Tender, I'm sorry if I'm causing you great offence, I really am.
Oddly enough I dunno why we're arguing, we are on the same side as far as the matter goes. I just feel that 'apathy' and 'contempt' are my political manifestos.
As far as my attitude towards the Iraqi people go, I do actually know an Iraqi online, and I have an inordinate number of Muslim 'comrades,' I'm not in the line of thought that they deserve to be put into positions that prisoners in western countries would find deplorable. I'm probably smarter than a lot of people in that I try to be incapable of hatred of people I don't already know.
The suffering that these people go through etc, etc, in all places around the world is pretty bad, and if the photos convince some people that things aren't what they seem in the US, then that's probably a fair enough goal, but it only justifies the prejudices that the rest of the world have against Americans in general.
This is probably especially in the case that the Coalition is fighting a moral war in the hope of actually liberating the Iraqi people from themselves.
And I DO think that being ordered is an excuse, the very act of fighting against civilians means that soldiers will kill people's wives husbands and children, I'm not evil enough to consider people as "collateral damage", that's disgusting, but somehow, these people are not going to refuse orders in mass.
After all, if I was in the army, if I was ordered to walk into the very fires of hell, my only response should be "which way?" It's the way the millitary is controlled, through force and discipline, I doubt any soldiers or vets on the board would disagree.
So maybe the people who are dishing the orders should be the ones taking the stick, but somehow, I doubt it.
After all, there were the bombings etc and civil areas were valid targets.
Tender, I do agree that people do have the right to defend themselves, but considering that Iraq has gun laws similar to America, well, look how hard it is to disarm the USA, and consider Iraq has explosive weaponry to boot, some people will get busted, or killed just defending their homes and land, and indeed, most prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan probably were terribly unlucky.
But lets put it this way, as mentioned, if I was stupid enough to visit either of those countries, I would not expect to leave alive, after all, what would I do? There are some general hard-core terrorists probably mixed up in all this and one puny civvie like myself would only be another bag of flesh for consumption. Heck, cyanide tablets should be handed out to visitors.
At the end of the day, I'm only illiterating my views, but with a hint of inevitability of it, frankly, I am studying to be a scientist and I do not want to endanger my career by trying to go "commando" against the Coalition, it might have made the prisoners under the Patriot act and the Anti-terror acts more comfortable morally, but resistance is futile and frankly, I have no wish to visit Cuba. The fools, they want to make a difference, how about they just pop themselves and save someone else the trouble.
And at the end of the day, shit happens. They can and will sort this thing out, the governments that you voted in will act in what ever way they see fit. Somehow, I doubt they'll tremor in fear because Tender and Orcabomber are miffed at what they would call "illegal combatants".
Well, there's always Russia, France, China, Cuba, North Korea, Sudan... I'm expecting one of those might be hit next, and the pattern continues...