[quote]PGJ wrote:
Come on, Lift. As a former Marine you should know that the word “Marine” is ALWAYS capitalized. It may not be the “Little Brown Book” textbook way of doing it, but Marines always capitalize “Marine”. The words “sailor”, “soldier” and “airman” are never capitalized.
[/quote]
Fine, from now on I will always capitalize MARINE–so people will know I am a former MARINE.
[quote]LIFTICVSMAXIMVS wrote:
…1) If Iran had nukes knowing everyone else also had them would they be stupid enough to use them? Would we be stupid enough to use them again?
…[/quote]
It is quite possible they would not be deterred by mutually assured destruction. This is a culture that has countless people strap bombs to themselves to speed their way to paradise.
[quote]lixy wrote:
LIFTICVSMAXIMVS wrote:
Might does not make right, though it sure provides the allusion we are.
Powerful insight! I think you mean “illusion” though.[/quote]
yes. Leave it to a non-native speaker to point out the mistakes. Thanks 
[quote]Zap Branigan wrote:
It is quite possible they would not be deterred by mutually assured destruction. This is a culture that has countless people strap bombs to themselves to speed their way to paradise.[/quote]
This is an argument that comes up quite often. It is a misrepresentation of reality and judges a WHOLE culture based on the actions of the few.
I’ll have to come back to the thread’s subject and ask you to explain to me how is a guy shooting others and finishing himself off any different from the strap-bombers? He compared his act to that of Jesus AFAIK. Does it make him associated with the Christian culture?
How is it any different from this bunch? Do they represent your culture?
Yes, some Islamist fanatics do blow others up thinking it’s their ticket to heaven. But, you shouldn’t amalgamate those acts with the kamikazes that fight occupation of their land. Give the Iraqi resistance F-22’s and see if they use strap-bombs anymore!
[quote]lixy wrote:
Zap Branigan wrote:
It is quite possible they would not be deterred by mutually assured destruction. This is a culture that has countless people strap bombs to themselves to speed their way to paradise.
This is an argument that comes up quite often. It is a misrepresentation of reality and judges a WHOLE culture based on the actions of the few.
I’ll have to come back to the thread’s subject and ask you to explain to me how is a guy shooting others and finishing himself off any different from the strap-bombers? He compared his act to that of Jesus AFAIK. Does it make him associated with the Christian culture?
How is it any different from this bunch? Do they represent your culture?
Yes, some Islamist fanatics do blow others up thinking it’s their ticket to heaven. But, you shouldn’t amalgamate those acts with the kamikazes that fight occupation of their land. Give the Iraqi resistance F-22’s and see if they use strap-bombs anymore![/quote]
s far as I know we did not elect Jim Jones to be our president.
Iran elected a kook that preaches destrucyion of Israel.
Iranians march in the streets shouting Death to America and they have for almost 30 years.
I don’t see very many American suicide bombers attacking markets and mosques.
A sickness has infected Islamic culture. The good Muslims need to weed it out. Some brave ones are trying to get rid of the jihadists. You try to justify it. What does that make you?
[quote]lixy wrote:
Zap Branigan wrote:
It is quite possible they would not be deterred by mutually assured destruction. This is a culture that has countless people strap bombs to themselves to speed their way to paradise.
This is an argument that comes up quite often. It is a misrepresentation of reality and judges a WHOLE culture based on the actions of the few.
I’ll have to come back to the thread’s subject and ask you to explain to me how is a guy shooting others and finishing himself off any different from the strap-bombers? He compared his act to that of Jesus AFAIK. Does it make him associated with the Christian culture?
How is it any different from this bunch? Do they represent your culture?
Yes, some Islamist fanatics do blow others up thinking it’s their ticket to heaven. But, you shouldn’t amalgamate those acts with the kamikazes that fight occupation of their land. Give the Iraqi resistance F-22’s and see if they use strap-bombs anymore![/quote]
You know what the difference is…we don’t have Sunday morning cartoons about people shooting up schools. We don’t celebrate in the street every time a guy shoots up a school. We don’t dress our children up as little school shooters. I can go on.
In Islam, there are children’s cartoons that celebrate suicide bombing.
Every time a kook blows himself up there is celebration in the streets (and little outrage).
Suicide bombers are celebrities in some places.
Suicide bombers happen every day. Guys shooting up a schools happens VERY infrequently.
It is accepted in Islamic culture.
PGJ that is right on. I’ve noticed that sometimes when I talk about radical Islam people will counter by getting in my face about Christian fanatics blowing up abortion clinics. The way I respond is exactly how you said it, while we denounce that sort of thing, the majority of islamic culture rejoices in it
[quote]Black Flag wrote:
The way I respond is exactly how you said it, while we denounce that sort of thing, the majority of islamic culture rejoices in it[/quote]
That is TOTAL BS!
How do you know what the majority of Muslims think? Did you ask them? Or do you rely on Fox to tell you? I am pretty sure I know the Muslim/Arab culture than most of you and I can tell for certain that there is only a tiny fraction that rejoices to the atrocities. Most of the people condemns those horrors.
It doesn’t take more than common sense to come to the conclusion that a majority of people will never condone gratuitous violence. You people are falling in the same trap everytime: You amalgamate the LEGITIMATE resistance of Iraqis and Palestinians with the BASTARDS that are Al-Qaeda and other extremist groups.
Grumble.
Should every thread be turned into this circus?
[quote]lixy wrote:
I’ve also said before that just because the speech has been translated as such in the media doesn’t mean it’s what Ahmadinejad implied. Plus, if you knew the least bit about the political system in Iran, you’d understand that the president has virtually no power when it comes to foreign affairs.[/quote]
You’re right, ‘erased from the pages of history’ isn’t what he implied, he said it explicitly.
You’re absolutely right, Mahmoud just jumps up and down and waves his hands, it’s the Ayatollah who quietly steeped his hands in blood that we need to pay more attention too.
This is a great link, a well thought out piece about the semantic differences between “wiped off the map” and “erased from the pages of history”.
[quote]A couple of points are in order here;
1.) Bush’s “all options are on the table” immediately followed the line “an attack is ridiculous” and was in reference to a specific nation and specifically violated sanctions. Chirac’s threat was, if aimed at all, at Hamas’ election victory.
2.) Bush’s military action is akin to using a letter opener or a knife (I’m sure you’d rather say machete or chainsaw) to remove a cancer, Chirac’s is like using, well, a nuclear weapon.
[quote]- Nuclear ambiguity of Israel is no more. Olmert seemingly admitted it. Plus, can you claim to know better than Robert Gates who said that Tehran is “surrounded by powers with nuclear weapons: Pakistan to their east, the Russians to the north, the Israelis to the west and us in the Persian Gulf”?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6170845.stm[/quote]
“Seemingly” and “admitted” does not dispel ambiguity.
“We will erase Israel from the pages of history”- Not ambiguous.
“We will admit to the seeming erasure of Israel from the pages of history.”- Ambiguous
Between two nations making threats to use military action, whom would you choose?
[quote]lixy wrote:
Black Flag wrote:
The way I respond is exactly how you said it, while we denounce that sort of thing, the majority of islamic culture rejoices in it
That is TOTAL BS!
How do you know what the majority of Muslims think? Did you ask them? Or do you rely on Fox to tell you? I am pretty sure I know the Muslim/Arab culture than most of you and I can tell for certain that there is only a tiny fraction that rejoices to the atrocities. Most of the people condemns those horrors.
It doesn’t take more than common sense to come to the conclusion that a majority of people will never condone gratuitous violence. You people are falling in the same trap everytime: You amalgamate the LEGITIMATE resistance of Iraqis and Palestinians with the BASTARDS that are Al-Qaeda and other extremist groups.
Grumble.
Should every thread be turned into this circus?[/quote]
It is a significant portion otherwise it would not be tolerated.
[quote]LIFTICVSMAXIMVS wrote:
Why would anyone want to be a bigot?
I didn’t invent the definition of redneck. I just call it how I see it. I guarantee you are bigoted in some way. That is what perspective does to us. There is no such think as objectivity. Though I am fair.[/quote]
So then no one chooses to be a redneck anymore than anyone chooses to be a bigot.
[quote]LIFTICVSMAXIMVS wrote:
Ah, the key to the issue, not capability, mentality. Currently, Iran gives every implication of being stupid enough to use them. Why else would you hide?
[quote]2) Isn’t this the same argument as the second amendment? Everyone carries then they are on the same playing field.
I do not see a distinction. One line of thinking is correct the other is flawed. We either agree to all be armed to the teeth or we all agree to abstain. There is only one logical path. The US and its allies doesn’t get to decide the fate of other countries. Might does not make right, though it sure provides the allusion we are.[/quote]
By Jove, I think he’s got it!
Edit: Sorry, I keep forgetting;
[sarcasm]By Jove, I think he’s got it![/sarcasm]
[quote]lixy wrote:
You people are falling in the same trap everytime: You amalgamate the LEGITIMATE resistance of Iraqis and Palestinians with the BASTARDS that are Al-Qaeda and other extremist groups.[/quote]
You’ll forgive us for being a little hazy about legitimate resistance and publicly approved, state-supported terrorism/fanatacism;
When national leaders pledge government money to support the families of future bombers, it gets hard to tell the difference.
When weapons delivered to a government on the written promise of fighting drugs end up in the hands of “civilians” fighting in a nation that’s not their own, it gets hard to tell the difference.
When protests and violence erupts in largely non-Islamic nations over cartoons, it gets hard to tell the difference.
[quote]lixy wrote:
Zap Branigan wrote:
It is quite possible they would not be deterred by mutually assured destruction. This is a culture that has countless people strap bombs to themselves to speed their way to paradise.
This is an argument that comes up quite often. It is a misrepresentation of reality and judges a WHOLE culture based on the actions of the few.
I’ll have to come back to the thread’s subject and ask you to explain to me how is a guy shooting others and finishing himself off any different from the strap-bombers? He compared his act to that of Jesus AFAIK. Does it make him associated with the Christian culture?
How is it any different from this bunch? Do they represent your culture?
Yes, some Islamist fanatics do blow others up thinking it’s their ticket to heaven. But, you shouldn’t amalgamate those acts with the kamikazes that fight occupation of their land. Give the Iraqi resistance F-22’s and see if they use strap-bombs anymore![/quote]
There is a statistic in the Sam Harris book, the numbers are frightening, even under moderate Muslims in non Arab countries.
Pew Research Center for the People and the Press:
What the world thinks 2002:
The questions was in short, if those Muslims felt that suicide bombings are justifiable to defend Islam.
Lebanon 73/21, Ivory Coast 56/44, Nigeria 47/45, Bangladesh 44/37, Jordan 43/48, Pakistan 33/43…
The answer “rarely justified” was even counted as a no, and yes, the first number are the yes answers.
Misguided interpretation, my ass…
[quote]lixy wrote:
Black Flag wrote:
The way I respond is exactly how you said it, while we denounce that sort of thing, the majority of islamic culture rejoices in it
That is TOTAL BS!
How do you know what the majority of Muslims think? Did you ask them? Or do you rely on Fox to tell you? I am pretty sure I know the Muslim/Arab culture than most of you and I can tell for certain that there is only a tiny fraction that rejoices to the atrocities. Most of the people condemns those horrors.
It doesn’t take more than common sense to come to the conclusion that a majority of people will never condone gratuitous violence. You people are falling in the same trap everytime: You amalgamate the LEGITIMATE resistance of Iraqis and Palestinians with the BASTARDS that are Al-Qaeda and other extremist groups.
Grumble.
Should every thread be turned into this circus?[/quote]
Please explain why you think you know so much about Islam. What tremendous insight do you, a teenager from Sweden of all places, have that recognized experts in international relations and Middle Eastern culture don’t?
When over 3,000 Americans died on 9/11 in the name of Allah, I didn’t see a whole lot of regret and anguish out of the Islamic nations. I DID see millions dancing in the streets of Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Saudi, Afghanistan and other Islamic nations. Even Islamic Americans were totally silent and expressed no guilt or shame.
[quote]PGJ wrote:
Please explain why you think you know so much about Islam. What tremendous insight do you, a teenager from Sweden of all places, have that recognized experts in international relations and Middle Eastern culture don’t?
When over 3,000 Americans died on 9/11 in the name of Allah, I didn’t see a whole lot of regret and anguish out of the Islamic nations. I DID see millions dancing in the streets of Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Saudi, Afghanistan and other Islamic nations. Even Islamic Americans were totally silent and expressed no guilt or shame. [/quote]
I’m not lixy, but here is how I think he will respond:
"First of all, I’m not a teenager.
Second, I live in Sweden currently, but I spent most of my life in Morocco and other Arabic nations, am fluent in Arabic, and am myself a Muslim.
Third, I have witnessed firsthand the anguish of people in Islamic countries shortly after the tragedy of September 11th, and can tell you that there were no “millions” of rejoicing Muslims, only isolated pockets of Al-Qaida sympathizers whose celebration (which was somewhat akin to the Rebel Alliance rejoicing at the destruction of the Death Star) that were exploited by Western network news organizations to demonize the Islamic world."
That pretty close, Lixy?
[quote]PGJ wrote:
When over 3,000 Americans died on 9/11 in the name of Allah, I didn’t see a whole lot of regret and anguish out of the Islamic nations. I DID see millions dancing in the streets of Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Saudi, Afghanistan and other Islamic nations. Even Islamic Americans were totally silent and expressed no guilt or shame. [/quote]
Now you’re just making shit up.
[quote]Varqanir wrote:
That pretty close, Lixy?
[/quote]
Varqanir strikes again!
Not sure I would have drawn Star-Wars parallels though. The ones that rejoiced were like HeadHunter & co from around here. A kinda get’em all attitude.
Gotta run out. Will address the rest later.
[quote]lixy wrote:The ones that rejoiced were like HeadHunter & co from around here. A kinda get’em all attitude.
[/quote]
I seem to recall one really inflammatory woman on Al-Jazeera–I think her name was Anan Qaltir–who suggested what the Muslim world should do with the West:
“We should invade their countries, kill their leaders, and convert them to Islam.”
Oh, wait… maybe I’m thinking of something else.
[quote]Michael570 wrote:
PGJ wrote:
When over 3,000 Americans died on 9/11 in the name of Allah, I didn’t see a whole lot of regret and anguish out of the Islamic nations. I DID see millions dancing in the streets of Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Saudi, Afghanistan and other Islamic nations. Even Islamic Americans were totally silent and expressed no guilt or shame.
Now you’re just making shit up.[/quote]
??? I am?