MonteZuma

Right, here I go :-) The war is on terror - not Bin Laden. The troops knew where he was (a bunch of caves), but could not get to him for the fact that he was in a bunch of caves. Do you honestly think that if our military was able to get/kill Bin Laden, they wouldn't? Actually, it was the media that did this. The government felt pressure from the people because the media made the people think that the Spanish were evil. (Ever learn about yellow journalism?) It burns me that the average person in the US thinks that the average person in the Middle East hates us. It burns me that we think they don't want us there. There are many, many polls out there that will show you otherwise. In fact, my father is in the Marine Corps and was over there and tells me that they LOVE us. People ignore the fact that countries over there are feeling the pressure because their young population likes democracy and likes freedom. They see us liberating Iraq on tv and it insights them to question their own government. People ignore the fact that some middle eastern countries are having free elections for the first time, or that extremist governments are beginning to step down/compromise for once. The majority of people in oppressed countries want to be free and have rights. The problem is, there are minorities (not in the racial sense) that use violence and threats to keep that majority in check. Do you anti-war people out there really believe that one day Saddam would have just woken up and decided to not be an !@#$%^&*? I'm ready to be flamed on this God-forsaken forum <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Although I'm anti-war, I agree with everything you wrote. :-) I'll reserve judgment on the war with Spain since I know nothing about it. Nice post.

Actually, its easy. Click "ADDREPLY" and go for your life.

Speed zone revivals always stumble and fail. Don't know why. Good luck on this attempt.

I've followed this story fairly closely. A guy with olive complexion walks out of an apartment block that is also home to suspected terrorists, wearing a thick 'padded' parka on a warm summers day. He boards a bus, then goes to board the subway. When he is confronted by armed police he bolts for the train, jumping ticket barriers to do so. Hindsight tells us that shooting the guy was wrong, but if I was in their shoes at the time, I'd be inclined to expect the worst and might have done exactly what they did. Why? Terrorism is violence against innocent civilians. On what grounds can that behaviour be justified? That kind of a disturbance at a private funeral should also be illegal. Yes it is and yes you are. I can understand that some people might support a terrorist cause (eg removal of a foreign occupational force), but I cannot accept the fact that people can support terrorist's methods (eg killing civilians). Anyone that condones violence against innocents should be punished and silenced. Bring on the new laws. That is a case of fiddling while Rome burns. By allowing it, the government is tacitly legitimising extremism. By condoning the behaviour they are contributing to the cause. These terrorists don't need money. All they need supporters who are willing to blow themselves to bits. You get that support by manipulating people with words, not cash. The freedom of speech argument gets in the way and complicates things. I don't think anybody should be free to do or say anything that is likely to incite/encourage/condone/legitimise/whatever violence against civilians.

I agree. And not just with the last line It concerns me too that most of the media outlets are just cutting and pasting stuff that comes in off the wire from Reuters or wherever. A diverse, independant and inquiring media industry is one of the things that sets us apart from undemocratic and less progressive nations.

In general, I disagree. I think they are handling the crisis very well. Yes. This was an apparent over-reaction by those involved, but does not necessaily suggest a systemic problem. Why is this an over-reaction? Terrorism is barbaric and people or groups that condone or !@#$%^&*ociate with terrorists and terrorism should be shut down. It is treason. Huh. Blair has been towing the Bush line on this from day 1. So have some other European nations. They may or may not help manage the domestic terror threat. The international problem remains. Three out of the 4 London suicide bombers were born in Britain. Undoubtedly. they were. I don't think it is that simple. I think one of the reasons that these countries have been attacked is because they are a refuge for extremist muslims. Elsewhere in the middle east, Indonesia and east africa are also examples. Not really. But we've discussed this many times. Iraq represents a waste of resources as far as the war on terror is concerned. But we've flogged that horse many times. Their own civilians were the criminals.

Not necessarily. I think it would be illogical for other reasons. The Chinese civil war ended in 1949 with the defeat of the KMT by the communists. What we have left (the dispute over Taiwan) is an artefact of the civil war. Possesion is 9 tenths of the law. The KMT and the ROC have been well and truly usurped by the PRC and the ROC doesn't have any rights over the mainland at all. If it wasn't for US support, Taiwan would be just another province of communist China. And btw, the KMT - and the system they supported - was not a monarchy. In fact the KMT overthrew the Chinese monarchy in 1911. Which officials are they? And I guess it would be foolish for them to assume that the US would not use nukes. I agree, except that I think people will always care about it. I suspect that eventually a face-saving solution will be put in place. That might not happen for a while yet though.

Pro Bush

Dr Brain said that he quit the politics forum a few months ago, but then reappeared. I don't understand why he feels that he has been 'driven off'. I guess he is in the minority and feels uncomfortable in that situation.

Bye.

Yeah....but if the audio jack isn't snug, you might not hear both channels all the time. 3d sound manipulation can exaggerate the problem. You can demonstrate this on an old stereo system by selecting "stereo wide" and turning one speaker off. The missing sounds are much more noticable with "stereo wide" than with ordinary stereo. The counter intuitive bit is that you would expect this to affect other ships more than your own, but...it worked for me. So I guess what I'm saying is: check that your speakers are plugged in properly.

This might sound dumb, but check that your speakers are plugged into the back of the PC snugly.

All the 9/11 terrorists had were box cutters. MAD might deter a nuclear attack now, but maybe not if China is backed into a corner. The world, including the US and China, would be better off in every way if the US and China could cooperate on important issues like Taiwan. Undoubtedly there are differences between the rebel US states and Taiwan, but to Chinese that believe in communism and supported the revolution, the differences might not seem so great. I doubt it. If China attacked mainland USA, there is no doubt that the repercussions for China would be devastating. You said it yourself.

ICBMs aren't ball bearings. The situation between China and Taiwan isn't all that much different to the situation with the United States and the rebel states before the American civil war. The US wasn't prepared to let the rebel states have self determination... If all of the Democrats supporters in the US moved to California and declared themselves as an independant country with a radically different political system, other states would not stand for it.

Lets put this in perspective. This Chinese General, who is not involved in military planning, said: "If the Americans draw their missiles and position-guided ammunition onto the target zone on China's territory, I think we will have to respond with nuclear weapons," Maj Gen Zhu told an official briefing for foreign reporters. He then said that the comments were: "my !@#$%^&*essment, not the policy of the government" and that he was confident the US and China would not go to war. The comments were inflammatory and gung ho, but hardly surprising. I have a suggestion for the US government: If Taiwan does blow up, don't attack mainland China. They may wish to defend themselves.

Yeah. Subspace is the rectum of the Internet, and we are just passing through. Hi Grav! Sometimes I think people quit the game because they either finish school, get a job, , get a gf, get married, have kids or find a better hobby? Many of those things make it seem like the game has gone to !@#$%^&*, but I don't think it has. It sure ain't the same as it was in the day though. But that doesn't haveto be a bad thing.

I disagree. I think most aid ends up where it is needed. I agree. But it probably isn't that easy. One of the best ways to support the thirld world is to remove agricultural subsidies that encourage rich countries to over-produce and ruin third world economies that rely on primary production. Each year, much more aid is given to European and US farmers in the form of subsidies than is given to thrird world countries.

The bombings in London infuriate me as much as anyone, but prejudicial statements like this are counter-productive. The way to beat terrorism and extremism is to be better than they are - not as bad as they are. And by better, I don't just mean more powerful. The situation in Afghanistan shows that even when you have financial and military superiority, you can still be kicked in the guts - hard. In the long term, what we need to do is erode the extremists support base. You mostly do that with carrots, not sticks. In the short term, it seems that we can only rely on vigillance and targetted 'strikes' (legal or military) against known terrorists and terrorist strongholds. In the medium term, we need to apply pressure (positive and negative) on foreign governments with extremist populations to help or encourage them to deal witrh extremists. The Iraq campaign fouled things up - bigtime. It turned the perception of this this from being a war on terror to a war on islam. Of course the bombings were related to Iraq. So was Madrid. The bombers aren't doing this out of a thirst for innocent blood. They aren't animals and they aren't automatons. They've somehow allowed themselves to be brainwashed into believing that killing random, innocent people can be justified. Now they need to be caught and punished. But if we don't want it to happen again, we need to stop the brainwashing.

Yeah. I kinda agree. China will probably do much the same thing for the Olympics. I think that most of the media are too easily influenced by government spin doctoring. Having said that, Mugabe does seem to be unpredictable, and therefore dangerous. Undoubtedly black people in Zimbabwe were disenfranchised by a colonial power and some things need to be changed/improved, but I don't think Mugabe will be a man that will do any good for Zimbabwe or the region. I don't know what should be done about it now? Open, international discussion and debate is probably the first step.

I think you need to get your facts straight LearJet. You are reading stuff that isn't there. Here is the original report: --->link<--- For those with short attention span....direct quotes from the original report...: 6. (S) I find that the intentional abuse of detainees by military police personnel included the following acts: a. (S) Punching, slapping, and kicking detainees; jumping on their naked feet; b. (S) Videotaping and photographing naked male and female detainees; c. (S) Forcibly arranging detainees in various sexually explicit positions for photographing; d. (S) Forcing detainees to remove their clothing and keeping them naked for several days at a time; e. (S) Forcing naked male detainees to wear women's underwear; f. (S) Forcing groups of male detainees to masturbate themselves while being photographed and videotaped; g. (S) Arranging naked male detainees in a pile and then jumping on them; h. (S) Positioning a naked detainee on a MRE Box, with a sandbag on his head, and attaching wires to his fingers, toes, and penis to simulate electric torture; i. (S) Writing "I am a Rapest" (sic) on the leg of a detainee alleged to have forcibly raped a 15-year old fellow detainee, and then photographing him naked; j. (S) Placing a dog chain or strap around a naked detainee's neck and having a female Soldier pose for a picture; k. (S) A male MP guard having sex with a female detainee; l. (S) Using military working dogs (without muzzles) to intimidate and frighten detainees, and in at least one case biting and severely injuring a detainee; m. (S) Taking photographs of dead Iraqi detainees. 8. (U) In addition, several detainees also described the following acts of abuse, which under the cir!@#$%^&*stances, I find credible based on the clarity of their statements and supporting evidence provided by other witnesses (ANNEX 26): a. (U) Breaking chemical lights and pouring the phosphoric liquid on detainees; b. (U) Threatening detainees with a charged 9mm pistol; c. (U) Pouring cold water on naked detainees; d. (U) Beating detainees with a broom handle and a chair; e. (U) Threatening male detainees with rape; f. (U) Allowing a military police guard to s!@#$%^&*ch the wound of a detainee who was injured after being slammed against the wall in his cell; g. (U) Sodomizing a detainee with a chemical light and perhaps a broom stick. h. (U) Using military working dogs to frighten and intimidate detainees with threats of attack, and in one instance actually biting a detainee. CONCLUSION 1. (U) Several US Army Soldiers have committed egregious acts and grave breaches of international law at Abu Ghraib/BCCF and Camp Bucca, Iraq. Furthermore, key senior leaders in both the 800th MP Brigade and the 205th MI Brigade failed to comply with established regulations, policies, and command directives in preventing detainee abuses at Abu Ghraib (BCCF) and at Camp Bucca during the period August 2003 to February 2004.

Did you read the post? The source was a report by Major General Antonio M. Taguba. He is Deputy !@#$%^&*istant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs (Readiness, Training & Mobilization), US army. It doesn't get much more authoritative than that. Heh.

Why? Terrorism is illegal. If they are terrorists they can be charged. They haven't been charged. Why? I said we are all biased....In relation to a discussion where somebody mentioned the concept of herd mentaility. Not at all. I think that we in the wealthy, well-educated, democratic west should set the standard and we should practice what we preach. Murderers, wherever they are, should be subject to trial and punishment. Accused murderers, no matter where they are, should be considered innocent until proven guilty. Every person accused of a crime should be detained in humane conditions, tried as soon as practicable and released or punished in accordance with law. I don't consider Al Qaida to be a role model and I can't understand why you are using them as a yardstick of human rights? I think the western system of trial by jury in accordance with the law, with legal representation, etc, etc to be the best system there is. I'd like to see to see everyone in Guantanimo(sp?) tried and punished or released. You have a problem with that?

The CT scans showed that her brain had turned to mush. Nobody has ever come out of a PVS after 3 months. She was in a PVS for 15 years. She was beyond recovery and everyone that objectively looked at her condition knew it.

LARGO, Fla. (Reuters) - Terri Schiavo, a Florida woman who died in March after a fierce right-to-die battle that went all the way to the White House, was massively and irreversibly brain-damaged, pathologists announcing the results of an autopsy said on Wednesday. The results supported clinical findings and the contention of her husband that Schiavo had been in a "persistent vegetative state" since collapsing 15 years earlier from a cardiac arrest that deprived her brain of oxygen, said Dr. Stephen Nelson, a forensic pathologist who !@#$%^&*isted in the autopsy. "She would not have been able to form any cognitive thought," said Nelson, speaking with Pinellas County Medical Examiner Jon Thogmartin at a news conference. "There was a massive loss of brain tissue." During a long and bitter family feud over Schiavo's fate, courts consistently ruled in support of Schiavo's husband and legal guardian, Michael Schiavo, that Schiavo would not have wanted to live in such a state. A persistent vegetative state meant she was unable to think, feel or interact with her environment.

What SeVeR said. I don't have a problem with soldiers having guns (in democratic nations). The US military did a lot to protect my liberty, especially before I was born (WW2). But civilian gun owners (in the US or anywhere else) have done nothing to preserve my liberty. If anything, they have done the opposite.