The War Must Go On, O RLY? Options

[illriginal]

That's just it, we're not losing to Iraqi insurgents. Hostile forces have suffered an immense number of casualties compared to US forces. It's such a touchy situation because of the political ties involved. If we were faced against a somewhat conventional military force, then this would be a landslide victory. Unfortunately, we have to be 100% sure that a man armed with an RPG is indeed a threat, or we could face some serious penalties.

Yeah but the terrorist you're tryin to fight is not uniformed. These are nothing better than street thugs with AK-47s and other military weapons that we've given them, yeah... we.

On top of that terrorists exist all around the world, all different shapes and sizes, genders, skin color, race, ethnicity, different agendas etc... you can't kill terrorism.

Only way that would be possible is if the world was taken by one government and had surveillances on every single object that ever existed.

And from my understanding of it all, the media has a contract with the military. There's only certain footages/intel they can provide to the American public. Not for the sake of security and giving away strategies or blowin covers either. But to keep us uninformed in what's really goin out there.

The numbers of death they report to us can't even be claimed legitimate in the first place. If they did tell us, not only will the terrorist feel like they're accomplishing and winning but it would also drop the American morale.

Think about it.

[fameONE]

Yeah but the terrorist you're tryin to fight is not uniformed. These are nothing better than street thugs with AK-47s and other military weapons that we've given them, yeah... we.

On top of that terrorists exist all around the world, all different shapes and sizes, genders, skin color, race, ethnicity, different agendas etc... you can't kill terrorism.

Only way that would be possible is if the world was taken by one government and had surveillances on every single object that ever existed.

And from my understanding of it all, the media has a contract with the military. There's only certain footages/intel they can provide to the American public. Not for the sake of security and giving away strategies or blowin covers either. But to keep us uninformed in what's really goin out there.

The numbers of death they report to us can't even be claimed legitimate in the first place. If they did tell us, not only will the terrorist feel like they're accomplishing and winning but it would also drop the American morale.

Think about it.

I work in a combat operations center, with Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF) planners. It's like a big ass game of risk that is real life. It's a long way from sleeping in the field and playing with C4, but we process the casualty reports. We're not losing this war in terms of combat losses. We're losing a political struggle. f**k the media, b.

[Jiji]

It's an odd issue. People like to make it seem very odd. America has turned into a melodramatic victim in the eyes of middle-class society. Because no one bothers to think, maybe Blackwater DID something, exploiting Iraqi workers like America has been doing for years now, maybe Bush is too DAMN COZY, and maybe we're all JUST TOO HAPPY.

The soldiers need to come back, before all of those men are broken entirely- physically and mentally. They went willingly, but now there is simply no purpose. Unless, tossing puppies off cliffs and blowing up schools counts as liberation and purpose. Kinda.

[ersatz]

what do you drive?

1997 Dodge Caravan.

[*paperplane*]

^Is that a minivan? (I had to google it.)

I don't know. I think they underestimate the general public (don't get me wrong, I think most are idiots too). The price of crude oil dropped pretty significantly today, like $10. It's almost sub 100 again.

Hm, gas here seems to have been steadily around $3.19 for at least three weeks. Around campus it can get over $3.30, but that's just taking advantage of the convenience.

I drove home and back today in only about a quarter of a tank. That's about 62 miles each way. I don't know how much it costs to fill the whole tank because my parents demand I have at least half a tank when driving to or from school, but the last time I probably had to fill 3/4 of the tank, it was just under $30. So yeah, I'm not complaining because I drive a small car in Georgia where gas is still comparatively cheap.


But for the sake of being at least slightly on topic, I read today that Dick Cheney's response to being told that 2/3 (or was it 3/4?) of the American public didn't approve of the war and found it unnecessary was, "So?" Lovely.

[*Steven*]

It's dropping here, I can get a tank of regular @ $3/gallon.

[BadCraziness]

Contrary to Bush's perspective, we are not the world police.

We have so many problems in our own country, and we should be focusing on them now. This war is one of the reasons our economy is so bad.

Why are we spending billions of dollars to blow up Iraq and then put it back together again, when there are millions of people in America who don't even have homes?

If we directed all of the money we're spending in Iraq on the homeless here, we wouldn't have half as many homeless people anymore.

Or, if you're a cynical tard who thinks most homeless people chose to be homeless, we can direct our money towards making our schools suck less. Being the most prosperous nation in the world and being, what, 17th in education is pretty awful.

[illriginal]

If we directed all of the money we're spending in Iraq on the homeless here, we wouldn't have half as many homeless people anymore.

Or if we could stop bullshitting each other into believing that this democracy erm... capitalism is good, we would realize we're only f**kin our selves. Capitalism is only meant for the rich by exploiting the poor til their death.

Introduce socialist-democracy, then we'll fix health care, education, classism would be abolished, and finally our well being as Americans would be far better than any other nation. THEN we can work on all our homelands that we've been exploiting the shit out of for the last what? 500-600 years?

[BadCraziness]

Or if we could stop bullshitting each other into believing that this democracy erm... capitalism is good, we would realize we're only f**kin our selves. Capitalism is only meant for the rich by exploiting the poor til their death.

Introduce socialist-democracy, then we'll fix health care, education, classism would be abolished, and finally our well being as Americans would be far better than any other nation. THEN we can work on all our homelands that we've been exploiting the shit out of for the last what? 500-600 years?

Yaaaaay holy shit we agree on something!
I'll start organizing the parade.

[illriginal]

Yaaaaay holy shit we agree on something!
I'll start organizing the parade.

[Comptine]

If anyone has been keeping up with current events, the death toll in the Iraq has been rising and the extremists are getting more violent as the number of troops decrease (semi-first phase of pulling out).

America's caught in a dead end. Whether we leave or stay, the violence won't end. What do you propose we do?

[illriginal]

If anyone has been keeping up with current events, the death toll in the Iraq has been rising and the extremists are getting more violent as the number of troops decrease (semi-first phase of pulling out).

America's caught in a dead end. Whether we leave or stay, the violence won't end. What do you propose we do?

Realistically... nothin. I just sat here for a good 10 minutes thinkin. Terrorists are terrorists, they don't belong to a specific country, or race, or gender, etc... they're every where with their own agenda and twisted belief system.

This whole anti-terrorism war is nothing but a creation of a genocidal census. Hell not even the troops want to be there. In fact majority of them that spoke out about their wantin for a change, and a few of them admitted to personally endorsing Obama.

[Stuckie]

Yeah but the terrorist you're tryin to fight is not uniformed. These are nothing better than street thugs with AK-47s and other military weapons that we've given them, yeah... we.

Actually, they're using unconventional means of attacking U.S. Soldiers. They dont come out and meet us head on. They use IEDs (Improvised Explosive Device) to target supply trucks, Humvees, and other convoys. They'll place an IED anywhere and in anything. They leave IEDs in dead animals, rubble in a city, or in our own vehicles that are already destroyed. Even in this form of cowardice fighting, we are training soldiers how to identify IEDs and what to do when they encounter one.

[Melie]

Actually, they're using unconventional means of attacking U.S. Soldiers. They dont come out and meet us head on. They use IEDs (Improvised Explosive Device) to target supply trucks, Humvees, and other convoys. They'll place an IED anywhere and in anything. They leave IEDs in dead animals, rubble in a city, or in our own vehicles that are already destroyed. Even in this form of cowardice fighting, we are training soldiers how to identify IEDs and what to do when they encounter one.

^that is very true. my hubby was telling me some stories about what was going on down there.

[Stuckie]

My Drill Sergeant from Basic told me about when he engaged an insurgent.He was using a kid as a human shield while standing behind a group of women. They use low, dirty tactics to fight.