by implying that the acts of a few are representative of the whole. It is also naive to expect that beatings, rapes, deaths, and the like do not occur in prisons. Ideally, we should get this situation cleaned up, but it is a prison, not a hospital ward, and the inmates aren't exactly "tourists".
Quote:
Paranoia and hyperbole are no substitute for argument.
It does emphasize a point. If you missed the argument, you should go back and read more carefully.
Quote:
Your implication here is that if AQ had its own country and military, it would still use unconventional paramilitary tactics to bring about political change. Is this the case? Seriously. Is this what you're arguing?
You read too much into it. All I was saying is that they will seize opportunities to terrorize and develop a control base wherever/whenever they come. They are not watching event for event and deciding, "we got to get them back for this." They'll label it as such, when something comes up, but if nothing comes up, it's not like they go on layoff.
Quote:
I don't understand this sentence. Could you explain what you mean? I'm sincere about this.
As opposed to? I'm really not sure where you're headed here.
No elaboration required. If it has no meaning when you read it, disregard it.
Quote:
I don't understand this. Are you suggesting that we should abandon the "standards" (by which I assume you mean moral/ethical standards) we held when we entered the war? Are you suggesting that we should feel free to torture and behead and mutilate and rape prisoners?
This is a problem (on your part). I just got done saying we should maintain the standards we had when we came into this. Your claiming that I've said the complete opposite amounts to no more than putting words in my mouth. Do not proceed.
Quote:
OK. Sure. You're the one going around and saying that everyone who disagrees with you is a de facto member of al Qaeda.
No where have I identified anyone specifically. Therefore, the claim that I have addressed "everyone who disagrees with me" as falling into a particular category is invalid. Perhaps, you have identified that you disagree with me based on the descriptions I gave. Either you feel it applies to you or not. That can be indicative of something or nothing at all. A lot of it will come from how aggressively you reply, I suppose. Anyone is free to draw their own conclusion... I simply put something that has been hanging in the air finally into words.
With the Nick Berg incident, we actually don't know who did it, although it certainly seems like Al Qaeda could have.
Originally posted by 7E7
Well, then why do I read editorials written by liberals calling for Rumsfeld's resignation and thereby laying this mess entirely at the President's feet? The President has clearly and very sincerely expressed his disgust and outrage at what happened. Oh, I guess it is okay for a liberal to assign blame but it is wrong that Al Qaeda be blamed for this act even though it fits their MO like a tailor made suit? There has been no evidence of any cover-up in this prison abuse scandal. If anything I see actions that indicate that our response to these atrocities has been entirely appropriate. Public apologies have been expressed and investigations are being conducted and have been for quite some time. We will discipline our own. I cannot say the same for Al Qaeda. There will be no investigations - only promises of a better after-life to those who perpetrated this horrible crime.
And if the whistle blower hadnt have come forward, when would we have heard about what was going on? Thuis stuff was going on for ONE YEAR before the 60 Minutes show....and not a peep from any government official.
Originally posted by Hassan i Sabbah
Off topic, but you're not quite right on a couple of points here at least. Saddam was initially popular because he electrified almost all of Iraq, and there is still no regular supply even in Baghdad, a source of great discontent. The oil isn't 'flowing again' and the money it makes when it will is going to go towards rebuilding costs before a single Iraqi will benefit.
The reports I saw said that much of Iraq did NOT have electricity and this was done at the expense of the major cities like Baghdad. This may not have always been the case but may have happened since the economic sanctions have been in place. If this is not the case I stand corrected.
Are you saying no progress has been made? Oil is flowing again and things would be doing even better if terrorists were not blowing up the refineries and pipelines over there. Are we the blame for everything over there. I never realized how great the Iraqis had it before we showed up...
Originally posted by Luca
The difference, 7E7, is that the prison abuse was carried out by members of the US military. Whether the administration had anything to do with it or not, we don't know yet, but they are still ultimately responsible for the actions of their military. It's similar to a recent law that can put a CEO of a food company in jail if that company distributes food that causes people to die. Even if the CEO didn't know about the infractions, he is still ultimately responsible for his company's actions. "The buck stops here," as President Truman once said. At least Bush or Rumsfeld should apologize for the actions of the military. Not just "regret" them, or "express disgust" towards them.
With the Nick Berg incident, we actually don't know who did it, although it certainly seems like Al Qaeda could have.
They already did apologize. Were you paying attention?
Originally posted by 7E7
The reports I saw said that much of Iraq did NOT have electricity and this was done at the expense of the major cities like Baghdad.
Huh?
Are you saying no progress has been made? Oil is flowing again and things would be doing even better if terrorists were not blowing up the refineries and pipelines over there.
Heh. Are you really sure you want to argue that we'd be making better progress against the terrorists if it weren't for the terrorists?
Are we the blame for everything over there.
Welcome to what happens when you invade another country.
I never realized how great the Iraqis had it before we showed up
Indeed. Seems like old times, doesn't it? The Baath party is coming back and the prisons are being used for torture, rape, and murders!
Originally posted by 7E7
I never realized how great the Iraqis had it before we showed up...
If you're referring to before the US supported the tyrant Saddam as a secular bulwark against the facless islamic hordes of Iran, then yes, they did have it pretty good with a modern, prosperous, secular society that shamed their neighbours (Saudi, Kuwait) who excelled in inequality and middle-ages style religion.
If you mean after bombing the country and then letting it rot under ineffective and cruel UN sanctions for 12 years then no, not so good.
First of all when i hear "with us, or against us" it makes me sick.
Secondly, when i read such replies as "let's get them all", "It's AQ, grab your pitchforks".. this is so unbelievably naive..
As you very well realize, things are not black and white.
Whoever these people are, they are sick bastards, and deserve the worst.
The terrorists, and by that i mean people who blow up innocent civilians, murderers, people who have no respect for live of others, schould be punished, including death sentences.
What US is doing now is not that much different, sure they don't chop people heads off (right...? ), but human lives have no value to many of these soldiers, as well as to people above them in the chain of command.
Don't tell me people "here" support chopping of heads, or raping people in prisons...
Why when one opposes us invasion it automatically means one supports "the terrorists" ???
US created bigger mess than it was there before, moreover it will continue for years on. Does that mean i'm a supporter of AQ to you?
Quite the contrary, if these people will ever be found and prosecuted, they deserve to be shot. Just as much as commanders giving orders to chopper pilots to kill unidentified "targets" on the ground, and "finish off" wounded. These animals should face the court, and if found guilty get the bullet.
It's sickening that it's come to this.
WHERE ARE THE WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION MR. PRESIDENT?
Originally posted by InactionMan
Do you want everyone to see this so we know war is bad or THIS war is bad?
Hell yeah!
Why not 9? Is there something good on at 9 that I'm missing?
Everyone's gotta eat!
Originally posted by buckeye
I don't think in any way shape or form that it has to do with being mature enough to have political discussions. That is some very weird macho BS.
I should have been more specific and said "war" threads, not political threads. But no macho involved. If you can't handle a video like that then you really shouldn't be involved in discussions supporting a war. That's just my two cents.
OTOH, Berg's story is clearly quite different. However, it seems it isn't totally simple.
Berg first went to Iraq in late December and left in early February. He returned on March 14 but was unable to find work and was preparing to return home at the end of that month. He stayed in constant contact with his parents back home, but on March 24 that contact ended.
Within days, the FBI showed up at the family home in Pennsylvania and told the Bergs their son had been picked up by Iraqi police in Mosul and transferred to U.S. authority. That was all the information the family received.
Frustrated, the Bergs went to federal court in early April and sued Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and the Defense Department for holding their son without merit. The next day, April 6, Berg was released, and the suit was declared moot shortly afterward.
He told his parents he would try to get out of Iraq as quickly as possible. But after April 9, his family never heard from him again.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/...erg/index.html
Perhaps the method was inspired by the Pearl killing. But as far as motive and the people behind it, there is little chance of a connection to Pearl's case.
1) I refuse to watch the video; thanks to all who watched, regretted it and then passed on a warning. I almost did watch it but there's no way in hell I will do so now. Serves no purpose other than to give the be-headers (whoever they were) what they want: viewers. I won't do it.
They can stick their cause (whatever it is) right up their ass.
2) While the entertainment and news media are guilty of frequently showing the most disgusting / disturbing footage possible (whether war related or what's happening in your own state) -- almost always in an effort to get ratings -- you can't overlook the fact that we see a lot more of these types of events during wartime than we used to.
During World War II, especially in the Pacific theatre, the Japanese were known to do things equally or more disgusting than all of the things we've been talking about, to scores of their prisoners and/or civilians from "the other side". Torture, rape (or forced prostitution) and beheadings were common.
For that matter, nobody ever saw the skin melting off Japanese bomb victims on the evening news either. Nobody saw that until much later. Societal norms were different back then; people (in any country) were not comfortable with such things being aired to their families, even if they wanted to read about it elsewhere in some cases.
The coverage was always about "the front" and who was advancing where and which generals / admirals were doing what, and who was entertaining the boys on the USO tour. Was probably something analagous in other countries as they reported on their own soldiers.
So my point here is not that these things happening in Iraq aren't an attrocity. They are as inhuman and perverse as you can get. But the plain fact is, historically speaking such things are common in war. We just don't see all of them all on TV or in the paper; many go unreported and eventually forgotten.
3) Which brings me to my next point: we seem to have forgotten that war itself is an attrocity. That is not to say that war is never warranted (the specifics of Iraq set aside for a moment), but that really, when you think about it... why is it less of a tragedy or attrocity when a civilian bystander gets his intestines strewn onto the street by a mortar, than it is for a civilian contractor to get be-headed?
Is it not an attrocity when a combatant gets his head blown off by a couple machine gun rounds, just because he's got a gun in his hand too? Is not horrific when soldiers sitting in a shelter somewhere get impaled by hundreds of shards of flying glass when a bomb drops on a nearby building? Less disturbing when a Captain gets his leg blown off by a land mine, because he's got double-bars on his shoulder? Does it matter what uniform you're wearing?
Thousands of disgusting and horrific things like this happen in every war, by definition. War is the systematic slaughtering of human beings, whether the reason is relatively just or not.
Don't try to logically separate the acts from the conflict. Whether sanctioned by recognizeable governing bodies or not, these kinds of things happen in every war. Israeli-Palestinian wars included (rockets, human bombs, bulldozers, etc). It would behoove us all never to forget it so the next time one is upon us, we have a full grasp of "what happens next".
Originally posted by segovius
Dilby.com has some (perhaps questionable) info that more extreme photos are going to be forthcoming which the Pentagon wants to stop but have been 'leaked' - but by who ? And what is their agenda ?
Rumsfeld already acknowledged this.
http://forums.appleinsider.com/showt...685#post614685
I saw some speculation somewhere that the photos were leaked to Hersh by Gary Myers, an attorney involved in the case and was also involved in the My Lai prosecutions.
Originally posted by segovius
Brilliant post - basically things are the same on the ground as they always were. The difference is that it's just a propaganda war now too and we are all on the front line - whether watching the news or posting on these boards.
Which kinds of begs a question I have been pondering - the actual mechanisms behind the release of these photos rather than the content itself.
I mean I am assuming the Pentagon would want to keep a lid on them rather than publish and would assume they have the power to do so. So how did they get released ? From some third party ? Or from the Pentagon itself ?
I was wondering why Rumsfeld said that 'people should prepare for the release of worse pictures' or something similar - where are they being released from ? And why ?
Dilby.com has some (perhaps questionable) info that more extreme photos are going to be forthcoming which the Pentagon wants to stop but have been 'leaked' - but by who ? And what is their agenda ?
I really don't know the answer to this but it seems to me more than just a scandal that has come to light now - especially as it seems it has been known about for some considerable time by the administration. Certainly Ordinary Iraqis have long known about the abuse at Abu Ghraib. So who is leaking this stuff now and why ?
I highly doubt that the pentigon released the pictures. Any leak would jeopardize the legal cases against those people, not to mention the PR hit.
It will turn out to be some left wing radical or some irresponsible journalist trying to get the prime time spot. I would bet on that.
I could be wrong though.
Did anyone else notice it?
Originally posted by torifile
I watched it last night. I regretted it.... Anyway, did anyone else notice the timestamp change between the "speech" and the beheading? And the quality of the video decrease markedly? Something wasn't quite right about the video...
Did anyone else notice it?
didn't notice.
Randycat99, AQ supporters here? be real dude
piwozniak, why are you hassling NaplesX. you should get banned for a while
Originally posted by Akumulator
No it won't. One American dead on explicit video won't do a thing.
Edit: The world was sympathetic to America after 9/11 until we fucked it all up. This one more dead American won't bring back any sympathy.
well not in the middle east but maybe other nations. i don't think european nations HATE us like middle easterns
Originally posted by bunge
The video isn't that bad. If you can't stomach it then I don't think you're experienced or mature enough to participate in political discussions here in AO.
i don't think that's fair to say. but i will say i was sort of desensitived with all the stuff you see in movie and on TV. luckily the video wasn't the greatest quality
has anyone hear seen any of those 'Faces of Death' movies? granted some of it is faked i'm sure, but when i was teenager i had nightmares after seeing one, and supposedly i didn't even the worse one!
last night i didn't have any nightmares, thank God, but i didn't sleep well, not deep at all