USA vs Terrorists -

[Teddeh^]

The terrorists will win, as the US and the UK are just using them as an excuse to take a greater hand in controlling other nations (obviously implying Iraq). I find it quite ironic that these powers probably look to their actions in Iraq as securing energy sources to the future when the money spent on military actions would be better utilised in R&D into renewable energy sources. What they fail to realise is that not only would these methods be more environmentally friendly, but it would also reduce their dependance on nations who possess oil. A world economy not reliant on non-renewable sources of energy would also be less prone to crises such was seen in 1973, therefore also giving LDCs a better chance at developing in a sustainable manner. It seems to me that alot of people, including senior politicians around the world are sticking their heads in the sand about this energy problem. Don't forget, even if the estimates are wrong concerning oil/natural gas/coal depletion, etc, what will happen to our children and their children? This is not just about trying to portect the environment but also about solving the energy problem before it gets much worse. An additional sense of irony can be seen in the way in which the US/UK went on and on about Iraq's so-called WMDs whilst paying mere lip-service to agreements/initiatives relating to the health of our planet.

Earth <--- Please handle with care?

(Ok, ok, so I'm a closet ecologist)

 

[rahvin]

Argh sorry this was the first draft of my post but I seem to keep logging out whenever I spend more than 5 mins writing it

you should enable the "remember me" feature (or automatic login, or however they call it here) when you log on the forum. otherwise the idle time is going to interfere with posts that take a lot of time. the only reason not to would be if you're on a public computer, or worried that your cat might one day forget to log in with his own username and post with yours.

 

[marduk1507]

@Teddy: good point

 

[Taliesin]

I heard a math teacher got arrested because they found weapons of math deduction on him..

 

[Teddeh^]

you should enable the "remember me" feature (or automatic login, or however they call it here) when you log on the forum. otherwise the idle time is going to interfere with posts that take a lot of time. the only reason not to would be if you're on a public computer, or worried that your cat might one day forget to log in with his own username and post with yours.

@Teddy: good point

Thanks chaps

 

[Thanatos]

has anyone seen that iraq sniper video? I guess it's not very popular on this side of the world, scary stuff.

 

[plintus]

has anyone seen that iraq sniper video? I guess it's not very popular on this side of the world, scary stuff.

what is it about?

 

[Siren]

All Ive read so far is that the whole area is still a construction site and that many things will be (if they will) finished after the olympics (wtf? ).

and i thought such things happened only in Greece.

 

[QRV]

what is it about?

They nailed some iraquies with a high-powered gun while they were getting on their trucks. A guy even fell from the truck, half-dead, and they finished him cold-bloodedly. It was all recorded through greenish night-vision stuff.

What impressed me most was the way the american guys were talking while they shot the poor bastards. One could say they were on a fucking picnic.

Does anyone know a link to this vid? I lost mine.

 

[Siren]

What impressed me most was the way the american guys were talking while they shot the poor bastards. One could say they were on a fucking picnic.

maybe they thought it's a videogame.

 

[Hitori]

hey don't get videogames involved in this

 

[hyena]

don't blame the soldiers for wanting to keep it relatively light-hearted. anyone who has been through a very traumatic experience involving the proximity of death (and war sure qualifies as one) knows that coping mechanisms are developed pretty fast, that is if one does not break down immediately. soldiers are trained to cope, and this is good for everyone's safety besides their own. i'm not horrified by the fact that a GI is able to shoot someone without thinking twice, just as i'm not horrified by the fact that a doctor dealing with AIDS patients does not dissolve in tears of compassion every morning. a policeman i know was recently telling me how important it is that cops don't get their emotions mixed up while working, lest they become a danger to each other and society at large: i guess it's the same with soldiers, and rightly so.

 

[Thanatos]

They nailed some iraquies with a high-powered gun while they were getting on their trucks. A guy even fell from the truck, half-dead, and they finished him cold-bloodedly. It was all recorded through greenish night-vision stuff.

What impressed me most was the way the american guys were talking while they shot the poor bastards. One could say they were on a fucking picnic.

Does anyone know a link to this vid? I lost mine.

Haven't seen that one, I was talking about an iraqi sniper that has shot down many american soldiers and they haven't been able to catch him, he tapes it and the arabs use the footage as propaganda (it even has some annoying arab chants and images of bush and amerian flags) it's a little more than 15 minutes long and shows many soldiers being shot so I guess it isn't very popular in western resource pages...if anyone's interested in watching it I can upload it somewhere or something, it's not very bloody but highly disturbing due to all the soldiers being completly unaware they're going to get shot.

 

[Thanatos]

don't blame the soldiers for wanting to keep it relatively light-hearted. anyone who has been through a very traumatic experience involving the proximity of death (and war sure qualifies as one) knows that coping mechanisms are developed pretty fast, that is if one does not break down immediately. soldiers are trained to cope, and this is good for everyone's safety besides their own. i'm not horrified by the fact that a GI is able to shoot someone without thinking twice, just as i'm not horrified by the fact that a doctor dealing with AIDS patients does not dissolve in tears of compassion every morning. a policeman i know was recently telling me how important it is that cops don't get their emotions mixed up while working, lest they become a danger to each other and society at large: i guess it's the same with soldiers, and rightly so.

I guess you don't shed a tear when you learn in advance that several thousand south american folks are going to lose their homes because of yet another economic crisis huh?

 

[QRV]

Haven't seen that one, I was talking about an iraqi sniper that has shot down many american soldiers and they haven't been able to catch him, he tapes it and the arabs use the footage as propaganda (it even has some annoying arab chants and images of bush and amerian flags) it's a little more than 15 minutes long and shows many soldiers being shot so I guess it isn't very popular in western resource pages...if anyone's interested in watching it I can upload it somewhere or something, it's not very bloody but highly disturbing due to all the soldiers being completly unaware they're going to get shot.

Man, I have to see that one. Please share it with us.

 

[Thanatos]

*uploading*

 

[Siren]

i'm not horrified by the fact that a GI is able to shoot someone without thinking twice, just as i'm not horrified by the fact that a doctor dealing with AIDS patients does not dissolve in tears of compassion every morning.

Wtf? The one is killing a person, the other is trying to comfort one.
If the doctor doesn't dissolve into tears it's most likely because they're already doing their best for that person and sobbing wouldn't help anyone.
I think you're providing lame excuses for horrible acts (besides you don't know if it's really a defense mechnism and not sick pleasure some desensitized soldiers might find in these acts). Killing someone in order to protect your life/because you have to is one thing, killing lightheartedly is quite another.

That said, i find your comparison unfair and offensive.

 

[Thanatos]

*uploading*

heh, I tried to upload it to some filesharing service and the file is blacklisted, so anyone interested in getting it just pm your email.

 

[rahvin]

Wtf? The one is killing a person, the other is trying to comfort one.

the assumption was that both actions served a purpose. this is obviously not a fact everyone agrees on, but if they both serve a purpose, then the ways they're performed can be comparable.

(besides you don't know if it's really a defense mechnism and not sick pleasure some desensitized soldiers might find in these acts).

you also don't know whether a doctor is trying to remain lucid or he really couldn't care less about the patient.

 

[hyena]

@siren: i had no intention of offending the medical profession, sorry if it came across that way. rest assured that i have the utmost respect for your kind.

i was just trying to say that events such as death, which are very traumatic if you look at them individually, tend to be considered differently if seen en masse/every day. of course there might be insensitive people and even sadists who take pleasure in seeing people die (maybe also causing their deaths), but i'd say that this is not the majority. soldiers are trained following a kill-or-be-killed mantra, and if they had to deal with death the way ordinary people do they would end up completely nuts after three days on the battlefield.

@thanatos: yes, my point exactly.