Room 101: George W. Bush, "because he says so"

War is horrific. Period.

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IamthePope said:

to suggest that the US and George Bush are responsible for the same kind of horrific acts as saddam hussein caused is a complete misrepresentation of the truth

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I think going to war and killing people is a horrific act. As far as killing people goes, is one way better than the other?

I've outlined the logic behind Bush's invasion and changed the names and places. That's all. It looks horrible to you cause it is horrible. When you put yourself in someone else shoes (which isn't all that easy), you can see the world a whole new way. It's very scary. You realize there is no right or wrong. What is... just is.

 

Re: Arab opinion

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I thought you were referring to the way Mr. Moore depicted Iraq as some kind of utopian society where everyone was happy, didn't he show children running and playing with kites.

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And you know what sucks?

Because those kids are dead now, I won't get to fuck them.

I've had it with this war.

 

Re: Arab opinion

I think the purpose of the footage of the kids playing etc. in Iraq was to show a little snapshot of day to day life in Iraq. Yes Saddam was a tyrant, but it wasn't as though the entire nation was all suffering and torture all the time. There was some sort of order and a stable if brutal peace. We destroyed a lot when we decided to get our conquer on. We haven't repaired the damage since. Mission Not Accomplished Tex.

 

Re: Arab opinion

I heard on the radio today that we don't even control Bagdad at all in Iraq. I also heard that the situation in Afganistan is getting worse, and American forces have lost control.

Mission accomplished ? Yea right. But watch, he won't mention that shit at all. I wish a reporter would ask him this stuff. "So, how are you going to keep us safe if we're losing ground in both Iraq and Afganistan?"

I really really hope that Bush doesn't win. It'll be the final nail in America's coffin.

 

Iraqi Deconstruction

I don't know if you can get it where you live, but if you can go buy a copy of Harper's Magazine, the September issue I believe. It has an octopus painting on the cover. It contains the best article I've read yet on the disaster that reconstruction has been. There is also a great essay on the history of the conservative/Republican propaganda machine that goes a long way toward explaining what has hapened in America in the last thirty years. It's too bad it's not online, but it is definitely worth checking out, especially since the broadcast media won't give us anything but the barest of details when it comes to Iraq.

 

Re: Iraqi Deconstruction

Do you have any idea what stores carry Harpers? I've read an issue before (it took me almost a week), and really liked the depth and objectivity of the articles, but I can't find them anywhere.

 

Re: Arab opinion

It may seem that Iraq and Afganistan are out of the control but when hearing the Military, and the civilian infrastructure and foreign aid workers, I think you'll get a far different picture. Remember these are the people actually their, not some pinhead journalist in the US working at the New York Times. The military soliders in general beleive in the righteousness of their cause, are optimistic of the success of their operation, and beleive that the media over-exagerates the violence and turmoil in Iraq. I beleive that the military commanders and pentagon officials are the most informed and up to date people on the conditions in Iraq. When the military soliders, pentagon officials, and other people actually there begin expressing their worry about the stability of the country and the potential weaknesses of our plan in the reconstruction period, that will lead great credibility to any argument of a failed policy. As long as those people who have experienced the country of Iraq and the difficulties of reconstrunction continue to preach the optimism and good news they have been relating to the American public, this will only lend further evidence to support my view that Iraq is a stable country in a transition to democracy, under the protection of the US and her allies, and that the future of Iraq is one of a prosperous and free, democratic, nation.

 

Re: Arab opinion

a democratic Iraq...

... at least it has a ring to it.

 

Re: Arab opinion

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IamthePope said:
Remember these are the people actually their, not some pinhead journalist in the US working at the New York Times. The military soliders in general beleive in the righteousness of their cause, are optimistic of the success of their operation, and beleive that the media over-exagerates the violence and turmoil in Iraq.

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Really? Well then, I suppose this movie made by some 'pinhead' journalist who interviewed and lived with soldiers in Baghdad twice for a month each time, is complete rubbish.

http://www.gunnerpalace.com/

Apparently the troops don't think they're on some great crusade anymore. They just want to go home.

 

No bad news

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IamthePope said:

When the military soliders, pentagon officials, and other people actually there begin expressing their worry about the stability of the country and the potential weaknesses of our plan in the reconstruction period...

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...we will never hear anything about it (not while Bush is president, anyway).






kingsouther: Thank you for the compliment back there. Much appreciated.

 

Re: Iraqi Deconstruction

You can get Harper's at Border's or Barnes and Noble for sure. Maybe other bookstores as well. I subscribe because it is cheap and really, really good. I only have two mag subscriptions and that's one.

I tend to believe that things in Iraq are worse than most people believe. I believe this for a few reasons. Enjoy:

1) I've read articles like Naomi Klein's in the newest Harper's and another essay in Harper's a few months ago entitled "Beyond Fallujah." It was written by a ballsy US journalist posing as a Canadian so that he could venture outside the Green Zone and not have his head parted from his body.

2) The fact that we ceded several large urban areas over to insurgents rather than stay and fight suggests greater lawlessness and an absence of US control.

3) Time and time again, the Bush Administration and their handmaidens, the corporate media, work to positively spin policies and conditions that would damage them politically if the public were aware of their true nature. This is the case with the administration's responses and policies regarding the economy, the environment, energy policy, corporate scandals, Bush's Nat'l Guard service, WMD, Saddam and al Queda, etc. This Administration has a long history of painting fanciful pictures that they would like us to accept as a substitute for inconvenient, stubborn reality. That being the case, one might be able to better discern the truth by listening to whatever the Administration says and then firmly believing the opposite. God Bless and Goodnight!

 

Re: Iraqi Deconstruction

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SgtRamrod said:

You can get Harper's at Border's or Barnes and Noble for sure. Maybe other bookstores as well. I subscribe because it is cheap and really, really good. I only have two mag subscriptions and that's one.


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Thanks. I'll have to run out there and grab a copy this weekend; I'll get a subscription when I settle into my new place.

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God Bless and Goodnight!

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This just in, SgtRamRod's approval rating just increased 3 points in the polls!

 

Re: Iraqi Deconstruction

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SgtRamrod said:

You can get Harper's at Border's or Barnes and Noble for sure.

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I just picked up the latest issue and am slowly reading through it. This is totally different than anything I've ever read. To give you an idea, my magazine subscriptions are Motor Trend and Sport Compact Car - Harper's is really, well, nothing like them.


Thanks for the enlightenment.

 

Harper's

Awesome. I hadn't read the magazine until maybe a couple years ago and was really impressed. Lewis Latham's essays alone are worth the price of subscription in my mind.

The political writing and journalism is great. The fiction I've heard is also very good but I don't usually read it because I usually lack the attention span and I am obssessed with politics. The writing in Harper's is definitely better than Nintendo Power.

 

More News

Check out experts' comments on the situation:

Freedom Is Fantastic!

 

Let's fuck with Iraq

I'm in the middle of the Harper's article on the reconstruction - which looks more like "the privatization of a country in a way that sidesteps international laws."

I'm floored.

No wonder they hate us being there - "yes, we're going to privatize this state-owned soap factory - half of you will lose your jobs."

I don't like Paul Bremer.

He wants Iraq as an investment playground. Wide open to exploitation. No restrictions. Sell the country piece by piece. Fuck the people who live there. Economic casualties. Occupiers can't legally sell the country - but their puppet governments CAN. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani has Iraq's best interests at heart as far as I can tell. His actions against Bremer's conquest coupled with his talking to al-Sadr at Imam and ending that particular conflict illustrate his power.

No wonder they hate us.

No wonder they hate us.

We FUCK with their country.

God damn it.

We arrogantly manipulate the lives of the Iraqis.

It's not our business to be doing this.

No wonder they hate us.

 

Re: Arab opinion

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IamthePope said:
It may seem that Iraq and Afganistan are out of the control but when hearing the Military, and the civilian infrastructure and foreign aid workers, I think you'll get a far different picture.

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Read this and listen

 

Re: Arab opinion

oh and as for afganistan being a great, improving place:

Good job, George

 

I have come to save you all!

Dangerous thread! Again!

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JUST SAY NO