[Colonol Dekker]

Ones mans terrorist is another mans freedom fighter, And vice versa rightly so. It all depends on what side of the fence you're on.

[AlphaOne]

Roger that!

Oh and i dont remember shouting out the US Empire all over the place. I just called it one. And untill the US stops creting artificial dangers to the "democratic and free citizens of the world" (a.k.a. the US oil industry,weapons industry and god knows what else involves money) then it will remain at least in mi opinion an Empire. No better then any other Empire that camo across this earth.

Also if the US milatary men came under napalm bomming and died horble painfull deaths or were bommed by some cancerigenic stuff the we will see the US gouverment actualy taking a stand and screaming for those things to be banned??

I mean what will it take for someone to learn??

[Colonol Dekker]

I gotta jump in, The British Empire will always be dear to me. "swells with pride"

[Flipside]

Oddly enough, no sooner did I post than I looked at the News and saw...

http://news.yahoo.com/fc/world/iran

That, at least, is a step in the right direction, maybe if, rather than assuming the worst, we had offered a helping hand in the first place....

Ah well....

[AlphaOne]

Each citizen can be proud more or less of his country no arguement from me there. Actualy there are citizens that should actuali burn they countries to the ground or sell it to the hiest biddder all the same but still....

Also at least the British Empire left railraods and industry and infrastructure and hospitals and countless other things behind it like the Romans and Babylonians and Egiptian etc but the US leaves anly crippled bodyes scourched fields and parentless children behind. In short only misseri they build nothing they just destroy.

Edited:

Woo see people we can talk and squeze eachother balls at the same time!

[Prophet]

Also at least the British Empire left railraods and industry and infrastructure and hospitals and countless other things behind it like the Romans and Babylonians and Egiptian etc but the US leaves anly crippled bodyes scourched fields and parentless children behind. In short only misseri they build nothing they just destroy.

As much as I hate US goverment I have to say that's not fair. Don't go rewriting history just to bash the states...

[SadisticSid]

Also at least the British Empire left railraods and industry and infrastructure and hospitals and countless other things behind it like the Romans and Babylonians and Egiptian etc but the US leaves anly crippled bodyes scourched fields and parentless children behind. In short only misseri they build nothing they just destroy.

Did we? I think the post-WW2 Germans would disagree. You're confusing intent with the more destructive properties of modern warfare.

[Colonol Dekker]

The Empire kinda died in my eyes roundabout then, But at least the Yanks still use "Imperial measurment" For some dridiculous reason they teach our children metric now...........

[Kosh]

The Empire kinda died in my eyes roundabout then, But at least the Yanks still use "Imperial measurment" For some dridiculous reason they teach our children metric now...........

It was two major wars against another European power that knocked out the once mighty British Empire.

Metric still pwns the "imperial measurement system" anyday.

Oddly enough, no sooner did I post than I looked at the News and saw...

http://news.yahoo.com/fc/world/iran

That, at least, is a step in the right direction, maybe if, rather than assuming the worst, we had offered a helping hand in the first place....

Ah well....

The US only did this because it was isolated and backed into a corner. It really did have no choice.

[Flipside]

May have been something to do with the Ayatollah saying that Iran may start using Oil Supplies as a weapon yesterday

[Janos]

White Phos burns on contact with air, the only way to extinguish it is to completely isolate the area from oxygen IE jump in a river, but using this in a desert environment would be pure eviiiil.

 

The best way to save yourself from that **** is to actually scoop/carve it out of your skin and flesh. Ouch. And the next worst part is that the WP will spontaneously ignite again and again and again.

And also it's very common weapon and included in the arsenal of pretty much every army there is. It is also versatile - it illuminates, marks, disguises, covers and burrrrns, and can be easily dispersed with low-tech applications like hand grenades, ari shells and rifle grenades.

[Janos]

Umm not to filp you post or anithing but what?? So then they are legal but at the same time ilegal?

They are legal. Like bombs and bullets and cruise missiles and even tactical nukes. Are you Nuke's gimmick, btw?

Their use in vicinity of civilian installations, against targets in the middle of civilian centers and, of course and as should be, against civilians themselves, however, is restricted and forbidden.

It's not very different from normal bombs and stuff, but because burn weapons are pretty nasty they are scrutinized more closely.   
And since US is not signatory to said treaty, it has no legal effect on USA. Sad but true

Oh and pardon me for the "technical" issue of the problem. Its basicly the same blasted thing under a new name. Please i can go around the finger for years with things like "technical issues" !

I actually agree. The purpose and general properties are pretty much the same, but the name "napalm" has understandably pretty negative connotations. It's a PR trick.

Also It doesnt matter wich convention it is the fact that the US is pissing all over international conevtions and treaties one after the other is a good indicator of things to come.

Again I agree on the overall message of yours, but we [THE INTERNET] have seen so many errors about just what Geneva convention actually IS that I get fed up with it.
It's not difficult to google. It's not difficult to fact-check. These things are important and different. Stuff like what I quoted gets repeated ad nauseum.
GC is more important than Hague and other weapon conventions (save for NPT), because it deals with people who are caught between two hostile armies hellbent on destroying each other.
Geneva convention bans .50cal? Nope! It bans explosive 20+mm rounds? Nope! It bans this and tha weapont? Nope! It's about people and how to treat them, were they friendlies or hostiles.
It's a small but annoying and sometimes really important mistake. And it's nice to correct people (although I was quite harsh to Nuke, sorry brother )

I can only imagine the world gooig like" Here come the nazis marines...ups the US marines" hell the nazis tortured people to get what they wanted. on and of the battlefield. sure they killed a lot of them too. but then agin the US is only one spet away from them.

I'm wondering tough if Uberfuhrer Bush will still want the nazi's salute?

Patriotism, isolationism, manifest destiny and all that jazz bite well into people with authoritarian philosphies. And there is a small authoritarian inside everyone. When people feel unsafe or unhappy, they usually turn to a Strong Leader Who Has Important Things to Say Which You Did Not Know Yet.

Read a comic book called Transmetropolitan. It's quite good. You might like it.

[aldo_14]

Also at least the British Empire left railraods and industry and infrastructure and hospitals and countless other things behind it like the Romans and Babylonians and Egiptian etc but the US leaves anly crippled bodyes scourched fields and parentless children behind. In short only misseri they build nothing they just destroy.

What, you mean the same British Empire as invented the concentration camp during the Boer War, or the same Romans that went from house to house, slaughtering or enslaving every person in Carthage, before destroying the city and ploughing the fields with salt to make them infertile?

[vyper]

That had a certain style though...

[Mars]

The US is just another empire, immoral and cruel, but that's the only way to the top.

[Tyrian]

A nation must do what's in its best interests, within ethical reason.  If it involves acquiring something from another nation, all attempts should be made to do so peacefully.  Only if it presents a definite, fact supported threat, should military force be used.  The US's policy of Manifest Destiny is an excellent example.  We expanded our borders because it was in our best interest.  However, "our best interest"  is no excuse for mistreating the Native Americans already there.  And now the pattern seems to be repeating again, this time with Iraq.  We invaded not because of "WMD" or "terrorists."  We invaded because of our oil greed.  There was no proof that Iraq contained WMD in the first place.  Second, Iraq is one of the most anti-terror countries in the Middle East.  Any terrorist presence would be deemed a threat to Saddam's power, hence, they would be eliminated immediately.  The greatest fear of a dictator is losing power.  Now we have Marines torturing and killing civilians, all because of a war based on greed. 

This brings to mind another example of the US acting in "its best interest," yet in an unethical manner.  Prior to WWII, the US was committed to wiping out poverty.  Its methodology was based in the theory of Eugenics.  Eugenics is the systematic sterilization of people considered inferior or harmful to society (such as, minorities, homosexuals, etc.)  often without their consent, or even knowledge.  The US felt it was in its best interest to eliminate these persons who were, to some people, "the cause of poverty and suffering."  Most everyone who has studied history is familiar with this story to this point.  What most people are not aware of, was that several US charitable foundations took this policy much, much further. 

Several of these foundations helped to fund the concentration camps responsible for the systematic extermination of Jews, amongst other groups, in Nazi Germany. 

Eliminating poverty:  An excellent goal.
Sterilizing your population to achieve said goal:  Disturbing, frightening, and extremely unethical.
A democratic society which advocated genocide with a portion of the people's CONSENT:  Indescribably terrifying.

Not the United States shining moment, wouldn't you say?

I am not anti-American or mentally distrurbed.  I just believe that in addition to a mounting economic deficit, the US is also facing moral bankruptcy.  Our government only does the "Right Thing," if it is politically convenient.  Even more so with the Bush administration. 

Just look at the genocide in Darfur.  The US won't intervene because there is no major advantage to us doing so.  Whereas, we invade Iraq at the drop of a hat, in order to gain oil resources.  There is absolutely NO REASON not to offer humanitarian aid to people who genuinely need and deserve it.

I'll end it here.  It's getting late.  I think I will have more to say tommorrow.

[AlphaOne]

Umm as far as i know the british empire built railroades and hospital and schools in every major colony it had.

Also the Roman empire sure it fough a lot o wars but it also helped educate and civilize the barbarian civilizations it ocupied. Letf roades and engineering and stuff like that. Not to mention hospitals were sort of hospitals.

Each empire across the time has left something behind something that influenced civilizations to come.

What has the US left behind except bombs,mines, crippled children and women well basicly carnage and destruction. Nothing good nothing positive.

[Grug]

What have you ever done to make the world a better place?

[Prophet]

it also helped educate and civilize the barbarian civilizations it ocupied.

Just to clarify... Those "barbarians" already had a highly developed culture and a way of living. But it was different from the "civilized" romans. Romans did build a lot of useful stuff, they did know how to do that. But they didn't civilize the people. They just replaced the "barbarian" culture and civilization with theirs.

[Mefustae]

Umm as far as i know the british empire built railroades and hospital and schools in every major colony it had.

Good-oh, hospitals and schools! Hooroo, railroads! Yep, all great achievements, but then, what about their other achievements? Y'know, those gems like spreading small-pox and all those other cudly little life-threatning ailments all around the world, thos silly little atrocities in India, that whole thing with stealing an entire generation of children from Native Australians, and completely wiping out the Tasmanian Aboriginies! Hooroo for genocide! I have the utmost respect for the old British Empire, but that doesn't cloud the cold, hard fact that they destroyed far more than they built.

Also the Roman empire sure it fough a lot o wars but it also helped educate and civilize the barbarian civilizations it ocupied. Letf roades and engineering and stuff like that. Not to mention hospitals were sort of hospitals.

You make it sound like the Roman Legion would go into a country, set up schools, hospitals and roads for the native population, and waltz on out with smiles on their faces. They kiiinda did that, only the built schools and hospitals only for Romans and those who accepted Roman rule, they built roads to facilitate movement of their armies, and they generally enslaved or wiped out pretty much everyone else*. Prophet's pretty much right on the money, not only did they not better foreign society other than simply replacing it with their own, but did you ever stop to think that maybe these "barbarians" already had a fine society on their own? I don't know how they hell you've come to the conclusion the Roman Empire at its peak was some sort of benevolent utopia, but I suggest you read more.

*I must confess i've not studied the Roman Empire in quite some time, so don't go ape if i've misconstrued the facts

Each empire across the time has left something behind something that influenced civilizations to come.

Indeed, each great Empire has left something behind, but what they tend to leave behind is a history of bloodshed and horror, and a legacy of infamy wherever they have tread.

What has the US left behind except bombs,mines, crippled children and women well basicly carnage and destruction. Nothing good nothing positive.

Actually, the US have contributed much to the development of society and the world in general. Please don't assume that, because they have a spotted past and they're currently under a somewhat tyrranical leadership at the moment, that they're pure evil. Every nation has its blemishes, every nation has its spotted past, and every nation elects [figuratively] questionable leadership now and then [France is a fine example of all of these].