Zathras

Someone who is an immediate threat? Given officer training, I would shoot immediately; as I am now, I would likely be unable to fire at all, let alone without hesitation.

That says more about the country than the man. 144254[/snapback] Not necessarily. Carter got himself elected by displaying himself as an outsider to the political landscape--this was true, however due to that outsider situation, he didn't know how to get things done in that same political landscape. While that may say more about the political landscape than him, it doesn't make him a good president. IMO, if you want a good president you have to go back.... let's see. Bush I Reagan Carter Ford Nixon Johnson Kennedy Eisenhower Truman F. Roosevelt 10 presidents back to the 1930s. Damn. I suppose an argument could be made for Kennedy (D) Johnson (D) Eisenhower (R ) or even Nixon (R ) if you exclude the Watergate incidents and just focus on what he accomplished as a president. However, IMO if you want a truly great president, the last was was James K. Polk in the 1850s.

Probably the peanut farmer. 144244[/snapback] Good ex-President, crap President tbh.

Deserve it for that avatar, tbh.

Wierd, but I thought the do gooders don't pay any attention to anyone else either. It's not difficult to try to understand the realistic point of view from that of a soldier or someone in a life or death, stressful and panic situation, I have said that if the upper people are incompetent, they should rightly take the rap. These type of comments crop up regularly on here whenever something happens, and the hand wringers think the world is a wonderful place where everybody plays by boy scout rules. However, what would YOU say, if I thought our soldiers could probably handle that situation in question a million times better than the Americans ? 143872[/snapback] I would first yawn at the blatant fishing and attempt to change the topic from the questions that you have ignored thus far, and then point out the several British atrocities e.g. Jallianwala Bagh.

Wow; up until this thread, I'd not really paid too clost attention to LM's debates; just assumed he believed the other side of things; but in this thread I realize that he really doesn't read what the other people are saying.

Only in Britain could such a list contain not one but two Oasis albums.

While I think it's clear that atrocities will happen in war, this particular example is of a rarely seen especially brutal and barbaric type. This type of atrocity cannot and should not be expected.

precisely.

The strict media controls that the US implemented in Gulf War I resulted in 'bad' media coverage. That's why they came up with that 'imbed' program; by placing the journalists on the front line with the soldiers, they got to feel it first hand, and, in theory, connect more with the soldiers themselves. Media control is a bit late; public opinion has moved too far against the war for that to be an effective measure; it would result in bad press about the controls. The further issue is that this was a group of Marines, who are allegedly more highly trained than the average infantry unit. They're supposed to display a higher level of discipline. 143281[/snapback] I wasn't aware a strong humanitarian outlook was a pre-requisite. 143318[/snapback] I was focusing on the discipline aspect; they ought to be able to better control themselves/their unit.

The strict media controls that the US implemented in Gulf War I resulted in 'bad' media coverage. That's why they came up with that 'imbed' program; by placing the journalists on the front line with the soldiers, they got to feel it first hand, and, in theory, connect more with the soldiers themselves. Media control is a bit late; public opinion has moved too far against the war for that to be an effective measure; it would result in bad press about the controls. The further issue is that this was a group of Marines, who are allegedly more highly trained than the average infantry unit. They're supposed to display a higher level of discipline. 143281[/snapback] You don't think that the owners, who influence the editors, may have an agenda? 143310[/snapback] They do, but agendas are pretty varied. E.g. There's a guy who owns Hubbard Broadcasting who lives in town, they're the ones who broke the story about the missing and raided weapons locker a couple of years ago--the guy is the biggest contributor to the Republican Party in the state.

Mr. Pot, meet Mr. Kettle. 143250[/snapback] As I suspected, nothing to contribute. If you're saying I don't give my point of view on here Zath, I think you're talking shite tbh. I can remember when you were a good poster. Sadly that was quite a long time ago. 143257[/snapback] I said that I'd agreed with you guys, just that the arguments put forward (id est that Americans value American lives more and that it was a cold blooded reaction) were crap. Renton's argument in his last post is pretty much where I stand--it's pointless, counterproductive and most importantly, completely and totally wrong. As for not being a 'good poster' any more, it seems that the major requirement for that is constantly being one here and frankly I no longer have the time to just sit and post all day. Student days are over; now I work for the government. 143266[/snapback] Scared your being monitored? 143275[/snapback] Scared nothing, I know for a fact that I'm being monitored. I also know that I'm the only person in the office who knows how to run four specialized programs, so they're prepared to give me a little leeway. 143285[/snapback] It was a joke tbh I take back the 'cold blooded' comment. It was merely the murder of a two year old. 143290[/snapback] I knew it was a joke...

Mr. Pot, meet Mr. Kettle. 143250[/snapback] As I suspected, nothing to contribute. If you're saying I don't give my point of view on here Zath, I think you're talking shite tbh. I can remember when you were a good poster. Sadly that was quite a long time ago. 143257[/snapback] I said that I'd agreed with you guys, just that the arguments put forward (id est that Americans value American lives more and that it was a cold blooded reaction) were crap. Renton's argument in his last post is pretty much where I stand--it's pointless, counterproductive and most importantly, completely and totally wrong. As for not being a 'good poster' any more, it seems that the major requirement for that is constantly being one here and frankly I no longer have the time to just sit and post all day. Student days are over; now I work for the government. 143266[/snapback] Scared your being monitored? 143275[/snapback] Scared nothing, I know for a fact that I'm being monitored. I also know that I'm the only person in the office who knows how to run four specialized programs, so they're prepared to give me a little leeway.

The strict media controls that the US implemented in Gulf War I resulted in 'bad' media coverage. That's why they came up with that 'imbed' program; by placing the journalists on the front line with the soldiers, they got to feel it first hand, and, in theory, connect more with the soldiers themselves. Media control is a bit late; public opinion has moved too far against the war for that to be an effective measure; it would result in bad press about the controls. The further issue is that this was a group of Marines, who are allegedly more highly trained than the average infantry unit. They're supposed to display a higher level of discipline.

Mr. Pot, meet Mr. Kettle. 143250[/snapback] As I suspected, nothing to contribute. If you're saying I don't give my point of view on here Zath, I think you're talking shite tbh. I can remember when you were a good poster. Sadly that was quite a long time ago. 143257[/snapback] I said that I'd agreed with you guys, just that the arguments put forward (id est that Americans value American lives more and that it was a cold blooded reaction) were crap. Renton's argument in his last post is pretty much where I stand--it's pointless, counterproductive and most importantly, completely and totally wrong. As for not being a 'good poster' any more, it seems that the major requirement for that is constantly being one here and frankly I no longer have the time to just sit and post all day. Student days are over; now I work for the government.

I'd say most Americans are well aware of how much of an impact this sort of thing has. The approval ratings of the current administration are lower than they've ever been, largely due to this and similar scandals. The fact that people are continuously falling on their swords to spare the higher-ups is not lost on the average American. The fact that the White House can't even hold on to a press secretary tends to speak volumes.

Mr. Pot, meet Mr. Kettle.

Seeing as every single goddam game is on while I'm at work, I'll have to be selective and avoid the 'net to watch certain games on my own very special tape delay. I liked it better when the games kicked off at 3:00 AM

"Lawyers who have talked to the Marines emphasise the extreme pressure that they were facing that day. The insurgents had mounted a wave of attacks, and the town was one of the most dangerous in Iraq for US troops. Three months earlier insurgents had ambushed and killed six Marine snipers, then released a video showing the mutilated body of a dead servicemen. Later 14 Marines were killed by a bomb near the town." 143105[/snapback] So they killed a two year old in cold blood. 143118[/snapback] Well the way I read that argument is to specifically say that it was not 'cold blood.' Not agreeing or disagreeing with either side, just pointing out what the argument is saying. And Britons do not think that the life of an Indian and an Englishman or an Iraqi and an Englishman are equal. And a Russian doesn't think the life of a Russian and a Mongol's lives are equal--you can say that about anyone. I pretty welll agree with you guys, but your arguments are a load of shite.

:blink:

No reason to stop the game at all. If they set the precedent then any time a goalkeeper miscues his clearance like that he'll just drop like he's been shot to stop the match. If the clearance went upfield and there was more than two seconds between his goal-kick and the player bearing down on him, then by all means stop the match.

She hasn't been on MSN for over 6 months now. Last I heard she'd moved away to go to college or some kind of education related stuf. 140822[/snapback] Koala moved from conservative Ohio to more conservative Virginia and is on MSN rarely, though since her father died. Camil has seemingly dropped from sight...

I went to the opera in San Francisco. Chase me! La Boheme, directed by the bloke that did Moulin Rouge, Baz whatsisface. It actually wasn't that bad, but that's because they had subtitles - is that normal or is it just for the yanks?! 140557[/snapback] Subtitles? Supertitles surely?

Wasn't that because it was a library? 140366[/snapback] Uncultured northerner, tbh. It's got a large book museum connected to the library proper.