cbacon

C-Bacon, I don't like you either. You don't say? I thought for sure I'd been accepted into your good graces after that post *sigh* The point I was making was that it's not for the US to decide such things.

Which is why i'm not going to even bother with his clueless argument that Iraqi citizens should be treated as the equivalent of a 10 year old boy. Slayer, America is one of the freest nations in the world, but that dosen't disqualify the actions of its leaders over the past 50 years.

The tyranny of a minority sector shouldn't be indicitive of an entire region. Polls suggest that in most Middle Eastern countries, citizens are thinking more progressively, embracing the concept elections, further democratic processes and certain civil rights. It's hard for progress to flourish when Western nations are supporting authoritarian leaders.

Because that's exactly what he was implying.

University of Michigan Professor Juan Cole makes a good point:

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story...1821706,00.html

Why do you believe that the US has the right to decide when to leave rather than what the Iraqi people want?

Few good songs, but otherwise, meh.

Iraq shouldn't have to clean up the mess the US made. Hell, Iraq is currently paying reparations to US corporations for Saddam's invasion of Kuwait.

The US has the responsiblity (as the invader) to pay reperations for the amount of damage they caused. They should pay reparations for their crimes in Iraq which include the invasion (estimated between $50 and $100 billion by the World Bank) and the devestating effects of the sanctions they forced with the UK in the early 90s. The US have provided nothing for the Iraqis except for a war torn nation with unstable government (the result of elections that the US adamently fought against until they were forced to allow them following Sistani's protest). The "noble" removal of Saddam is a bit hard for Iraqis to swallow since Shiite rebels were asking for assistance to overthrow Saddam before the Gulf War. Instead, the US helped to strengthened his regime. Yes, it's obviously good that Saddam is no longer in power, but this certainly wasn't for humanitarian reasons and it was done under the worst of circumstances. To try and paint the result of this war in any positive light is ludicrous, as Iraqis are in a far worse situation than they were before the invasion, and compensation is necessary. Unfortunatly, the US record with paying reperations stressed by the international community is less than steller (i.e. Nicaragua). 87% of Iraqis want the US to leave. That should be enough reason to end this occupation.

Ultimately, it should be up to the Iraqis whether the US leaves or not. And the US has the responsibility for paying reperations.

When the US has shown that they are willing to make preemptive attacks on countries, then it's not surprising that rogue nations will develop deterrents. The US currently have thousands of soldiers stationed in South Korea. Remember the Cuban Missile Crisis? Attempted rehab, first and foremost. I don't think we should be following a type of model similiar to that of Nazi Germany. The state should have no right forcing anyone into slave labour as it is a gross human rights violation.

gWil knows the score, except maybe about the point about religious people being weak minded. Unpopular opinion: - Prisons should be done away with, or at least drastically modified. Same goes for prisoners working as slave labourers.

Since we're at the halfway point, what's everyone's favorite albums so far? I'd put the following (in no particular order) in my top ten: Destroyer - Rubies Jenny Lewis - Rabbit Fur Coat Calexico - Garden Ruins MSTRKRFT - The Looks Cat Power - The Greatest The Appleseed Cast - Peregrine The Dears - Gang of Losers The Grates - Gravity Won't Get You High Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones Belle and Sebastian - The Life Pursuit Biggest disappointment: Hawksley Workman - Treeful Of Starling Pleasant surprise: Nelly Furtardo - Loose

Fucking Jays >:C

Maybe sit this one out, UndertakerHart

Harper came out of his birthday meeting with Bush yesterday and said we's all better be scared. And Bush said, 'yep, them shitty korean missiles could stray off course and hit Vancouver, so y'all should reconsider that missile defense bullshit.' And Harper said "oh yea, more Canadian tax dollars for useless American defense scams comin' yer way big fella...' This shit practically writes itself.

Russia urges diplomatic solution with North Korea http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5154920.stm

Another Iraqi massacre. This time a farmhouse http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...-home-headlines

Yeah, jumpstart the nuclear war, fantastic idea.

Maybe we should be asking the Iraqis about all the good the soldiers are doing. Incidents like this are inexcusible and should be investigated and reported to the fullest extent. It would be a great disrespect to the family if it wasn't. The fact your trying to brush this episode off as something thats "not surprising" is totally reprensible. I guess we should have seen the My Lai massacre coming too.

Can you elaborate on how Saddam Hussein manipulated the sanctions that caused the Iraqi people to depend more on him and to be less likely to depose him? I think it's pretty clear. It's harder for the mostly Shiite opposition to form any sort of revolt during economic crisis and a country on the verge of starvation. Instead, the masses had to rely on him if they wanted any sort of stability in order to survive. They were able to form a rebellion before the sanctions occured, but the US set idly by as he crushed the opposition, as he was 'the lesser of two evils' at the time.

No one here is defending the guys actions.

Anything more than 3 seasons is pushing it. It'll probably jump the shark before the movie, if that happens.

Isn't Kazaa full of spyware?