self censorship

[limon]

"so you are saying each marine has an individual responsibility to decide if his actions are correct and for the overall good of the human race?"

yes, w/ a caveat. you dont have to decide in the heat of battle when your life and the life of your buddies is on the line. but afterward, you do need the courage to say, waht i/we did was wrong and i will go no further. one of the few admirable things my father ever did was get drafted, go to vietnam and then go awol once he found out the truth. that takes courage. incinerating "gooks" w/ superior firepower is a cowardly act.

[blackize]

Limon,

I am concerned about the absolute certainty you spout your opinion with. Out of curiosity, what do you do for a living?

[limon]

[ QUOTE ]
Limon,

I am concerned about the absolute certainty you spout your opinion with. Out of curiosity, what do you do for a living?

[/ QUOTE ]

check the what is your job thread from a couple days ago.

[XXXNoahXXX]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
So, I support the troops inasmuch that I support people not dying even if they made some bad decisions to be there.



[/ QUOTE ]

so that means you support the people our troops are fighting too, right?

[/ QUOTE ]

I support pretty much minimizing the amount of deaths regardless of nationality or side of the fight.

I'm not gonna lie, I have certain patriotic feelings and empathy for Americans that make me value an American soldier's life more than an Iraqi soldier. But I'm pretty sure 99.9% of Americans feel the same way.

[/ QUOTE ]

i think a good rule of thumb is that if the majority of america thinks something then you should seriously consider going the opposite way.

in this case you don't even have to use this convenient rule of thumb. imaginary lines and being randomly born in a certain place shouldn't be the only reason to value one human's life over another's.

[/ QUOTE ]


Those aren't the only reason I value someone's life. Like I said, I value the life of an Iraqi civilian more than some American soldier that goes over there and rapes and kills those same civilians.

There is a lot more that goes into than us=good and them=bad.

I believe there are innocent people on both sides of this fight. I also believe there are guilty people on both sides of the fight.

It's human nature to mourn the loss of those that are closest to them. Each person has radiating circles and the closer something is to the epicenter, the more you will feel it.

If I'm listening to the news and I hear "A plane crashed killing all 350 passengers on board....." I react differently if the next words are "in Massachusetts" or "in Peru".

Both are tragedies, and the loss of life is equal, the pain of the families is equal. I am saying that this is a selfish flaw I have based largely on the fact that the closer it is to me the more likely it could have been me or my family, so when the deaths are over there, I breathe a sigh of relief.

[idrinkcoors]

In the end Limon, I guess it really doesn't matter whether or not you support the troops. I can't imagine that they would care what you think. Not only do they have honor, and decency, but I'm willing to go out on a limb here and say that they are probably tougher and braver than you are. (This Lack of self-censorship stuff feels good!). [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

It also speaks volumes about their character that they would be willing to sacrifice their lives for people like you.

[sledghammer]

[ QUOTE ]
In the end Limon, I guess it really doesn't matter whether or not you support the troops. I can't imagine that they would care what you think. Not only do they have honor, and decency, but I'm willing to go out on a limb here and say that they are probably tougher and braver than you are. (This Lack of self-censorship stuff feels good!). [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

It also speaks volumes about their character that they would be willing to sacrifice their lives for people like you.

[/ QUOTE ]

Honor, sacrifice, courage, character, and duty are such empty, manipulative words. It's words like these that encourage suicide bombers, religious crusades, and stupid wars like our current one. These words frame any debate over a military action so that objectors are cowardly, dishonorable, whatever. They manipulate the emotions of people like yourself: "This Lack of self-censorship stuff feels good!"

[Montezuma21]

I support the troops- I just want them to lose.

Edit: joking, btw, nobody flame me.

[JaredL]

idrinkcoors,

[ QUOTE ]

It also speaks volumes about their character that they would be willing to sacrifice their lives for people like you.

[/ QUOTE ]

You have repeatedly made claims like this but have given absolutely no support of them. As I said, the war in Iraq and hence the fighting done by the soldiers there, have made us less safe and less free. There are many sources that say that we are now less safe as a result of the war in Iraq.

What makes you think that
a) the soliders are actually fighting for guys like limon (and not say a paycheck)?
b) they do something to improve his quality of life?

Is it just that you hear politicians say this all the time? Just because it's said doesn't make it true.

I'm reminded of all the Chinese students I know that just spout off verbatim their government line on everything. It's pretty sad that this is the case.

[limon]

[ QUOTE ]
In the end Limon, I guess it really doesn't matter whether or not you support the troops. I can't imagine that they would care what you think. Not only do they have honor, and decency, but I'm willing to go out on a limb here and say that they are probably tougher and braver than you are. (This Lack of self-censorship stuff feels good!). [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

It also speaks volumes about their character that they would be willing to sacrifice their lives for people like you.

[/ QUOTE ]

none of the soldiers are fighting for me. lindy england did put that naked iraqi on a leash for me though. go have a coors emoticon boy.

[theBruiser500]

[ QUOTE ]
Whenever anyone is talking about our soliders, our young boys, our (18-40 year old)children... it always brings out a bunch of PC ideas inhereited from the boob tube and politition's mouths.

The moment someone says that they think the war is wrong, they must immediately clarify that they support the troops. Honestly, I dont even know what the hell it means when someone says "I support the troops, but not what they are doing in Iraq". That is like when someone says "I like you Limon, but your ideas are wrong", wtf does one thing have to do with another, except the fact that you are just being polite?

I dont hold them responsible for the governments policies, but I really dont have much pity for them because they choose to join the armed forces:

Q. What do the armed forces do for a living?
A. THEY GO TO WAR AND DIE.

Liberals constantly insist on shouting "will someone please think of the children", these guys arent children. Please stop calling them our children, our young boys, etc. There is no draft, Iraq is not Vietnam.

[/ QUOTE ]

i disagree they are pretty young. i don't know much about this but earlier in history dudes 16 years old and older would go to war. now it's only 18 is the minimum that is pretty young, plus these dudes aren't the well educated ones they're hte opposite. maybe someone here who knows about military history could help us out on this topic?