usausausausausausaor is it land ofthemightyweshouldntannoy

Funny, I always thought other countries were involved as well.

 

Follow the money, and you get to the real reason.

Iraq, and the Arab countries, control the petroleum.
Ousting Saddam is a plot to deploy a decoy government into Iraq (as they did in Afghanistan) to then have access to other things.

The US is in Afghanistan as a precaution.
It now has an "ally" who happens to have a border with China.

Iraq, on the other hand, is a commercial treaty. By getting Saddam out of the way, they'll be able to obtain better deals in the petroleum, which is actually beginning to run low. How much fossil fuel do you think can be down there?

And, on another subject, I find it interesting how some posts show some concern about "other" countries having nuclear weapons, but nobody seems to have a concern that the country who has most nuclear weapons, who has used them in war, and who happens to be starting wars all over, can also end up using them. Didn't Bush approve the continuation of a project to develop a anti-ballistic missile "curtain" that actually violates the Geneva convention?

Oh, well.

I guess I just don't see any pro's in war ...

 

Ooooh! I love topics like this! They have so much potential for flaming and inflammatory discussion...oh yeah...

*drools*

*stops drooling to write some more...*

On the whole weapons of mass destruction/blow up the world thing, I'm kind of a fatalist on this point - I couldn't really give a shit what happens, there's no way I can influence events or change anything. I'd just like to see those urban survivalists get the one-up on everyone .

I see Bush as a bit of a warmonger. He wants Saddam's head on a platter, although it's probably for personal reasons more than military/terrorist ones.

Saddam didn't get where he was by being stupid. He's ruthless, he's smart and as long as he can inspire the fear/loyalty he does from the military, he's going to remain in power in Iraq.

Unless you don't take care of them, everyone's teeth are white.

You'd be surprised how true that statement is.

Actually, the USA has several treaties in place that they are expected to fulfill because those countries have helped them in other ways. For instance, we have the ANZUS treaty - it's mutually beneficial for both Australia and the US. They get to plonk a few military facilities somewhere in our territory, and we get access to their war technology and stuff.

Also, what is it that makes you believe that every country outside of the USA is pathetic? If those 'pathetic' countries weren't there, neither would the USA - it would have fallen apart, because they can't produce everything they need.

Actually, I haven't heard that phrase before. Probably because it either doesn't exist, or only Americans say it to themselves. I also think that Japan would be the ones who do the most R&D - you think all your home appliances were invented by Americans? Fuck no! Home appliances are also far more abundant than military crap as well.

 

Yeah, I can't wait until after the blast, when our local warlord will be a guy in fake fatigues who owns a pitbull called "Perdy Gurl" and has a garage full of tinned peaches.

My teeth are porcelain white. They also have the letters A-R-M-I-T-A-G-E--S-H-A-N-K-S enamelled on them, but that's cheap dentistry for you.

Over here we have the BITCH treaty, which means we basically have to do anything the US says.

Actually, I think our arrangement is like the one you described. The US has airbases and suchlike here. I'm not quite sure what we get out of it though. It certainly isn't early film releases.

 

You're not gonna forgive Hollywood this one, right?

 

After forgiving them for Tomb Raider, The Fast and the Furious, Kung Pow and the all the Police Academy movies, there's not a lot left.

 

Personally, I think Bush has his head up his rear end. -chuckle- Have any of you guys seen pictures of him talking? HAHA! He looks like a mule. -cough- Sorry.... anyway, I'd just like to say, concerning the A-bomb comment, that Truman had to make a very tough choice about that, knowing the destructive power and he felt that dropping the bombs would end the war. A week before they dropped the bombs, the united states planes dropped thousands of pamphletes saying that if the japanese did not surrender, they would use a weapon of mass destruction on them. Also, while I know that two wrongs don't make a right, I'd like to point out that the Japanese army had brutally killed (and raped) the natives of many islands in the Pacific. That wasn't right either. ..... that was a lot of typing. Anyway, going back to present day USA, I think that Bush is just wasting resources trying to be the hero. I don't approve of his ridiculous "War on Terrorism" (gimme a break =p) and I think that he should worry about some issues that are very important that he's oh... conviently overlooking. The environment! Don't get me started on him and the enviroment... grrr... he thinks we should "selectively" cut trees down from National Forests! And he also thinks we should drill for oil in the pristine Alaskan Wilderness! :evil: How much longer do we have this creep for? Do people honestly think he is a good president? In my opinion, if not for 9-11, people would be groaning and asking each other how we could elect this jackass. -bows- End rant.

 

Bush does seem a radical on the environment, but I don't agree that he should forget about some things and concentrate on others. It's not like he has to run the War on Terror himself, or go out and stop people cutting trees. He can deal with both issues. In fact, he IS dealing with both. Far from ignoring the environmental issues, he has taken the trouble to find people willing to provide "evidence" that there is no reason to enact envirnomentally friendly (but costly in the short term) policies.

When it comes down to it, I don't even think Bush is the problem, entirely. He represents the US nation. As the product of a democratic process, he can't be the only one who feels this way over Iraq. I realise the USA is slightly different in the amount of power the democratic process confers to one person, but I doubt Bush would be able to push this thing far without some backing amongst the other democratically elected representatives he has to deal with. Tony Blair can't take a piss without half his cabinet ragging on him for holding it wrong.

You don't have to look far (scroll up to Darkwalker's posts) to find examples of dangerously jingoistic US citizens. If it wasn't for people like Milo balancing things out, I'd be very scared of where the US national identity will take the world political scene.

 

Albert Einstein was not asked to work on the Manhattan Project, which he was not thrilled about. He wrote a letter to Roosevelt speaking to him about the use of an atomic bomb to end the war, but Franklin died before he read the letter. For being an American, you don't seem very well informed about your country's history. Anyway, WW II didn't take place in the "Early 1900's", it was from 1939-1945.

 

And I've never heard the expression "those inventive Americans".

 

US army has a number of crimes on its account too. I can tell it without even pointing exactly what and when it did. And why is it so? Because each and every army on this planet committed crimes. Yes I mean Polish army too. Personally I think that during history lessons students should read about those valiant battles of their country’s army also from books written by people from a country which lost that battle, was invaded and whatnot. A little humility lesson for everyone would be nice.

As for using A-bomb by US. It is a terrible thing and no one can justify it in any way especially that people die even nowadays from it. On the other hand we have to remember that Japanese emperor had godly status at that time. People were willing to die for him. Kamikaze were not only in planes. Kids had grenades attached to them and were taught to run under American tanks and detonate should those tanks get ashore. War would last much longer and there would be a lot of casualties but I still doubt that would be any worse than what people at Hiroshima and Nagasaki experienced and still experience up till this day. In my eyes there’s no justification for using such a weapon and against civilians.

 

What, you don't like A. Jolie?

You mean "The quick and the undead?

Never even heard about it.

The first episode was quite funny. But then I was probably 12 or so while watching it. Actually I didn't see any of the other movies you mentioned but PA.

 

I won't have anything said against Kung Pow on this forum! You can ridicule Dubya and his country all you want, but stay away from Kung Pow!

Just one thing: Don't ever, EVER watch that movie when sober. You'll need copious amounts of beer/marijuana/drug of your choice to be able to enjoy it, but it's worth it.

 

I have nothing against her. I thought she was okay in the Gone in 60 Seconds remake (aka everything The Fast and the Furious could have been but wasn't). Her involvement in Tomb Raider was aawful, though. They took this fairly large chested woman, and made her wear a padded bra, so she looked enormous enough for what they imagined an audience composed of Tomb Raider players would need. It was ridulous - really, insultingly, overdone.

In fact, that's a fair metaphor for how I feel about the whole film - the creators made unnaturally large boobs of themselves.

 

As I said before, I know that two wrongs don't make a right, I just felt that I could point that out. Although the A-bombs were terrible, Truman felt that doing this would end the war, instead of costing thousands of more lives on both armies. I'm not sure about many people's feelings on this, but they did in fact, end the war.

 

Talking about past crimes of the USA or anyone else seems of only marginal relevance to the current topic.

I will say that I hope Bush isn't using the logic you put forward as a precedent. Saving thousands of militarily lives at the cost of millions of civilian ones isn't a decision I would back.

 

It wasn't an attack on you in case you perceived it so.

 

HELL YEAH

Kung Pow is great, and if you disagree, I will cut you.

 

Kung Pow will never grace a television in my presence again. I hereby take a vow to put my foot through any screen on which I see it being played. ANY screen.

I shall call this vow "Kung Pow: Enter the Foot"