This bombing thing is becoming a joke...

[p_p_man]

I've just heard on the midday news that a different area was bombed last night (that in itself is a relief) which was honeycombed with caves and tunnels and where bin Laden is known to have hidden in the past.

Well for Chrissake...if they knew that why didn't they bomb it in the first place?

It couldn't have been the superiority of the Afghan airforce that stopped them. I just think they're lying to keep a non-story going as long as possible.

Soon it'll be "Oh look, there he is", and another area will be obliterated then "No, over here I see him!" boom! boom!.

I tell you the whole thing's turning into a farce...

Pity I'm not laughing...

 

[Lancaster]

This is war.
Bomb them until they capitulate.

 

[p_p_man]

This is not a war...

it's a farce...

As you're posting Lancaster you may have seen that arsehole kid from the British Islamic Parliament spouting off his indoctrinated little mouth just now on TV...

It's fools like him that wind me up. Well fools like him and Bush of course!

 

[Marxist]

P.P. are you an American war protestor hanging out in Canada? They declared an amnesty y'know. Come back home, Canada's an entire country north of Buffalo and well, it's just fucking cold this time of year. Come home P.P., come home.

Seriously P.P. I'm with you to a certain extent. There is a direct link between this fight and Orwell's world of constant war in 1984. There's way too much military showmanship and the media has been not much more than a cheerleader. I really don't want this to become an oil grab but we've got oil men in spots 1 and 2 and it's hard for a shark to ignore blood even if he didn't pull the victim overboard.

 

[p_p_man]

You mean, no more 'Nam...who won?

All I see Marxist is what everybody else sees. A massive amount of money, hardware and military might pounding at one of the most impoverished countries in the world to try and capture one man whom we are told is the person responsible for September 11.

I see the cock ups, the bombing of red cross depots, not once but twice, the destruction of a bus, civilian dead - "It has never been our intention nor ever will be to deliberately kill civilians" - well the country is big enough why do they keep hitting them? I see the Talaban still in power and I see a motley group of bandits who laughingly call themselves the Northern Alliance looking up at the sky, pointing and jumping for joy as more US jets go in to drop a few more bombs on something. God knows what. I don't even think they know themselves.

I see Islam shifting stance and becoming one under it's global religious banner. And I see a forthcoming war between two religions, a war that has been a long time coming but it has to happen one day.

I see Moslems screaming fanatically for a "Holy War" at the smallest of slights and I see Western politicians, with their noses firmly in the trough causing more escalation to suit their own monetary ends.

I see much more, but with the war in 'Nam now over, I think I'll take you up on your offer and come home...man, it's a tired, tired joe who's heading South...

 

[miles]

peepee

Your knowledge of the war is limited to what you see on TV, which is nothing but news about innocent civilians being killed in the bombing. Some have been killed, but most of the reports are coming from the Taliban. The truth is nobody really knows what's happening there and probably won't for some time. Some is due to the news blackout, but there is plenty of disinformation being leaked deliberately.

Immediately after September 11th everyone was up in arms to get the bastards. The key to us ridding the planet of these vermin will be our resolve to do so. People were saying the same thing before the ground attack in the Gulf War but really had no idea what was going on. Once it started we saw the effects of the bombing. The Iraqis were physically and psychologically devastated. I know, it's a different war. But give it time. It's just begun.

 

[xwizard4]

I'm glad to see some other people on this forum talking about this bullshit
"war on terrorism". For another article along this vein check this out:

http://www.davidicke.net/newsroom/europe/england/102901b.html

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

A short attention span is a wonderful thing.

 

[Guru]

 

[miles]

Dixon Carter Lee

Goes well with short-term memory loss.

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

"No, over here I see him!" boom! boom!.

I appreciate the effort it took to create the html to make the "boom! boom!" all pretty red. More effort than it took to create this wan position on a three week old war.

 

[cymbidia]

I'm reminded of Chicken Little and her efforts to get the others to help her sow the seeds and water the crop and weed and harvest and thresh and grind the wheat and then bake it all into bread. Only after the bread was cooling and that wonderful fresh bread smell was permeating the area did the rest move away from their self-indugent pursuits and try to claim some of the bread. CL, of course, denied them so much as a taste.

So it with the U.S. and our stand on terrorism. This show of military might, this bombing of red cross stations and non-military targets and empty desert, paints a big target on us as far as detractors go. It allows all those not convinced that this road will lead to the desired ends to poke fun at us - and to continue thier self-indulgent pursuits without helping in this fight.

The rest of us will have to remember who supported the U.S. in the beginning of our effort to combat global terrorism - and who sat on the sidelines and jeered these heartfelt, sometimes bumbling, initial efforts.

 

[WriterDom]

The Soviets took Afghanistan in one day. Six years later they had lost 118 jets, 333 helicopters, 147 tanks, 1314 armored personnel carriers, 433 artillery pieces or mortars, 1138 communications or CP vehicles, 510 engineering vehicles and 11,369 trucks.

I don't think you can make a fair comparison of our military today with the USSR's of 20 years ago. Nor can you look upon the Afghans the same way when they don't have the support of a super power.
But I put a lot more trust in our generals then I do an aging armchair spectator like PP who would only be happy with an invasion of India.

If you are impatient PP, then stop watching the news and go read a book. When something important happens we'll PM you.

 

[Guru]

 

[Tabby432]

I'm reminded of Chicken Little and her efforts to get the others to help her sow the seeds and water the crop and weed and harvest and thresh and grind the wheat and then bake it all into bread. Only after the bread was cooling and that wonderful fresh bread smell was permeating the area did the rest move away from their self-indugent pursuits and try to claim some of the bread. CL, of course, denied them so much as a taste.

It's The Little Red Hen. Sorry, I loved that book... I couldn't help myself.

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

Right. Chicken Little was the falling sky story. But what I want to know is what the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker were doing in that tub?

 

[miles]

DCL

They were doing each other.

 

[Renegade]

Miles

Right to the point, huh?

 

[p_p_man]

And where the hell's Superman...

...when you need him!

 

[cymbidia]

Ack! Mixing up my cautionary folk tales again!

Course, the sky is falling on the Afghans. Literally. And it'll keep falling, too, until that particular nest of terrorists is eradicated, however large the nest turns out to be.

Then on to the next.

 

[Guest]

and tonight at 8o pm on CNN....The war on Terrorism

The media is one of our strengths in this country. They dig deep for in depth stories that change our world as well as open our eyes to all that is around us. We see them exposing criminals, politicians abusing the public trust, helping in crisis situations when there is a call for urgent help as in the case of a lost child or a terrible storm rushing towards our communities.

But when the newscasts are over every evening, and the newspapers have gone to press for the day, the same media is back on the trail of a new story. It is a never ending process. Their thoughts are driven on the cutting edge. They have to be the one to uncover the big story for tomorrow.

They thrive on something as big as a "War". So many angles to choose from. So many stories behind the stories. The potential real life dramas that we sit weekly in front of our televisions watching the newest episode of West Wing or E.R. are now brought to us by the mass media. Real, life or death action we all have learn to crave, but this time, no actors other than the reporters. Our own real life episode of "Survivor".

We all know as a nation that we have been raised to be so sensitive to the wants, needs and feelings of others. We see children being beated and abused on the newscast at 10pm, and we are flooding the lines to the stations to adopt those poor babies. We see this again with animals that have been beaten and abused.

The reporters shove their microphones into the faces of the authorities making the heroic rescues. The media then villianizes the owners, parents, or family and friends that are stunned by the actions of what they had witnessed. Within the span of 3 minutes we have seen the criminal act, witnessed the horror, the heart felt pleas, seen with our own eyes the hero and the villian and we can rest easy now, the "play" is over. On to the next short story.

How many of you remember the story about an abused victim that you have seen on the news within the last six months? How many of you wanted to help somehow? How many of you actually did something for that person? How many of you can remember their name anymore? Or where it happened? Or did you ever see the ultimate outcome? Did you care six months later the way you cared the night it first aired?

We are so used to everything being wrapped up in a couple of half hour episodes on television. A war isn't planned out that way. We have no directors yelling "cut" when the bombs have exploded and died out. We have no 'extras' filling in as injured civilians begging for help.

So the media takes control of this drama and tries to do just that. They try to manipulate what is seen and heard. They know us, they know what we want to see. They know how to enrage us because the do it so well daily. They know how to get inside our heads and how to make us feel, hurt, cry and react.

I personally don't want daily briefings from the White House or Rumsfield. I don't care if some innocent victim living in a country we are at war with is hit by a bomb off target. I don't care if their warehouse was blown up by another stray missile. They are not getting the food anyway. It is being saved and guarded by the Taliban to sustain their own soldiers throughout this war. The Taliban has killled its own people for years.

Who are you kidding thinking we should be a kindler, gentler nation when we are at war? How the hell do you win a war when you are so worried about a bomb going off target by an inch or so and killing someone not in a uniform for the opposition?

The media had the world stirred with emotion on the days following September 11th. They worked hard to create those images in our heads that will never go away. They did story after story of heartbreaking losses in and attempt to hook us to their new prime time drama. We are just waiting for "Sweeps Week".

Did anyone really think a few weeks of big, exploding bombs was going to be the end of the Taliban? WWII was fought for a few more years after Pearl Harbor. Remember who won that war?

Stop playing to the media. Find out the facts of a story, and see what is not shown. Know that the only time we are going to see pictures from Afghanastan is when the Taliban want to show the world a picture that will play to our emotions.

What makes you think they are showing these attrocities for any reason other than enraging all the peace fanatics and etremist in the world? The only time we will hear of buildings being destroyed is when a civilian is dead. How many military targets and soldiers have the Taliban been as willing to give information to the media about or let the world see the effects of a bomb raid?


Fuck that is too damn long! Feel free to move to the next post!

Done with the rant now!

 

[Kymberley]

I knew it was going to time out!

That was me so make sure you don't start roasting a troll.

Flame away at me. Don't waste a good flame on something as untasty as an 'unregistered troll'.

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

Oh my God! ppman! Did you hear the news today? Apparently terrorists protected by the Taliban destroyed both the twin towers of the World Trade Center and part of the Pentagon with commercial airliners killing 6000 civilians, and then declared war on every man, woman and child in America. Holy shit! You're right! Time to call home the military and start them negotiations.

 

[Kymberley]

OH MY GOD NO!!!!!!!

Oh my God! ppman! Did you hear the news today? Apparently terrorists protected by the Taliban destroyed both the twin towers of the World Trade Center and part of the Pentagon with commercial airliners killing 6000 civilians, and then declared war on every man, woman and child in America. Holy shit! You're right! Time to call home the military and start them negotiations.

Please tell me that is not true DCL. Please tell us that is just a plot to the next spectacular movie that is being cast in HollyWeird. Surely you got that off something like SNL news and not the real media news outlets.

What shall we do?

Quick, hurry home and see how the writers are going to script the ending for us. We must know now. How dare they try and make us wait for the next episode.

 

[shadowsource]

Let me put it this way, pp:

NOT attacking al-Qaeda and the Taliban just now, and for a long time to come, would be tantamount to the UK's suddenly attacking the IRA, at the point of true peace. In both cases, the future would be wide open to massive bombings and civilian casualties. Britain is doing the right thing in Ulster, and peace looms for all, provided the government truly watches the Loyalist gunmen who now have an open field. To reverse that posture would invite repeated calamity.

In the US, we sit and twitch and wait for the next terrorist assault, which WILL happen (very soon, according to our shoddy Attorney General). If we do not pursue the enemy with all dispatch, resolve, judgement, etc, we are toast. Probably you are, too. It's my understanding that al-Qaeda doesn't attack the UK because they are comfortable there (and this is not an attack on the UK or its legal values). All I'm saying is that they hate you little less than they hate us. They are theocratic fascists who stand for everythig I oppose, and who would love to watch my blood fly out. Crush them, but I certainly hope that civilian casualties are minimized.