![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elfsI cannot make this stuff up faster than reality. George Bush's current campaign swing is not a "campaign swing," as it has been traditionally known. No, it's now the Winning The War on Terrorism Tour. What's next? The Monsters of Iraq Tour? I can just see it: pint-sized Pfc. Lynndie England, (Warning: not work safe!) clearly visible is some of the more grotesque images, cigarette dangling from her lips as she humiliates the hooded prisoners, now properly dressed in a dominatrix outfit with whip in hand, standing over a humiliated, bound and naked John Kerry as George and Rummy look on, their faces alight with that unique combination of homoeroticsm and self-loathing they all seem to possess.
As much as I applaud the demise of a brutal dictator, and as much as I appreciate the self-correcting nature of the American system of justice, I don't think we really understand the absolutist nature of sharia over there. When we are victims of a petty or property crime and the criminal is caught, tried, and imprisoned, we have a vague dissatisfaction, a holdover from our primitive pasts when honor trumped justice. To the Iraqis, the "wheels of justice turning slowly" do not turn at all, and the American idea of justice where the humiliators will be allowed to live after all simply will not do. Their dissatisfaction with our notions of justice is so palpable it borders on the murderous. My hope for a working resolution in Iraq sinks with every report.
I am not making this up: the thugs in the new Olsen flick are music pirates. Now how does that work? And looking at the release photos, I've gotta say that I don't understand the "countdown to 18" frenzy that seems to be unleashed: they're anorexic. Eww.
The Top Ten Arab Conspiracies. I appreciate Memri; they take apart mainstream newspapers in Iran, Qatar, Egypt, and other Islamic newspapers and translate them for English-speaking audiences. Among the gems to be found: The Madrid bombing was the work of Israel; 9/11 was the work of Israel; 9/11 was done by the Bush administration to make Islam look bad; the CIA controls Osama bin Laden; the bombings in Riyadh, Damascus and Istanbul were the work of "Zionists" or Americans-- or both. The Crown Prince of Saudia Arabia himself said so.
Rush on the abuse of prisoners:
Just so you know.
As much as I applaud the demise of a brutal dictator, and as much as I appreciate the self-correcting nature of the American system of justice, I don't think we really understand the absolutist nature of sharia over there. When we are victims of a petty or property crime and the criminal is caught, tried, and imprisoned, we have a vague dissatisfaction, a holdover from our primitive pasts when honor trumped justice. To the Iraqis, the "wheels of justice turning slowly" do not turn at all, and the American idea of justice where the humiliators will be allowed to live after all simply will not do. Their dissatisfaction with our notions of justice is so palpable it borders on the murderous. My hope for a working resolution in Iraq sinks with every report.
I am not making this up: the thugs in the new Olsen flick are music pirates. Now how does that work? And looking at the release photos, I've gotta say that I don't understand the "countdown to 18" frenzy that seems to be unleashed: they're anorexic. Eww.
The Top Ten Arab Conspiracies. I appreciate Memri; they take apart mainstream newspapers in Iran, Qatar, Egypt, and other Islamic newspapers and translate them for English-speaking audiences. Among the gems to be found: The Madrid bombing was the work of Israel; 9/11 was the work of Israel; 9/11 was done by the Bush administration to make Islam look bad; the CIA controls Osama bin Laden; the bombings in Riyadh, Damascus and Istanbul were the work of "Zionists" or Americans-- or both. The Crown Prince of Saudia Arabia himself said so.
Rush on the abuse of prisoners:
This is no different than what happens at the Skull and Bones initiation, and we're going to ruin people's lives over it, and we're going to hamper our military effort, and then we are going to really hammer 'em because they had a good time. You know, these people are being fired at every day. I'm talking about people having a good time. These people, you ever heard of emotional release? You ever heard of need to blow some steam off?
Just so you know.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Happy Birthday, too...
Date: 2004-05-07 08:52 am (UTC)Happy Birthday.
no subject
Date: 2004-05-07 09:11 am (UTC)Pride be damned. What we need to do is to just get the hell out of the Arab world, military, oil barons, and all. There are a lot of people (Halliburton) that aren't going to like that.... but until we do, there's going to be dead people and broken things over there that belong to us, and that's not cool. If after we do that, they still come at us, then we're justified in carpet-bombing them back to the stone age... but that doesn't require troops on the ground. Let'em think they won, they ran us off.... and let'em try and fund attacks with no oil money.
no subject
Date: 2004-05-07 10:26 am (UTC)This is what's so hard to get thru: They won't let us fix it... some of our idea of "fix" (government) isn't what they want, and trying to shove it at them is like teaching a pig to sing. It's a waste of lives, ours and theirs.
no subject
Date: 2004-05-07 10:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-07 10:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-07 10:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-07 10:53 am (UTC)Of course, the cynic in me thinks that the reason we're hogging it is political, both to make Bush look good at home, and to pay off Halliburton and others... nothing wrong with a little spoils, but when it's costing us troopers on an ongoing basis, that's too far.
no subject
Date: 2004-05-07 11:00 am (UTC)It makes me really sick because I was an American soldier and my drill sergeant made us sound off with parts of the Geneva convention and the Code of Conduct. If those soldiers didn't know what they were doing was wrong, all they needed to do was pick up their Basic Training manual and give it a quick read through.
no subject
Date: 2004-05-07 11:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-07 11:08 am (UTC)They better not be able to hide behind that "following orders" crap - and if so, I want to see their commander flayed alive on national television. Make that international television.
no subject
Date: 2004-05-07 11:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-07 11:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-07 12:01 pm (UTC)Everyday, we saw American soldiers risking their lives to make the world a better place and getting spit on for their troubles. Most soldiers are secret idealists - I mean, come on, they volunteered! So we all secretly hoped that when they were done with Afghanistan, the administration would move on to deal with some of the truly heinous criminals in the world.
Not Iraqi civilians. Hardened, gun-running narco-terrorists who train conscripted armies of 15 year olds to stab live animals of increasing size until they work up to humans, until they are inured to causing pain on innocents. Brutes who kidnap 10 and 11 year old girls to give away as "prizes" to their valued officers. You know, "the BAD guys." That's who I thought we would be fighting. I knew there would be innocent people harmed, but I had naive faith in the concept of "the greatest good for the greatest number" being our objective. This whole travesty... I don't know what to say. Maybe my more pacifistic friends were right for reasons they never anticipated.
no subject
Date: 2004-05-07 12:20 pm (UTC)I admit, I'm not sympathetic to other countries. I'm sympathetic to other people. I don't see how else Iraq could have gotten rid of Sadaam, and I scoffed at the cries that America was just as bad or worse. I didn't and couldn't imagine that American soldiers would act that way. I'm still having to force myself to confront that reality over and over again as my mind tries to distance itself from the horror.
no subject
Date: 2004-05-07 12:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-07 01:12 pm (UTC)I find MEMRI's actions in the US very disturbing, because it attempts to pull the entire power of our country behind the MEMRI agenda.
As to the conspiracy theories: what would an equivalent article about the US look like? I imagine that things like "Iraq was involved in Al Quaeda" would be one of them. Other gems might include reliance on astrology or direct conversations with an anthropomorphized divinity, credit card debt, and the idea that Israel is a democracy (it is democratic for Jews - but until '67 the Arab citizens were under military rule, and to this day the Arab residents of the occupied territories have no rights under Israeli law, while Jewish residents of the same cities or nearby settlments have the full democratic rights.)
no subject
Date: 2004-05-07 01:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-07 01:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-07 01:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-07 02:15 pm (UTC)Happy birthday anyway.
no subject
Date: 2004-05-07 03:55 pm (UTC)What should terrify any American is that some of the soldiers actually identified as doing this shit are employed in civilian life as prison guards.
What does Sharia law have to do with it, anyway?
Date: 2004-05-07 04:05 pm (UTC)Now, I don't know anything about the legal system in Iraq in 2004. But I believe Iraq was controlled by the British for a good, long while. They tended to export their legal systems to the countries they controlled, so I would be quite surprised if the system wasn't rather similar to the one they exported to their colonies in America.
Your kidding Right!!
Date: 2004-05-07 07:10 pm (UTC)By the way YOU and my cat has same b-day (and someone else, that is the past thou)....He's ten and you are still 21 and going strong.
Happy B-day.
Rush
Date: 2004-05-07 07:33 pm (UTC)I used to think that shooting rockets into a mosque was a sign that we had no chance for a positive outcome in Iraq.
Now I've just got this sinking feeling that no matter what happens, it's going to get worse.
Ok come with me back 6 years go.
Date: 2004-05-07 08:50 pm (UTC)All the single girl had to wear hoods and single men had to be naked and each girl were in front of them. Each guy had a number....Each girl had to gab a dick. If the dic landed on 5. The girl with the guy holding a Five had to perform some form of sexual conduct with that guy.
Now suppose that was the game and some idiot took the pictures and passing it around one person got hold of it and freak out and over reacted.
Of course their going to make an issue out of it. Come on .... if they are being abuse and it there was anger going on. Don't think she would be more bitchy and showing their faces.
I mean if I was there I want the whole world to see their faces for anger with in towards WW trade center. Actually put gun towards their heads because I'm piss off...either being there or for what have became of the WW Trade center. I'm sorry I would beat the crap out of them and would want to world to see it. Eye for Eye and tooth for a Tooth. But intelligently I wouldn't brodcast it, No would know. Personally if I was there, I would op for another duty or ask for a different job, I would be to emotional for what happen to our people. I wouldn't be able to think clearly and do my job accordingly to REGs.
All I see is pranks Masq Party of stress relief of playful kidding around...So she Peganat, hello it's War Time and of course their making an issue. Why Sexual conduct between solider is not permitted not even sex games or it not the time to joke around. Sorry those guys in the hoods are the 372 unit pretending to be Iraqi Prisoners. It's just a Masqu Party of stress relieving pranks. Cause one if it's really abuse no idiot would be smiling or taking pictures. Beside it look like a complete bullshit of someone just over reacted.
I don't watch the new and I don't read the news papers. You caught my attention and look for some form of picture displaying actual hate or something that can be proven at torture to un-hooded solider. Like the real torture camp...All I see is bull-shit propaganda.
It looks like a War Time Sex Party and nothing but kidding around with the fellow soliders pretend to be prisoners.
Re: Ok come with me back 6 years go.
Date: 2004-05-07 10:24 pm (UTC)Re: Ok come with me back 6 years go.
Date: 2004-05-08 10:43 am (UTC)It's a shit-storm and I expect the election to go to Kerry presuming he doesn't do anything really stupid in public.
no subject
Date: 2004-05-08 11:58 am (UTC)Rush, per usual, opens his mouth and removes all doubt that he is a fool.
It's the pretenses that the USA has that irritate me. We are running a crappy empire here. We apologize too much. At the height of the Empire, the Romans gave everyone two strikes. After the initial invasion/defeat/surrender, the Romans were quick to restore order and let the people go on about their business, generally under minimal supervision, and the legions would go about building infrastructure and training conscripts to defend the area (security and infrastructure are the only two things the government should be involved with, with those components, civilization flourishes). Any hint of a subsequent rebellion was put down brutally and mercilessly with no apologies whatsoever, and if a particular city or province was deemed incorrigible (where the entire populace went into open revolt), everyone in the population who wasn't killed was sold into slavery to the ends of the known Earth while new settlers were brought in. Even the British followed this example to a large extent.
If we're going to try to run an empire, we need to do it right. No pretenses, no apologies, and we have to be willing to be an punitive ass of collossal proportions at times to show we mean business (e.g., roll tanks into Fallujah and blast mosques and houses until the rebels surrender or there's nothing left of the city). If this is something we're not willing to do (being that it's not terribly civilized and rather repugnant), then we have no business getting into empire-building and should just stay home. This is evidenced by the failures of the last several worldwide military conflicts we've been involved with.
The Arabs in general don't respect us because they sense that Americans lack resolve. They think we're soft, that we'll just roll over when the going gets tough, rather than do distasteful things. They seem to feel that our restraint is actually a sign that we're weak (i.e., the fact that we haven't dropped a bomb on the mosque that the radical cleric is holed-up in is the USA's weakness, not that we're trying to be respectful of their culture and restrain ourselves). The Shia think that we're too weak to stand up to them, and that if they revolt, we'll run and they can take over the whole country. And we probably will do that long before we start bombing their strongholds and gassing their women and children like strong ol' Saddam did. Is there anyone in the world who *didn't* see this particular quagmire coming?
no subject
Date: 2004-05-08 08:35 pm (UTC)Re: Ok come with me back 6 years go.
Date: 2004-05-08 09:49 pm (UTC)Prime Concern in the viewer eyes are the Tax Payer Money….Where is it going to? Why are there higher prices in Gas, lumber, other certain Items that were paying out our ass for…Hello this War.
If the General Public gets word that this was Sex Party all the increases in taxes for sending out men and women to war to sit around and have enough time to play around and fuck one another….How would that look? Seriously dude, your tax payer, what is really on your mind if you found out this was a sex party?
Hypothesis B)
Most of those letters were from Journal and guess what….Military has the right to confiscate anything on these incidences. Switch it around to make it look like what they want the Tax Payer to View. Hello those Men and Women that sign the life away (Literally) are Government Property. Government will and it has been done.
I bet those men and women will get off as mentally insane …
Lack of intelligent in doing their jobs….like is swing in that direction.
Look at their Ages sorry you put kid or someone with lack of experience in that position that will cause the government to use that as cover up for what really happens. Just to avoid letting the truth out that this was Sex Party have bunch of Tax Payers getting Piss off.
Parents have no Idea what going on….Those solider are instructed to say nothing. Save their asses.
Kid you Not!
Who Know...I don't watch T.V. Or the News. I was just treating this as an Ink Blot.
Re: Ok come with me back 6 years go.
Date: 2004-05-08 09:54 pm (UTC)Re: Ok come with me back 6 years go.
Date: 2004-05-08 11:50 pm (UTC)Re: Ok come with me back 6 years go.
Date: 2004-05-09 04:51 am (UTC)If all those soldiers read the bible, they wouldn't be soilders.
Poor Muslim Prisoners...laughing over, that was so funny. Nice joke dude.
Please call them Iraq Soliders or American Soldier....This war is what...Terrorism. It has nothing to do with Religion. Those Soldiers are fighting for their Country not for their Religion.
Re: Ok come with me back 6 years go.
Date: 2004-05-09 11:18 am (UTC)Re: Ok come with me back 6 years go.
Date: 2004-05-09 12:18 pm (UTC)Ok your now jumping all over it as a major issue on the topic on what I started……..
Theirs Two Topic
A) What Elfs Started …. I’m not saying that he’s wrong or dead wrong…..Topic of that is I’m in disbelief. I don’t have to believe what he said or agree…I have my own dam opinion…..Hello I truly stated that.
B) What I Started….. I mark my statement as Hypothesis ….What if this was just a Sex party between our own Soldiers to get a blow on in good humorous fun. I was treating this as Ink Blot. Making actual factual statement what I know of the military. If this was true….Hello still in disbelief. No one really have convince me this is true. Without watching the new or Reading the news paper…I want Actual real torture picture….Something back in WW2 style…Please!
Hello American Citizen look in the past in WW2 our men were order to shoot and kill Germen Prisoner why some outfit consider them extra baggage. YOU don’t know Military Law or Law of War or Law to Survived in hostile situation like WW2.
Your right this isn’t WW2, but hello….those pictures are child play.
You are the prime example of uptight American Citizen Got his dick stuck in a Cock Ring and can’t fuckin lighten up.
It was just INK BLOT.
Actual War Son
Date: 2004-05-09 12:38 pm (UTC)You point that gun at me, I'm thinking about religion or God. I'm thinking about staying alive. Going home to my kids or my husband/wife. Dam right I'll shoot you dead cold, to me one bullet isn't enough. I'll shoot square in the head...I don't want to die for a fuck up and let you shoot me. God or Allah didn't tell me to pull that tigger...I wanted to live.
That's War of Surviving Fool! It has noting to do with religion. It has to do with wanting to live another day.
Re: Ok come with me back 6 years go.
Date: 2004-05-09 01:11 pm (UTC)