Poll

do you think we should, you know...

I am an american and I think we should
25 (26%)
I am american and I don't think we should
14 (14.6%)
I am american and don't care what hapens
4 (4.2%)
I am not american and I think we (you) should
11 (11.5%)
I am not american and I don't think we (you) should
32 (33.3%)
I am not american and I don't care what you do
7 (7.3%)
I am american living elsewhere and will do it myself if they don't!
3 (3.1%)

Total Members Voted: 94

Voting closed: March 12, 2003, 05:52:55 pm

Author Topic: Iraq?  (Read 146089 times)

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Offline Tiara

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Iraq - The Great Thread - all war news goes here
Yeah Been some time I actually used Russian... (besides on SB). It isn't "term" its 'member'.

And the other thing has 2 meanings... estimated AND appreciated. So its about right :p
I AM GOD! AND I SHALL SMITE THEE!



...because I can :drevil:

 

Offline Stunaep

  • Thread Necrotech.... we bring the dead to life!
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Iraq - The Great Thread - all war news goes here
Quote
Originally posted by Shrike
Except Tiara just admited to me she got it wrong. :p

that's what I meant. I never doubted you for a second
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Offline Top Gun

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Iraq - The Great Thread - all war news goes here
Quote
Originally posted by Falcon X
One  more thing.  
For centuries there has been war and strife in Italy and what has come out of it?  Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Rapheal, the Sistine Chapel etc.

Let's look at switzerland... highly peaceful and fairly socialist what has come out of that country?  The coo coo clock.


What a load of complete Bunk riddled with confirmation bias, selective thinking and almost every other cardinal sin of presenting a cohrent argument.

Wars of plunder bring a lot of prosperity to a nation provided the actual fighting isn't happening on that said nations doorstep. Leonardo de Vinchi certainly wasn't Painting Frescos on the front line.

Keep your Geographical, cultural and historic ignorance out of this thread. Switzerland, made vast quantities of money by exploiting the various European Powers from the First World War onwards, it has virtually non existent poverty and has contributed such people as Euler (to name one) to the world. Bad Examples, Bad statistics, bad reasoning and inaccurate conclusions.

The same argument could be disected and altered to support any conclusion.

It consis of 'In (A country) country there has been (Insert half backed historical half truth here about an attribute you wish to glorify) and it has produced (List positive achievements of civilzation here.

Whilst in (B country) they (Whatever action this country doesn't do that the previous one did) and what have they produced: (insert Any unimportant discovery the country has made (the more steriotypical the better) and portray it as the only one it has made impervious to counterexamples anywhere)

Therefore country A is better than B and the action A does that B doesn't is the reason why. Therefore that action is positive and should be emulated.
« Last Edit: April 04, 2003, 04:05:28 pm by 266 »

 

Offline Razor

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Quote
Originally posted by Shrike
I DO hope you're kidding.


Leave your hopes somewhere else. I am not kidding.

Quote
Tell me, comrade Razor - what would you be willing to give to The Party?

Is this some kind of a sick joke? :wtf:

 

Offline Shrike

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Iraq - The Great Thread - all war news goes here
Quote
Originally posted by Razor
Leave your hopes somewhere else. I am not kidding.
Then you're living in happy fun-fun land, where democracy is bad and totalitarianism is good.  Do you like being able to say your opinions?  Then be damn glad the Americans won the cold war.
WE ARE HARD LIGHT PRODUCTIONS. YOU WILL LOWER YOUR FIREWALLS AND SURRENDER YOUR KEYBOARDS. WE WILL ADD YOUR INTELLECTUAL AND VERNACULAR DISTINCTIVENESS TO OUR OWN. YOUR FORUMS WILL ADAPT TO SERVICE US. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE.

 

Offline Shrike

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Iraq - The Great Thread - all war news goes here
And Razor, why exactly do you consider the US evil again?
WE ARE HARD LIGHT PRODUCTIONS. YOU WILL LOWER YOUR FIREWALLS AND SURRENDER YOUR KEYBOARDS. WE WILL ADD YOUR INTELLECTUAL AND VERNACULAR DISTINCTIVENESS TO OUR OWN. YOUR FORUMS WILL ADAPT TO SERVICE US. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE.

  

Offline Mr. Vega

  • Your Node Is Mine
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Iraq - The Great Thread - all war news goes here
Quote
I don't know about Buddhism, but the former is possibly the biggest idiot who ever lived; I can rant on about him for hours.


Wow. This is the first time I've heard you denounced ideas that work.  Ghandi is an idiot, because he won independence without needing a fight. Interesting reasoning.

Some day you might realize that war is stupid, wasteful, and in the long run, incredibly ineffecetive.





Go Commies!:D
Words ought to be a little wild, for they are the assaults of thoughts on the unthinking.
-John Maynard Keynes

 

Offline Bobboau

  • Just a MODern kinda guy
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and some day you might realize that the world isn't as simple as
"war is bad"
Bobboau, bringing you products that work... in theory
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Offline Turnsky

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Iraq - The Great Thread - all war news goes here
i may be wrong here, but hasn't the entire history of the earth been shaped by constant conflict and conquest?
   //Warning\\
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in case of emergency, administer caffeine to the artist,
he will become docile after that,
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Offline Kamikaze

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Iraq - The Great Thread - all war news goes here
Considering how life on Earth works, yes.

Quote
But still, I refuse to believe that struggle and conflict is what defines us.


Well... can you think of anything that humans are involved in that absolutely doesn't involve conflict or struggle? Conflict is inherent (as the environment is not "perfect") for humans, now actually you can easily say that struggle/conflict aren't needed for definition. (we wouldn't really be humans though...) It just means you have to drop an axiom of humans, "all humans strive to survive, whether on the hardware level or software level"  

Quote
As long as it isn't a concious computer cause that could get corrupt too.


Consciousness does not indicate that something will be conflicting or struggle. That is only for a human-esque being that has the same built-in values (hardware) and thoughts built on top of it (software) as a normal human being (or any other animal on Earth). You can have a perfectly conscious (Generates thoughts and self-awareness) that is non-self-sustaining. The problem being that such a construct wouldn't have a drive to sustain it's idealogical state (as it is in full control of the state, it's demise implies the demise of the state) and would perish among outside pressures. (unless we assume that there are no human pressures on the state, but if that's the case what's the point of using a computer? [if humans are so ideal that is])
Science alone of all the subjects contains within itself the lesson of the danger of belief in the infallibility of the greatest teachers in the preceding generation . . .Learn from science that you must doubt the experts. As a matter of fact, I can also define science another way: Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts. - Richard Feynman

 

Offline Mr. Vega

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Iraq - The Great Thread - all war news goes here
Quote
Originally posted by Bobboau
and some day you might realize that the world isn't as simple as
"war is bad"


Bobboau, my view isn't that simple. Yes, conflict what creates progress. But that doesn't mean you should be eager to jump into it. If war is to be used at all, it should be used as a last resort, and there is overwhelming evidence that this war is not a last resort.

I'm tired of arguing.
Words ought to be a little wild, for they are the assaults of thoughts on the unthinking.
-John Maynard Keynes

 

Offline CP5670

  • Dr. Evil
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Iraq - The Great Thread - all war news goes here
Quote
Bobboau, my view isn't that simple. Yes, conflict what creates progress. But that doesn't mean you should be eager to jump into it. If war is to be used at all, it should be used as a last resort, and there is overwhelming evidence that this war is not a last resort.


Which essentially boils down to "war is bad," because if it creates progress, then people should indeed (and will) be eager to jump into it for their purposes. War is an option, just like any other, and may be a last resort, a first resort, or anything in between based on other conditions. So it is indeed that simple. :D

Quote
Wow. This is the first time I've heard you denounced ideas that work. Ghandi is an idiot, because he won independence without needing a fight. Interesting reasoning.


Won independence? :D Quite the contrary; you obviously have not looked at what happened there in detail at all. The reason India got its independence was that the UK had been somewhat weakened by WW2 and the INA was slowly gaining support, so the British decided to pull out before any armed uprising could occur. Gandhi was actually a major deterrent to independence, since his power and influence in the Indian parliament was so great that he could essentially kick out any congress member he pleased, which is what happened to anyone who made any mention of armed rebellion. And of course, the rapid spread of his ideas, the effects of which are seen to this day, delayed attempts at independence for many decades.

He has actually been recorded in public speeches a number of times saying that he did not even want full independence and was happy to be a part of the British empire, but was just begging for a little more freedom. They therefore let Gandhi stay in power because they knew that as long as he and his ideas were dominant, they could continue to rule without any trouble; Churchill once called him a "half-naked man of straw" which, although a massive understatement, gives an idea of what they thought of him. :D Gandhi was either a paid agent of the British or just a phenomenally stupid person, which is actually not all that unlikely considering India's political history.

On a side note, one funny thing about him is that he actually sent an official letter to Churchill during the height of WW2 asking him to show no resistance to the German onslaught and to let them kill and take, because they will eventually relent. :D (I kid you not; this one has made it into some history books)

Quote
I meant with conflict and struggle fighting and war. Not the peacefull competition :p

If we were only defined by those things we would be Klingon :rolleyes:


Same thing; competition can take many forms, but no one form is any more absolutely peaceful or warlike than another. what are these klingon like?

Quote
i may be wrong here, but hasn't the entire history of the earth been shaped by constant conflict and conquest?


Exactly. :yes: Actually, here is an interesting quote I read a few days ago:

"The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas, values or religion but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact; non-Westerners never do." -Samuel P. Huntington
« Last Edit: April 04, 2003, 10:14:32 pm by 296 »

 
Iraq - The Great Thread - all war news goes here
"The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas, values or religion but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact; non-Westerners never do." -Samuel P. Huntington

That's total crap and you know it.  Westeners countrary to what the media will say LOST the crusades.  We ****ing lost.  Not to mention they were a defensive measure.  We really haven't had armed conquest against them.  The difference is not in war but in our governments and industry.  We got smarter than they were... period.
"I am about to drop the hammer and dispense some indiscriminant justice!" -Starcraft

"First rule of government spending, why build one for the price of one, when you can have two for twice the price." - S.R. Hadden (Contact)

 

Offline Stryke 9

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FalconX: Okay. So, one defeat. Two major ones, if you count the Russo-Japanese war. And... that's about it. And the West cleaned 'em up afterwards anyway in both cases. Out of hundreds of military adventures, from the Americas (where the Europeans killed over 9 million locals in the northern continent alone) to Africa (which is still in pieces after colonization) to the Middle East (well... duh), twice it was the Euros who lost significantly- Vietnam and the like don't count, the Americans and French lost face, sure, but that was about it. And though you could try to argue that we Westerners had the superior culture regardless of weaponry, the West's tendency to colonize and force the (invariably militarily) subjected country to adopt basics of European culture kinda wiped out any supporting evidence that theory might have. Though you're welcome to find an example of a non-European nation that adopted Western culture without an invasion or two.

 

Offline CP5670

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Iraq - The Great Thread - all war news goes here
Quote
That's total crap and you know it.  Westeners countrary to what the media will say LOST the crusades.  We ****ing lost.  Not to mention they were a defensive measure.  We really haven't had armed conquest against them.  The difference is not in war but in our governments and industry.  We got smarter than they were... period.


Which means the same thing as far as this matters. Look at what has happened after the crusades, since there have been a good 600 years of history since that period from which to draw conclusions. The benefits obtained from the governments and industry (including ideas) are channeled towards war, and that is the best way to measure how effective and correct they are. The West (earlier Europe, now US) has dominated the world for centuries because they have been the best at doing this.
« Last Edit: April 05, 2003, 02:10:11 am by 296 »

 

Offline Razor

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Quote
Originally posted by Shrike
And Razor, why exactly do you consider the US evil again?


:doubt:

 

Offline J.F.K.

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Iraq - The Great Thread - all war news goes here
Can we at least be the Hard Light Bolsheviks for a little while? We can change our names to the Communists later. :D
.
[font="SerpentineDBol"]. . . . W H O . I S . T H E . M A N , . W H O . I S . T H E . M Y T H ?[/font]

 

Offline Kamikaze

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Iraq - The Great Thread - all war news goes here
I think at this time we should insert a bit of star wars geekness (sacrificing all my nobility) to alleviate this sad, sad discussion...

Razor, with emotion: I arbitrarily hate the U.S. and all it's little pitiful, ignorant citizens!
Me, waving hands casually: You don't want to arbitrarily hate a population for what it's government supposedly did to your population.
Razor, submissively: I don't want to arbitrarily hate a population for what it's government supposedly did to my population.
Me, waving hands whimsically: You want to go home and rethink your political and ethical policies.
Razor, in a semi-dazed state: I want to go home and rethink my political and ethical policies... *walks away with enlightenment*
Science alone of all the subjects contains within itself the lesson of the danger of belief in the infallibility of the greatest teachers in the preceding generation . . .Learn from science that you must doubt the experts. As a matter of fact, I can also define science another way: Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts. - Richard Feynman

 

Offline Shrike

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Iraq - The Great Thread - all war news goes here
Quote
Originally posted by Razor
:doubt:
Because they have smillie faces?
WE ARE HARD LIGHT PRODUCTIONS. YOU WILL LOWER YOUR FIREWALLS AND SURRENDER YOUR KEYBOARDS. WE WILL ADD YOUR INTELLECTUAL AND VERNACULAR DISTINCTIVENESS TO OUR OWN. YOUR FORUMS WILL ADAPT TO SERVICE US. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE.

 

Offline Razor

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Iraq - The Great Thread - all war news goes here
Quote
Originally posted by Kamikaze
I think at this time we should insert a bit of star wars geekness (sacrificing all my nobility) to alleviate this sad, sad discussion...

Razor, with emotion: I arbitrarily hate the U.S. and all it's little pitiful, ignorant citizens!
Me, waving hands casually: You don't want to arbitrarily hate a population for what it's government supposedly did to your population.
Razor, submissively: I don't want to arbitrarily hate a population for what it's government supposedly did to my population.
Me, waving hands whimsically: You want to go home and rethink your political and ethical policies.
Razor, in a semi-dazed state: I want to go home and rethink my political and ethical policies... *walks away with enlightenment*


:wtf: :lol: :doubt:
Oh please do make me laugh! :lol:  Just a piece of advice. Your attempts are futile!