Stop the Press!

[jarhead]

Yahsur, Massa. Maybe I should just go back to the plantation, pick up my bag, and "pick another bale"

 

[bart]

I will have to go with those that call the press irresponsible on this one, if not downright traitorous. They could have easily confronted the DoD and told them square this away or we will go public.

Instead, they took the low road.

Not surprising.

They will do anything in their power to see the furtherance of their liberal agenda, which includes US defeat in Iraq, plain and simple. I look forward to the opportunity to spit on a CBS correspondent.

 

[jarhead]

Just curious Bart,

How would you know that the approach you suggested was not followed, and then CBS made good on exposing the crime? This stuff was known several months ago in a DoD press conference.

You also use the label "liberal" in an intentionally pejorative manner. You, just like the "liberal media" also seem to have an agenda. Such hatred for the free press guaranteed by our constitution is simply amazing to me.

 

[Big Duke Six]

Jarhead,

What's your agenda?

If I understand you correctly, you're on board with the American media showing pictures that expose supposed "crimes" perpetrated by our troops. You don't feel that the military should be allowed to police itself, correct? You feel that is what CNN and CBS are for, right? The freedom of the press is limitless, therefore anything less is censorship, yes?

As you think this through, are you convinced that each and every action our military partakes in should be judged and scrutinized by the American Public? Surely as a Jarhead you can't feel that way.

Do you have knowledge of military interrogation or pyschological techniques? Was anything in any of the photos we've seen so far in any way illegal or against the codes set forth in the Geneva Convention?

No one has shown me that even one of those photos showed evidence of a crime. We hear stories of other things that may have happened, and those activities were already under investigation, so there was no need for CBS to "go public". So to me, the only possible explaination for the release of the photos was for political expediency by the Anybody-But-Bush controlled media. Notice, as a courtesy to you, I did not use the term "Liberal".

I would simply like to hear specifically what "crimes" these photos allege to reveal? I do not claim to be an expert on the GC, but I do know that nothing in my background indicates to me that any of this was illegal or could be considered abuse. When I find a copy of the Geneva Convention on the internet, I'll look for the sections on Illegal Use of Nudity, Abusive Barkage by Dogs and Feloneous Homosexual Poses. These methods may seem barbaric to the average American, but in a wartime situation they are relatively mild. I know we can't talk about the training we've recieved in the armed forces relating to this, but it sounds like you should know this as well as I do.

If the public can't handle this stuff and it's not illegal, then no, the media has no business putting it in our living rooms. It will only cost us lives and make an already difficult job impossible. That's why it went "public".

 

[ATL2CDG]

It's only the illegal American occupation of a sovereign nation that is 'cost[ing] us lives and mak[ing] an already difficult job impossible.' The media is simply allowing the American and international public see the deplorable actions of the 'coalition forces' upon the people of Iraq.

I can assure you that the Muslim extremists don't need photos or videos of military behavior to hate the Western world.

 

[Big Duke Six]

Thanks for clearing that up for me.

Just for clarification for you, those guys in prison were all suspected criminals. You also realize that many of the people in those prisons are not even Iraqis. The vast majority of the attacks upon our troops over there have been perpetrated by foreign nationals (terrorists) in Iraq to weaken our will. Something tells me that they didn't have a respect for us as a "sovereign nation" in the fall of '01.

 

[ATL2CDG]

The vast majority of the attacks upon our troops over there have been perpetrated by foreign nationals (terrorists) in Iraq to weaken our will.

I beg to differ. The earliest attacks after the occupation began were indeed committed by non-Iraqi nationals. However, evidence has shown the most recent, which are by far the most violent attacks, have been committed by Iraqis.

Nonetheless, if Swaziland were to invade the US, overthrow the government and put puppet 'governing council members' in the White House, I seriously doubt a bunch of M16-armed Americans wouldn't be taking popshots at the occupiers.

You may see the Americans and the 'coalition' as saviors, but it's obvious that a good number, if not most, of the Iraqis don't share your enlightened opinion.

You can quote 9/11 all you want, but no incontravertable evidence has been drawn linking Iraq with Al-Queda. I thought we went because of WMD... oh wait, we didn't find any. Okay, we went because Saddam was an immenent threat. Oh wait, he wasn't. Well, hell, Iraq's got oil and right in the middle of the Muslim world... Let's take it over, call it 'democratization', carefully ignore all input from the actual people of Iraq, torture its people and create an American presence in the area so we can control the area. Okay, that sounds about right.

 

[Big Duke Six]

My 9/11 connection WAS to the terrorists in Iraq, not to Iraq.

You may see the Americans and the 'coalition' as saviors, but it's obvious that a good number, if not most, of the Iraqis don't share your enlightened opinion.

So you're a real patriot too. Unlike you, I AM proud of the United States and I DO feel the Iraqi people will be better off because of us. I see where you're really coming from now. You don't like us.

And you're wrong about the number of Iraqi's who support us. Most do. I'll try to find the numbers, but I know that there are INCREASING numbers of Iraqis who are joining the fight against the terrorists in their own country who are trying to ensure democracy fails. As the US public support falls with each attack against us, they are becoming aware that they are going to have to attack the problem from within. It is taking awhile, as can be expected, for them to realize what we offer and what they stand to lose if we and they fail. They are pleading with their neighboring countries to stop letting non-Iraqis inside Iraq. Iraq has become a playground for every terrorist group out there who has ever wanted to take a shot at us. Don't believe CNN. Have you seen them say anything positive about us there yet? The Iraqis want us to succeed. Then they want us to get out, which is great because that was what we said we would do all along.

As for the prisoner scandal, to paraphrase David Brooks, one thing everyone needs to understand is that we can't defeat ruthless enemies without wielding power. But we can't wield power without sometimes being corrupted by it. Therefore, we can't do good without losing our innocence. This has been a fact of human nature since the beginning of time, but it is particulalry convenient now for the anti-war crowd to exploit these actions of a few and call our cause unjust. The bogus "outrage" they've shown is just that.

 

[ThomasR]

Stop the Press

.......... So when you complain--justly--that the actions of the soldiers in question have endangered the war effort by further inflaming Arab public opinion (NOTE: Is that possible?), just remember that the actions of the U. S. press have done the same...........

onthebeach,

Military news is slanted, as all single agencies are, that is why we need more than one view point. The object of war is to restrict opposition. The ultimate form of war is the "bullet." Where that bullet is aimed is a factor of the facts we have when pulling the trigger. One news agency can load it's column with complete lies, but the intent will be revealed by other reports of the same incidents.

It is not the responsibility of the military to report the news, but rather to conduct its affairs by time tested rules of conduct.

It is easy to pull the trigger.

 

[Snakum]

They will do anything in their power to see the furtherance of their liberal agenda, which includes US defeat in Iraq, plain and simple. I look forward to the opportunity to spit on a CBS correspondent.

You really are a kook, aren't you Bart? You weren't in that group of green beenies who were selling weapons and explosives to the local neo-Nazi nutjobs in Spring Lake back in the 90s were you? That sounds like something right up your ally.

Please crawl back into your cave. It's 2004 and your antiquated, paranoid ranting is becoming laughable.

Putz

Minh