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I think the American government is being far too apologetic when it comes to civilian casualties. They need to stop apologizing for the deaths of civilians to stupid to leave their homes two meters away from a missle silo. This is CRAZY! I mean, not only that but the Iraqi's are playing on thin ice when it comes to disguising themselves as civilians. In the Geneva Convention there are two types of combatants: 1) legal combatants who are dressed in military clothes and are easily identifiable as that nations military and 2) illegal combatants dressed in civilian or aid clothing. Just shoot anyone with a gun who isn't Coalition damn it!

Creating a global community of Democracies is another way to go, as democracies have never gone to war with each other in the history of the world... AND... as the world becomes more connect via economy, the ability to go to war would be severly hampered because of the economic drawbacks. As our economies grow and expand, the chance for war lessens significantly.

At 3/28/03 11:43 AM, TheShrike wrote: I think I'll thank House_Of_Leaves for this...

"He who gives up freedom for security is neither free nor secure." ~ Benjamin Franklin

Fantastic quote.... mind if I steal that away?

At 3/28/03 11:40 AM, Kazuo_Kiriyama wrote: I agree. I think they should decrease their military power and just fork the nation over to the UN. I really don't agree with Bush's idea of bringing Democracy to Iraq.

But the fact of the matter is shouldn't the Iraqi people first taste Democracy before they decide it is sweet or sour?

At 3/28/03 10:04 AM, JudgeMeHarshX wrote:

However, there are scattered packs of rogue intellectuals who argue that the United States of America, already Orwellian enough, is turning into 1984.
Do you think that John Ashcroft (whom I have many entertaining political cartoons of, some depicting him as a less powerful Adolf Hitler) is going a little far by suggesting the idea that everyone have a National Identification Card and be checked when they enter government buildings and cross state lines? Will it really solve anything, since you already need what seems like 187 forms of identification to renew a driver's license?

The freedoms we all hold dear, at least some of the ones not everyone knows about, are slowly being phased out to increase the protection of our people and the prevention of further catastrophies like 9-11. But I don't believe it's an all-in-all good thing.

Although I am fairly conservative (some would argue ultra-rightist... but that's a whole other argument) I would agree. When is enough... well…enough. After a National Identification Card what's next, barcodes in people's arms or something reminiscent of Minority Report? While the idea is good, tracking people to where they go to ensure they are not doing anything bad, how far can government go before infringing on freedom of movement? While Freedom of Movement may not be covered by any Civil Rights Bill or even the constitution, it is a natural law that humans should be free to move where they like… when they like.

Is it really the right of government to track people like animals… and what about tourist… shall they too be issued a National Tourist Identification Card; how long before people learn how to forge those? Nothing is fool proof and all the I.D. Card will do is limited freedoms already enjoyed.

Apparently.... and I realize this may be old news, but the President... Mr. Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair seem to have some disagreeance over who is going to run postwar Iraq. Now, I will be truthful with everyone here, I only really support a war in Iraq if a) Iraq is run by the United Nations administratively or b) if the US allows them to continue but without much military like Germany and Japan. Does Bush still feel slighted by the United Nations, and will he allow them to take control postwar?

MarijuanaClock

Your ignorance and egotism is annoying. If you are not part of the solution, you are a part of the problem

At 3/26/03 08:26 PM, Ted_Easton wrote: You may see a ying yang in mine and other's signatures.
This is the symbol of the Politics Crew, an organization for exactly that.
Tell me if you wish to apply to join, and I'll look over your posts and issue my verdict. :)

I would love to join... jus' hope I wrote enough. I have just recently been abducted by Newgrounds so... here is hoping...

Has anyone thought to create a new club... a politics club or something. Just thought I would throw the hat into the ring for a few reasons.

Reason #1: Easier communication between regular contributors to the Politics Forum ie. through chat.
Reason #2: Events! Why couldn't the political guru's have events here on Newgrounds?
Reason #3: The Club could create a blog and allow us to better expand out ideas and opinions.

Again, just thought I would tote the idea...

Publishers Send Free Magazines to Awe Troops
Wed March 26, 2003 09:34 AM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. troops in Iraq will soon be able to adorn their quarters with the 21st Century's answer to World War II pin-ups, as the publisher of Maxim and Stuff ships free copies of the men's lifestyle magazines to their mailboxes.

Dennis Publishing said it hopes its scantily clad cover models will help U.S. soldiers endure war in the same way the curvy girls drawn by Peruvian-born artist Alberto Vargas became one of the biggest morale-boosters among servicemen in the 1940's.

Dennis Publishing said on Tuesday it is shipping 15,000 free copies of Maxim, Stuff and its musical magazine Blender to 40 different military tent sites across Kuwait, Jordan, Qatar, Afghanistan and Oman.

(Wish Maxim and Stuff would send me free mags)

U.S. Soldier 'Bloggers' Report from War Zone
Wed March 26, 2003 11:27 AM ET
By Bernhard Warner, European Internet Correspondent

LONDON (Reuters) - There's a new breed of combat personnel at the war front: soldier "bloggers."
Once the narrow domain of geeks and technology journalists, "Web logs" -- or diary accounts published online -- have gone mainstream, making it possible for even soldiers to transmit daily updates to Web sites about the rigors of battle.

War-themed blogs, appearing on sites such as www.blogsofwar.com and www.sgtstryker.com, have become a popular alternative news source since fighting broke out in Iraq a week ago, sometimes beating newspapers and television with war developments.

One of the most popular is a site run by "L.T. Smash," the blog nickname for a reservist in the U.S. Navy who arrived in the Gulf last December. His site, www.lt-smash.us, carries the moniker "Live from the Sandbox."
L.T. Smash's accounts range from the ordinary and the oddball to the touching.

On Monday, he wrote: "We're still getting one or two hot meals every day, and the care packages are pouring in. Today we were blessed with homemade cookies, fudge, and endless supplies of snack mix and other junk food."

You are so very right. People who are anti-war are not always anti-american and non-patriotic.

But for the love of whatever you believe in a divine entity: PLEASE ARGUE FROM LOGIC

Shrike, you are cool in my books.

Report Says Slain U.S. Soldiers Tried to Surrender
Wed March 26, 2003 10:51 AM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - One report reaching the U.S. military said that some of the 12 soldiers whose supply convoy was ambushed near Nassiriya in southern Iraq on Sunday were killed by their captors although they tried to surrender, a U.S. defense official said on Wednesday.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the report received from the field said that the U.S. soldiers "weren't given the opportunity to surrender. They attempted to surrender." Some of the U.S. soldiers instead were killed by the Iraqi forces, the official said.

The official did not characterize the nature or reliability of the intelligence information on which this report was based. The official also did not indicate where the surrendering soldiers were slain.
Another defense official said the U.S. military had received "mixed reports" about the incident.
U.S. officials have said an Army supply convoy apparently made a wrong turn during a battle near Nassiriya, and members of an Army maintenance unit were ambushed by Iraqi "irregular forces."

U.S. officials say 12 soldiers were missing.
Five U.S. soldiers being held as prisoners were shown being interrogated on Iraqi television. The dead bodies of several others also were shown on Iraqi television. Some of the bodies appeared to have bullet wounds to the forehead, suggestive of possible execution, and were shown sprawled on the floor of a room in puddles of blood.

Someone should send this pic to Mary Jane Clock.

I apologize to everyone, I was unaware there is already a thread that covers this.

Hey Mary Jane Clock.... over here... maybe you could get some of the dead people killed after 9/11. Or hey, maybe some of the Iraqi people tortured and killed by their own government. But let's not stop there, how about all the Kurds killed via chemical weapons by Saddam, perhaps your morbid affixation can be cured by little girls asphyxiated by mustard gas, or the twitch brought on by the use of nerve agents. Wait, yet, how about the thousands of Israelis, blown to shit by suicide bombers!? Get bent and go home. Ignorance is not an excuse in a legal, ethical, or morale context. Your views are narrow.

Apparently, George Bush has gone to Congress and requested $75 billion dollars for the war in Iraq. Just how long is this war going to be? I have no doubt that most American's are willing to pay for victory, but I bet a lot of people out here in Newgrounds land are asking: "I thought Rumsfeld (and his cronies) said this was going to be short and sweet?" Perhaps some sweet chin music is in order, or perhaps maybe some of us "mother cunuckers" should foot the bill? What do you think?

This is for all of you anti-war protesters:

There is no war. You are dreaming. The state that you are in is caused by different brain wavelengths interacting with one another to create an almost realistic account of everyday life. When you wake up there will be no war. It will have ended just as soon as your dream had ended, yet the world will be a better place for metaphorically speaking. So hush now, let me sing you a lullabye, because not everything in this world is perfect, and not everything is nice.

At 3/24/03 05:23 PM, bumcheekcity wrote: i have seen, just 2 minuitesa ago, a piece of news showing Iraqui prisoners being tied up at the hands and feet and being made to kneel while soldiors pointed a gun at groups of them.

If you have time, have a look at this debate i found by a journalist of the Independant.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=390501

I have read the news stroy you have presented, but have yet to see the videos. Just remember that people not belonging to a nation's military are not soldiers and therefore are not covered by the Geneva Convention. So you should review those videos carefully to see that the men captured are military targets (ie soldiers). Otherwise, U.S. soldiers do not have to follow that Geneva Convention.

At 3/24/03 05:03 PM, BinLadenmustdie wrote:

If we could just convice the Beltway Snipers that Saddam was a white suburbanite, all we'd have to do is turn them loose in Baghdad with a rifle and a car.

He, he.... the wit never ends...

At 3/24/03 04:39 PM, bumcheekcity wrote: How DARE the Bush Administration say that the Iraquis are violating Human Rights Agreements on POW's when they violate the EXACT same agreements in EXACTLY the same way - by humiliating the prisioners of war and showing them on television.

Firstly, get your head out of your ass and stop ranting like a drunkard. Secondly, provide some background to your comment. Thirdly, review your comment and re-think what you have just posted.

Here is my first post of acadamia here on NG.

One has to wonder whether or not our postmodern culture is over-run by allegories. Think of it this way. Our past has become our present and our present is becoming our past. With the increase in technology adn communication our world is being over-run with images which are symbolic of the times they were taken. Slowly, our culture seems to be enveloped by this symbolism and now history as we know it will be revolutionized forever and perhaps even forgotten.

This is not a bad thing however, as allegorical discourse may be essential for the survival of the postmodern democratic state, even though the use of such discourse could also destroy the democratic state.

Political communication is constantly changing and it seems the allegories, rhetoric and discourse is increasingly becoming part of political communication.

Agree/Disagree? Never want to see this kind of post ever again?
(Some of the ideas contained in this post are fueled by the original ideas of Robert Hairman, in his piece Allegory and Democratic Public Culture in the Postmodern Era contained in Philosophy and Rhetoric 35.4 (2002) 267-296,

Ethics as a subject is very tricky and often heavily opinionated (which makes this question perfct for this forum!).

The question is though, was it ethical for the United States to attack Iraq without majority support from member states of the United Nations.

I am pro-war, but I think that it wasn't ethical... anyone else?

Is there anyone here on Newgrounds who would submit themselves to being a human shield in Iraq, or any other country containing strife? Or is there anyone you wish you could send to Iraq to be a human shield?

Just wanted to know 'cause i think the people who went to Iraq are crazy!

Maybe let's get one thing straight first... the Oscar's are about art (well... sort of)... NOT POLITICS! All of the actors in Hollywood have enough money to buy television commercials to do their ranting, I don't need to hear their crap from the sidelines. Go back to the gutter Moore.

Now, I am not going to name any people, but everyone please... before you open your mouth, think about what you are saying first and make sure that you have the facts to back it up. Some people would believe that Saddam is dead. That maybe true or just wishful thinking but; IT HAS YET TO BE CONFIRMED! Watch or read the news or go back to your shanties!
Thank you.

How long is this war going to last, and how much would you stake on your claim?

At 3/20/03 11:35 AM, D2KVirus wrote: Anyway, if you have to belittle everything I say, don't bitch and whine when I do the same to you. You should be able to take what you dish out, n'est pas? And how many of your opinions are you passing off as "fact' on a daily basis?

Arrogant, non? Perhaps maybe you should try being a little nicer. Put on a happy face or something before you give yourself a brain aneurism.

Too bad the Americans missed Saddam and killed some Jordanian woman instead. Oh well, maybe next time eh?

By the way... who are the people (preferably regulars) that are opposed to this war other than D2K?

Just thought I would give a minor apology to D2K for the unsolicited poke… no hard feelings eh?