Well, he's not completely wrong - facts are what they are. The importance, meaning, and relationship of facts, those are debatable.
And I would add that I do not hold a great deal of faith in the ability of this administration's ability to identify problems (much less accurately and usefully address them), nor in the overall competence of the Iraqi government that they've been so heavily involved in setting up. (Propping up?) And whether Blackwater management feels what it's doing is a problem is certainly interesting...but it would say more about the company than whether there's actually a problem.
um, no. while some things are corrupt, our government does NOT resemble Nazi Germany.
You're right, instead it resembles a fundamentalist dictatorship, with secret operatives, a private army and the ability to put people in detainment for indefinite amounts of time without trying them.
I believe that is a fairly PC description, of , well, the third reich...capitalization not deserved
Please- someone show me the difference between my current time and life and orwell's world.....
In Orwell's world, most people lived in the rubble of bombed out cities; they could barely get razor blades because the market for consumer goods had collapsed and the government was unable or unwilling to provide these things; the entire economy was planned and run by the state in a classically socialist sense; the population was under constant video surveillance when at home or at work; the government manipulated and doctored history to remove people entirely from memory; the government was instituting a new language designed to inhibit communication of dangerous ideas; there was no due process of any kind -- citizens were subject to arbitrary arrest and subjected to torture and subject to summary execution.
Those are just a few ways. Now will you stop with your nonsense?
there was also the implication towards the possibility that the war wasn't real, meaning that the government carried out attacks on itself, or rather it's own people, to further subjugate them.
now, i'm no rocket surgeon, but last time i checked, the Bush administration hasn't resorted to faking more attacks to keep our support for the "war on terror" up. or, rather, there hasn't been any more attacks that were used by the administration to keep the public backing the war, which may or may not have actually been conducted by the US government itself. because if they were really Orwellian, there would have been.
103
zarth
Seattle, WA
December 2004
JAN 19, 2008 09:36 AM
PsylentNemo said:
If you didn't find the CRS report's definition (not mine, the one used by all the policy makers) of mercenary convincing, how would YOU define it?
Dudes who get paid to run around with assault weapons in a war zone as part of their job descriptions are mercenaries. Calling them anything else is misleading.
PsylentNemo said:
Logistical outsourcing has been done because it has proven to be more cost effective, and beneficial to the public. Same with security.
There's a very interesting and fairly well-balanced essay on the subject here. But it's not safe to say that the economics of the matter are really settled either way.
PsylentNemo said:
Reconstruction has NEVER been a part of military doctrine, only to provide security for those doing so. Diplomacy has almost nothing to do with war, except war is the result when diplomacy fails. The diplomatic carrying-ons over there have very little to do with the military.
I never said that they were ever part of military doctrine, just that they were more critical aspects of modern warfare than set-piece battles are.
PsylentNemo said:
And no, I am not suggesting that you should be president. That was an assinine comment, and not a rebuttal to my argument.
My point was that I couldn't make out a coherent argument in your post.
PsylentNemo said:
Though don't get me wrong. I would love for you to sit behind that chair for one day. I would love to see how you would run this country, and in turn how it shapes you further on in your life. As a matter of fact, I would even consider voting for you, provided that we agreed on a number of issues.
Really? Cause I'm kind of an asshole, you know.
PsylentNemo said:
What I am saying is that this is America. Any American has the right to whine, bitch, and moan about whatever it is that they see is wrong with anything. An intellegent, informed induvidual, like yourself, knows that there are certain channels through which he one can make his opinion heard. But you must realize, that is your opinion. If it were fact, then no one would disagree, because you can't argue facts. All I am saying is that if you, in your heart of hearts, feels that we need to expedite legislation governing the process through which these investigations are conducted and clarify accountability of the private contractors, then you need to do so. It's your responsibility as a citizen of our great nation to get your voice heard, above and beyond the uninformed.
As a matter of fact, if you would like to start a petition to the matter, I would happily sign. It would do wonders to clear up these percieved grey areas. I personally will not start the petition, because I believe there are other matters more pressing. Our economy, for example. I'm sure we can both concur on the dire state that it is in. So, the figurative ball is in your court...
Well, I'm pretty sure I have signed petitions and emailed my Congressional representatives on the topic. I do an awful lot of that, though, and it's hard to keep track.
Once again with the assumption that "we" never do anything but moan and whine on SG...
Didn't you already get rebuffed for starting off your posting career here with that line of thinking, PsylentNemo?
I'm also going to have to be honest; I was hoping you wouldn't be able to back up the idea of the FBI operating in Iraq. That, alone, is more terrifying to me than any news of egregious Blackwater behavior that I've heard.
um, no. while some things are corrupt, our government does NOT resemble Nazi Germany.
You're right, instead it resembles a fundamentalist dictatorship, with secret operatives, a private army and the ability to put people in detainment for indefinite amounts of time without trying them.
I believe that is a fairly PC description, of , well, the third reich...capitalization not deserved
Please- someone show me the difference between my current time and life and orwell's world.....
In Orwell's world, most people lived in the rubble of bombed out cities; they could barely get razor blades because the market for consumer goods had collapsed and the government was unable or unwilling to provide these things; the entire economy was planned and run by the state in a classically socialist sense; the population was under constant video surveillance when at home or at work; the government manipulated and doctored history to remove people entirely from memory; the government was instituting a new language designed to inhibit communication of dangerous ideas; there was no due process of any kind -- citizens were subject to arbitrary arrest and subjected to torture and subject to summary execution.
Those are just a few ways. Now will you stop with your nonsense?
there was also the implication towards the possibility that the war wasn't real, meaning that the government carried out attacks on itself, or rather it's own people, to further subjugate them.
now, i'm no rocket surgeon, but last time i checked, the Bush administration hasn't resorted to faking more attacks to keep our support for the "war on terror" up. or, rather, there hasn't been any more attacks that were used by the administration to keep the public backing the war, which may or may not have actually been conducted by the US government itself. because if they were really Orwellian, there would have been.
Please!!!! I never tried to say it was identical...though in a way the computer you are talking on could be considered as a forerunner- or possible allegory of the "Big Brother" screens in the book...there are however SIMILARITIES between "1984" and our current world in the loss of rights and personal privacy...perhaps I should have just called some of the things I was seeing "Orwellian" as opposed to saying to compare our world and the fictional world in 1984....some people take things a bit too literally...
No one can say that this IS nazi Germany or Orwell's 1984- but no one can say that there are not disturbing similarities between our current situation and Both political climates...and certainly a serious erosion of what was meant by the founders of the country when they wrote our Constitution and Bill of Rights....
There are many problems here...this article just touched the surface of one of them, but then people got off subject, reactive, and in some cases almost insulting....maybe it has something to do with so many hours of darkness during the day...who knows...
That would go under the heading of taking things to literally as opposed to a comparison, allegory, or simile....if I was having a bad day- and said "just shoot me" you sound like one of those people that just might....
107
zarth
Seattle, WA
December 2004
JAN 20, 2008 04:33 PM
strndniowa said:
That would go under the heading of taking things to literally as opposed to a comparison, allegory, or simile....if I was having a bad day- and said "just shoot me" you sound like one of those people that just might....
He totally would. And if you survived, he'd probably get you thrown in jail as an accomplice to attempted murder, while he walked.
malkav11
Saint Paul, MN
July 2003
JAN 18, 2008 10:37 PM