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Please guys, stay on topic.
This thread is about the situation in Iraq and Syria. |
On September 13 2013 00:05 farvacola wrote: Your first paragraph is way better than the second.
I prefaced it with "tinfoil hat" perspective. Idle curiosity- to the mental exercise end though, do you really think many people are above doing that? People get killed over far less every day.
To lighten the mood, a relevant comic: It's from Oatmeal. I'm citing it.
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As I read this thread, my hopes that the humanity will thrill to prosperity, peace and harmony is completely destroyed. The amount of people that believes that it's reasonable to enforce your own beliefs in another human being that is living a completely different reality, trough killing, torture, war, instead of education, sharing and a legitimate intention of seeing things by another perspective is disgusting. "Oh, look, they are killing their own people trough torture, pain and agony. What about we simple eradicate them from earth? I don't care if there will be a big amount of innocent people that will die in the process, as long as that "terrorists" that are using the terrible chemical weapons die with them." What's wrong with you people? How can the countries with the resources to change the course of the humanity to a common ground of progress, love, generosity has been leaded to that? Why there are persons that think it's reasonable to fucking bombard another one, killing thousands and thousands in name of "justice", "international laws", "freedom", "democracy" ? Your countries have formed the most brilliant minds in today's society. You have the most advanced research centers and universities like MIT and Harvard. The most advanced technologies in the world, the most advanced knowledge about the human behavior and laws of the universe and still, you persist to conduct the world trough FORCE and KILLING. Please american people, BE THE EXAMPLE TO THE REST OF THE WORLD. Teach the humanity that even thought you have the power to destroy everything, you choose not to, because it's the RIGHT THINK.
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On September 13 2013 00:26 JimmiC wrote:Show nested quote +On September 13 2013 00:04 Crownlol wrote: My problem with the whole "chemical weapons" deal here is that it really seems to be a lynchpin in the idea of the US getting involved. We can't get involved without some sort of line being crossed - oh look! A line! How convenient!
From a tinfoil hat perspective, it would seem easy for a govt contractor with a lot to gain (Haliburton etc.) from another war to simply release the gas themselves. It was a pretty local, one-off incident yes? Couldn't you just pay someone in Assad's army a fair amount of money (I'd say $200k) to release a few gas grenades? Then bam, the govt drops a $65b contract on Haliburton, and the shareholder equity gets a nice bump. A few people at the top cash out a few shares for 8 figures, and the world keeps turning. Ahh conspricacy theorists. Lets make up something that is at least slightly plausible and then make future decisions and beliefs on this made up "possibility" For your first paragraph. If you make something against the rules there needs to be a penalty when some one does it. Thats true for work, school, parenting as well as international relations. The issue is what is the consequence and who is going to administer it. Most parents don't enjoy spanking there kids but they do it so they learn that what they did is wrong and possibly harmful to themselves, some thinki spanking is too ahrsh and give timeouts, some do both depending on how severe what ever the kid did is. I get this is a very loose analogy. But unless you are argueing that armies should be allowed to use chemical weapons the arguement should not be should the international community do something, but rather what should we do. What gives the maxium punishment to Assad and the minimum to innocent civilians. With out consquences rules simply do not work. I see a lot of Convential is as bad as chemical there for we shouldn't react. But if they are both bad isn't it better to have just convential then both? -2+-2=-4 -2+0=-2 Getting rid of Chemical weapons is a good thing, the last thing we want is these things to become allowed and scientists working on improving them and so forth. So lets concentrate on finding the best way to punish Assad (or the rebels if you belive that, but it's becoming harder to everyday) and make sure it doesn't happen again.
You have to *prove*, beyond any doubt, that the Assad regime intentionally attacked this population with a chemical weapons payload. As of right now, you can't do that. There's no ballistic data from a missile, no military shell casing/fragments, no rocket motor, etc.
Until you can 100% prove what was done and by whom, you can't start launching "punishments" in the form of very real high explosive missiles.
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On September 13 2013 00:59 kemihan wrote: As I read this thread, my hopes that the humanity will thrill to prosperity, peace and harmony is completely destroyed. The amount of people that believes that it's reasonable to enforce your own beliefs in another human being that is living a completely different reality, trough killing, torture, war, instead of education, sharing and a legitimate intention of seeing things by another perspective is disgusting. "Oh, look, they are killing their own people trough torture, pain and agony. What about we simple eradicate them from earth? I don't care if there will be a big amount of innocent people that will die in the process, as long as that "terrorists" that are using the terrible chemical weapons die with them." What's wrong with you people? How can the countries with the resources to change the course of the humanity to a common ground of progress, love, generosity has been leaded to that? Why there are persons that think it's reasonable to fucking bombard another one, killing thousands and thousands in name of "justice", "international laws", "freedom", "democracy" ? Your countries have formed the most brilliant minds in today's society. You have the most advanced research centers and universities like MIT and Harvard. The most advanced technologies in the world, the most advanced knowledge about the human behavior and laws of the universe and still, you persist to conduct the world trough FORCE and KILLING. Please american people, BE THE EXAMPLE TO THE REST OF THE WORLD. Teach the humanity that even thought you have the power to destroy everything, you choose not to, because it's the RIGHT THINK.
What part of you thinks the American people support attacking Syria? The latest polls show overwhelming resistance to it. However, we the people have completely lost control of our government, so it might happen anyway.
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Hey look in between asking his interior minister how many gays have been beat up today and ordering a few more journalists arrested, Vladimir Putin took the time to order his propaganda specialists to write an op-ed for useful idiots to drool over. He tells you what you want to hear, you lap it right up, he goes back to being a fascist. A good day for all.
You have to *prove*, beyond any doubt, that the Assad regime intentionally attacked this population with a chemical weapons payload. As of right now, you can't do that. There's no ballistic data from a missile, no military shell casing/fragments, no rocket motor, etc.
Until you can 100% prove what was done and by whom, you can't start launching "punishments" in the form of very real high explosive missiles.
A fine sentiment
Perhaps some people would like to learn from your post when it comes to their posts about pipelines and related conspiracy theories
I doubt they will though
The most advanced technologies in the world, the most advanced knowledge about the human behavior and laws of the universe and still, you persist to conduct the world trough FORCE and KILLING.
People like you are so naive it's sad
Please american people, BE THE EXAMPLE TO THE REST OF THE WORLD. Teach the humanity that even thought you have the power to destroy everything, you choose not to, because it's the RIGHT THINK.
A fine example has been set
You can do whatever the fuck you want and get away with it
Next time there's a thousand people massacred somewhere in the world and people wring their hands and moan about how awful it is and lash out at humanity or whatever, that's what we've decided acceptable because wah wah wah the US wah wah wah
Embrace it, it's a brave new world where Vladimir Putin fascist gay-basher (literally) gets unqualified compliments because he opposes the US
Enjoy and embrace the suck
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This thread is a perfect example of why considerations of "morality" in foreign policy are so silly. How many different, competing, contradictory, or mutually exclusive statements are there in this thread regarding what is the "moral" or "right" thing for the US to do given what is going on Syria?
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The same can be said for most things political. There's a middle ground between a moralized foreign policy direction and a purely pragmatic one. Finding it is the tough part.
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On September 13 2013 02:02 DeepElemBlues wrote:Hey look in between asking his interior minister how many gays have been beat up today and ordering a few more journalists arrested, Vladimir Putin took the time to order his propaganda specialists to write an op-ed for useful idiots to drool over. He tells you what you want to hear, you lap it right up, he goes back to being a fascist. A good day for all. Show nested quote +You have to *prove*, beyond any doubt, that the Assad regime intentionally attacked this population with a chemical weapons payload. As of right now, you can't do that. There's no ballistic data from a missile, no military shell casing/fragments, no rocket motor, etc.
Until you can 100% prove what was done and by whom, you can't start launching "punishments" in the form of very real high explosive missiles. A fine sentiment Perhaps some people would like to learn from your post when it comes to their posts about pipelines and related conspiracy theories I doubt they will though Show nested quote +The most advanced technologies in the world, the most advanced knowledge about the human behavior and laws of the universe and still, you persist to conduct the world trough FORCE and KILLING. People like you are so naive it's sad Show nested quote +Please american people, BE THE EXAMPLE TO THE REST OF THE WORLD. Teach the humanity that even thought you have the power to destroy everything, you choose not to, because it's the RIGHT THINK. A fine example has been set You can do whatever the fuck you want and get away with it Next time there's a thousand people massacred somewhere in the world and people wring their hands and moan about how awful it is and lash out at humanity or whatever, that's what we've decided acceptable because wah wah wah the US wah wah wah Embrace it, it's a brave new world where Vladimir Putin fascist gay-basher (literally) gets unqualified compliments because he opposes the US Enjoy and embrace the suck The guy you're quoting didn't mention Putin once.
"People like you". Seriously? The guy's post was a somewhat generic plea for peace, as opposed to your generic insulting platitudes about him being naive. The fact that it provokes this kind of response from you is much more telling. Do you feel better, though?
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On September 13 2013 02:16 xDaunt wrote: This thread is a perfect example of why considerations of "morality" in foreign policy are so silly. How many different, competing, contradictory, or mutually exclusive statements are there in this thread regarding what is the "moral" or "right" thing for the US to do given what is going on Syria?
I think there's a lot more overlap then you let on, as opposed to mutually exclusive opinions. Maybe we have different opinions on intervention, I think these are differences of degrees, as opposed to something so stark as being "mutually exclusive".
Most people, I would hope, would like to see Assad agree to peacefully give up his chemical weapons (assuming he has them), and for the US to avoid military intervention. Of course there are differences in opinion, but I'm not sure why that makes it "silly" for morality to be considered in foreign policies.
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On September 12 2013 21:53 zatic wrote:Show nested quote +On September 12 2013 21:46 Leporello wrote: Of course WMDs are bad. The question is does their existence justify large-scale conventional warfare to possibly deter their use? No, that wasn't the question. The question was if WMDs are worse than conventional weapons. Here, this is what I was replying to: Show nested quote +On September 12 2013 18:41 Zarahtra wrote:On September 12 2013 17:40 zatic wrote:On September 12 2013 11:02 Thereisnosaurus wrote: @Leporello, I have a lot of respect for Tyson, so I'm kind of disappointed he's tweeting shit like this. The bomb one isn't so bad, but the comparison to lethal injection is retarded. The reason we abhor chemical weapons is
1) they are entirely indiscriminate and incredibly difficult to limit in their effect- you use chemical munitions somewhere and people will randomly die based on where the wind is blowing, the elevation etc. While conventional munitions are also somewhat indiscriminate, they're a lot easier to control in terms of risk- munitions have a carefully measured effective blast radius and so when used the user can gauge who they're going to slaughter with a reasonable degree of accuracy. Chemical munitions just kill everything in a vague 'nearby' with high and often lingering reliability. The lethal injection is the absolute opposite of this. The UN objects to the indiscriminate killing of humans, not the use of chemicals.
2) other than a moderate area in the zone of nuclear fallout, chemical weapons exposure is perhaps the most inhumane method of killing other people. Conventional munitions that deal lethal damage will generally do so instantly in most cases- either pressure shock or trauma will end it fast. It may look ugly for the spectator and chance can create some particularly nasty deaths as well, but largely you either die instantly or after a short period of unconsciousness, or recover partially or fully in the end. Any amount of modern chemical weapons exposure will kill you while you are awake and painfully aware of it and with next to no chance of avoiding death. Unlike conventional munitions, the injured are the exception, the dead are the rule. I'm not doing this because I delight in gory details, I'm doing it to contrast to the lethal injection, which is specifically engineered to kill someone as quickly and humanely as possible. Whether it does we can't say, but that is the intent. The intent of chemical weapons is indiscriminate and terrible murder designed to kill everything they touch in the most unpleasant way imaginable specifically to incite the maximum terror in everything it doesn't. The UN objects to weapons which are designed to inflict misery and suffering rather than concrete military objectives, not the use of chemicals.
THAT is why we abhor chemical weapons. Not 'because they are chemicals'.
It saddens me to see an intelligent and wise man spouting utter bullshit. Thank you, the more and more absurd comparisons of chemical weapons to ANY other form of dieing are really getting obnoxious. I really can't understand you guys. "inhumane method of killing other people"... I find it a stretch to compare it to lethal injections since that's a very controlled murder, but comparing it to say signature strikes is not a stretch at all. While of course the preferred way of killing is to make it quick, in my opinion the action of taking life still outweighs the suffering the person endures in those last moments. I did not mention a strike on Assad at all and never argued for or against it. Just to have it clear, my response was on a 1:1 bases, a death by WMD isn't somehow on another level of murder, hence I don't find the true western way of mass murder much better than that of WMDs(if we're even to ignore chemical usage by the west), nor more controlled for that matter. The civilian deaths (USA has been avoiding by labeling all males between 18-40[or even 15-70] as competants are) gigantic too, just as usage of chemical attacks has been.
Don't misunderstand me though, I'm against the usage of WMDs as I dare say most people are. I just don't agree that there is as huge of a difference as you two say there are, killing is killing, and firing bombs _on the same scale_* as the chemical weapons in such a crowded area would've resulted in huge losses of life too.
* To be clear, I'm not talking about volume of the gas/bombs but area effected.
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The guy you're quoting didn't mention Putin once.
Probably why there wasn't a quote above what I said in regards to Putin
People like you are simply amazing sometimes
"People like you". Seriously? The guy's post was a somewhat generic plea for peace, as opposed to your generic insulting platitudes about him being naive.
What platitude? I called him so naive it's sad
That is not generic or a platitude
Honestly, smh
The fact that it provokes this kind of response from you is much more telling. Do you feel better, though?
I never feel good about illiteracy
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On September 13 2013 02:22 Leporello wrote:Show nested quote +On September 13 2013 02:16 xDaunt wrote: This thread is a perfect example of why considerations of "morality" in foreign policy are so silly. How many different, competing, contradictory, or mutually exclusive statements are there in this thread regarding what is the "moral" or "right" thing for the US to do given what is going on Syria? I think there's a lot more overlap then you let on, as opposed to mutually exclusive opinions. Maybe we have different opinions on intervention, I think these are differences of degrees, as opposed to something so stark as being "mutually exclusive". Most people, I would hope, would like to see Assad agree to peacefully give up his chemical weapons (assuming he has them), and for the US to avoid military intervention. Of course there are differences in opinion, but I'm not sure why that makes it "silly" for morality to be considered in foreign policies. Here's where the overlap is: I tend to think that acting "morally" when making foreign policy decisions is generally in the best interests of the state. If a state continuously acts "immorally," chances are that it will damage long term relations with other states, thereby worsening its position over the long term. All that I am saying is that the ultimate barometer for foreign policy action should always be national self-interest.
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On September 13 2013 02:02 DeepElemBlues wrote: Hey look in between asking his interior minister how many gays have been beat up today and ordering a few more journalists arrested, Vladimir Putin took the time to order his propaganda specialists to write an op-ed for useful idiots to drool over. He tells you what you want to hear, you lap it right up, he goes back to being a fascist. A good day for all.
Asked about Vladimir Putin's New York Times op-ed, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi took the opportunity Thursday to criticize the Russian president's gay rights record.
Putin, Pelosi pointed out, ended his piece with these words: "We are all different, but when we ask for the Lord’s blessings, we must not forget that God created us equal."
"I hope that applies to gays and lesbians, too," Pelosi quipped, likely referencing a new Russian law that bans the promotion of "non-traditional" sexual relationships and has stirred up considerable controversy. Source
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On September 12 2013 21:47 xM(Z wrote: so if the FSA doesn't get the weapons it means the al-qaeda, al-nusra get them? ... No, Al Nusra is part of the FSA, but they are just a sub group of it like groups of christian fighters or groups of Alawite fighters, if they say that the FSA is not getting weapons it means that no rebel group is receiving weapons.
On September 12 2013 21:44 REDBLUEGREEN wrote:Really good letter by Putin to the NYTimes. I especially like this paragraph: "The world reacts by asking: if you cannot count on international law, then you must find other ways to ensure your security. Thus a growing number of countries seek to acquire weapons of mass destruction. This is logical: if you have the bomb, no one will touch you. We are left with talk of the need to strengthen nonproliferation, when in reality this is being eroded." It is funny because it was Putin/China the one that put US/NATO in that position. Srsly fuck Putin man, he's the reason why this war can't end today, if Putin stopped helping Assad, Assad would HAVE to give himself to international law otherwise he would get killed with all his family, generals & council when the rebels win the war.
I say it again, Fuck Putin.
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On September 13 2013 03:15 Saryph wrote:Show nested quote +On September 13 2013 02:02 DeepElemBlues wrote: Hey look in between asking his interior minister how many gays have been beat up today and ordering a few more journalists arrested, Vladimir Putin took the time to order his propaganda specialists to write an op-ed for useful idiots to drool over. He tells you what you want to hear, you lap it right up, he goes back to being a fascist. A good day for all. Show nested quote +Asked about Vladimir Putin's New York Times op-ed, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi took the opportunity Thursday to criticize the Russian president's gay rights record.
Putin, Pelosi pointed out, ended his piece with these words: "We are all different, but when we ask for the Lord’s blessings, we must not forget that God created us equal."
"I hope that applies to gays and lesbians, too," Pelosi quipped, likely referencing a new Russian law that bans the promotion of "non-traditional" sexual relationships and has stirred up considerable controversy. Source Deb and Pelosi; now there's a match made in heaven
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On September 13 2013 02:36 DeepElemBlues wrote:Probably why there wasn't a quote above what I said in regards to Putin People like you are simply amazing sometimes Show nested quote +"People like you". Seriously? The guy's post was a somewhat generic plea for peace, as opposed to your generic insulting platitudes about him being naive. What platitude? I called him so naive it's sad That is not generic or a platitude Honestly, smh Show nested quote +The fact that it provokes this kind of response from you is much more telling. Do you feel better, though? I never feel good about illiteracy
Offtopic: If you're going to capitalize your sentences better make sure you end them with a period. Illiteracy is indeed annoying.
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On September 13 2013 03:26 Uvantak wrote:Show nested quote +On September 12 2013 21:47 xM(Z wrote: so if the FSA doesn't get the weapons it means the al-qaeda, al-nusra get them? ... No, Al Nusra is part of the FSA, but they are just a sub group of it like groups of christian fighters or groups of Alawite fighters, if they say that the FSA is not getting weapons it means that no rebel group is receiving weapons. I say it again, Fuck Putin. you can say that they fight on the same side but as far as leadership goes, those groups are decentralized. US could arm factions selectively.
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