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Aesquire
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 14, 2012 - 03:32 pm: | 
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Blake. Don't forget the Klavan vid above.
Children are not responsible for their actions. Nor are slaves. Nor are the subjects of an Islamic Republic. ( which is redundant )
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/293017/refl ections-cambodia-douglas-b-levene
Just memories of the last major time Congress screwed an ally. |
Blake
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 14, 2012 - 04:43 pm: |
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>>> Well Americans wanted oboma to end the occupations/wars..... they got what they wanted, sort of...
Who doesn't want any war to end?
The issue is HOW it is ended. |
Torquehd
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 14, 2012 - 11:14 pm: |
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Men
(and women if there are any in the crowd),
Please do not develop strong opinions if you have no experience upon which to base your opinion. Reading a few news articles is much different from being there firsthand.
I can encourage you to stay informed, but please understand that second or third-hand reporting is not the same as first-hand experience.
If you feel the need to develop an opinion, fine. Just please don't rant about things that you have no direct experience with (and therefore understanding).
One of my civilian friends recently said, "I'm ashamed by how much the American public doesn't know about what's going on" (regarding the fight in Afghanistan).
To which I replied, it is good that the American public does not know much. They/we should know the basics, and that's it. We should know the truth, but there are so many things that happen on a daily basis that we have no business knowing. Just like there is a lot that you do in your personal life that should not be broadcasted to the public.
Not because it's illegal or questionable, but because there are pieces of knowledge, that in the wrong hands, become dangerous. |
Trojan
| | Posted on Thursday, March 15, 2012 - 07:03 am: |
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What evidence do you have that we are being "arrogant" when trying to transform the governments of former enemies from despotic dictatorships or fascist oligarchies into ones beholding to the rule of law?
Surely it is arrogance even to regard a whole population, with their own established political and religious beliefs as 'former enemies from despotic dictatorships or fascist oligarchies'?
Many countries have developed their style of government based on thousands of years of tribal and religious culture. It may not be anywhere near what we are comfortable with, but they have developed it and it is up to them to change it if they see fit.
Your comments regarding things like the rape of girls in Afghanistan are of course terrible, but the general population has the power to change it if they want to. The fact that these policies have gone on for years (well before the taliban took control)would suggest to me that in fact the general population actually want some form of sharia law and are not perticularly bothered about accepting any of our western values.
Beofer we went into Afghanistan it was certainly being used as a 'safe haven' for terrorists, but the majority of the population were either neutral or mildy supportive of the Taliban. Our presence there has made them much more likely to be anti western than they were before unfortunately.
You only have to look at the anti US demonstrations following the 'book burning' and the shootings by the US soldier this week to see that we are not winning many hearst and minds with our presence in Afghanistan.In fact it is probably counter productive.
If you really have to invade a country then you also need to impose a form of government and then be prepared to enforce it if you want then to remain a 'freindly' nation. Doing the half hearted politial job what we have done so far in Iraq and Afghanistan is not the answer and will not forge any lasting links with either country that we can be proud of.
At the same time as we send troops to Afghanistan we blatantly ignore other countries that harbour terrorists on a much larger scale, such as Somalia, Nigeria and Pakistan. We also do nothing about other dictators or horrific human rights tragedies (Syria, Sri Lanka, Sudan etc).
We need to make our mind up and be consistent in our foreign policy rather tan seemingly taking knee jerk decisions and then having to live with the consequences for many years to come. |
Aesquire
| | Posted on Thursday, March 15, 2012 - 11:54 am: |
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To translate.
Their culture sucks.
My mother, ( we disagree on much, but on some things... ) thinks the strategy has been wrong from the beginning.
We should roll into a village. Search every house. Take all the guns from the men. Give them to the women.
My imagination instantly projects...."OK ladies, this is Sgt. Trixie. Sgt. Trixie will be taking you out back and teaching you to shoot." ...... Sgt. Trixie speaks...."Ok ladies, repeat after me, this is my weapon, that is his gun, one is for fighting, one is for fun..."
I find I agree with Mom on this one.
I'm also thinking of taking donations for the Osama Bin Laden memorial prayer grounds. ( and nuclear waste dump ) |
Aesquire
| | Posted on Thursday, March 15, 2012 - 01:56 pm: |
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http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/293482/syria- debate-i-didnt-miss-totalitarian-angle-i-wrote-boo k-it-andrew-c-mccarthy |
Sifo
| | Posted on Thursday, March 15, 2012 - 02:04 pm: |
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Read Saved by Her Enemy, then tell me how they want to live under that kind of rule. |
Blake
| | Posted on Friday, March 16, 2012 - 01:50 am: |
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>>> Surely it is arrogance even to regard a whole population, with their own established political and religious beliefs as 'former enemies from despotic dictatorships or fascist oligarchies'?
"Whole population". Straw man. Nonsense. "Established political ... beliefs"? Which one's, those of the Taliban islamist-fascists or those of the Northern Alliance and all the other folks who appreciate being rid of the oppressive rule by terror of the Taliban? You've been misled. There's a wonderful documentary called "Afghan Star"; I dare you to watch it. See http://www.afghanstardocumentary.com/. What the majority of Afghans are eager for is exactly that which you imagine they oppose. Careful where you get your news. Certain factions dearly want NATO to fail in Afghanistan. They are not friends of liberty or justice. Don't believe them, and for the sake of all that is good, don't support them!
>>> the general population has the power to change it if they want to.
That is another popular myth. It just isn't true. One man with a gun can oppress and rule a dozen others. Tens of thousands of tyrannical fascists who are willing to kill, maim, rape, blow-up, and oppress others through brutal force can rule a nation of millions. Even the American revolution would have likely failed absent the support of France.
>>> Our presence there has made them much more likely to be anti western than they were before unfortunately.
Doubtful and somewhat irrelevant. The goal is to help them establish self governance by the rule of law. Nor are Afghans as simple as you paint them. The Afghans who oppose Taliban oppression and brutal fascist rule surely also hate all atrocities committed against civilians. You seem to imagine, quite bizarrely, that the NATO coalition is worse in that respect compared to the Taliban. You've been misled.
>>> You only have to look at the anti US demonstrations following the 'book burning' and the shootings by the US soldier this week to see that we are not winning many hearst and minds with our presence in Afghanistan.In fact it is probably counter productive.
Ah yes, the demand that we must be perfect in everything but that the behavior of murderous thugs ought be seen as informative to our general integrity. It's nonsense. What kind of thinking is it that maligns the noble efforts of good men while respecting evil fascists? |
Aesquire
| | Posted on Friday, March 16, 2012 - 12:07 pm: |
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Trojan is telling us that a leader, chosen by a vote riddled with voter fraud, ruling against the will of the majority, with no regard for law, a constitution, or intent to fulfill any promises, is NOT "representative" of the people of a land.
A people with varied ethnic, tribal, and invader immigrant backgrounds.
Trojan is saying, that the "president" who packs his government with corrupt buddies, takes million$ in bribes to support "infrastructure" improvements, with the money actually going into the pockets of his supporters and those who bribe him, is NOT a government we should consider "representative" of the people of the land.
Rather we should, in our hearts and minds realize that the people of that land are, in the main, hard working folk who only want what is best for their families, and their friends and really want to have nothing to to with acts of terrorism, war, or revenge.
All true.
He errs when he thinks that the people of land can do very much to overthrow the tyrants in power. Especially tyrants who come to power in a republic by popular vote. Then they become Rulers instead of Servants of the People. Other nations look upon such tyrants as the legitimate government, and the People's woes are, "unfortunate", but rarely bothered with. After all, the good money and deals come with cooperation, bribing, and collusion with the new corrupt regime. ( things like oil drilling rights, loans for infrastructure improvement, etc. )
Those tyrants always promise great things that anyone with a functioning brain could tell you was unlikely, impossible or just very darn hard. But Hey! it's a campaign promise, and no one really expects those to come true, except those who have swallowed the propaganda, and/or been taught uncritical thought in deliberately limited school systems that only teach the politically correct version of "reality" and usually little else. Like a Madrassa, or Harvard. 
Against such power, the "people" have limited means to resist. If, rarely, they have not been disarmed, or the disarming process is not yet complete, some small fraction of brave souls can resist, for a while the might of a military suppression of freedom, but all too often the result is like observed in Syria today where a few folk with captured or mostly surplus old military arms are huddled in basements while the military shells their city, with not NO CARE of civilian, innocent deaths, but in fact a desire to cause as many as possible as an object lesson to those who would oppose them. See also Waco, Texas. 
Against such ruthless tyrants, it is vanishingly rare to succeed without outside help. It is even difficult to win when you have a border state that will shield and support your actions against the tyrants. ( like the Iranian & Syrian support against Iraq, or Pakistan and Iran's support against Afghanistan )
How likely is it that "the people" could rise up and over throw a tyrant with leftover WW1 & 2 small arms, vs. tanks and helicopter gunships? Organize a coup on facebook? |
Aesquire
| | Posted on Sunday, March 18, 2012 - 08:54 am: |
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http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/293733/wors e-powder-keg-andrew-c-mccarthy |
Aesquire
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 21, 2012 - 05:53 pm: |
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http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/293834/desp air-and-necessity-afghanistan-editors
If we are going to abandon the people of Afghanistan to the Taliban, I strongly suggest we destroy all our bases, all the weapons, and might as well blow the airport control tower on the way out.
Leave nothing to be used against us when we go back in a few months or years to capture the next wave of murderers who kill Americans with our own stuff. Like Airliners.
Where are the code pink folk?
Where are the womens rights folk?
Where are the folk who agreed with then Candidate Obama that Afghanistan was the "right war"???
The silence.... it's like Dr. Who. |
Aesquire
| | Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2012 - 06:23 am: |
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http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/161929 30
http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2012/03/21/french-sh ooting-suspect-was-self-styled-al-qaeda-jihadist/
Some of the comments.....
"The French Army has just surrendered to the gunman. Stay tuned for further updates."
"Excuse me sir - you are trying to insult the French military, are you not?
The French Military did hold their ground for 30 hours before surrendering, did they not?"
I must comment... The French Military would never surrender. Unless a General Officer or the Government got involved.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b7994c04-7358-11e1-9014- 00144feab49a.html#axzz1pq3sn5om
I sometimes forget that other countries politicians are as quick to use tragedy to advance their careers as ours can be. I forget that goes back to Ur. ( actually that little village where they first made a...... village. )
Any comments from our Euro-Buellers? You guys are closer to the story, and first to get ethnically cleansed. ( such a polite word for genocide, isn't it. Like a laundry soap.... ) |
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