A Little Perspective in Iraq

[Professor S]

Well now that America is busy hating itself over the Abu Graif debacle, it seems we are continuing to overlook the constant atrocities being committed to Western civilians over in Iraq. Keep in mind these civilians are actually trying to rebuild Iraq and provide them with a future.

http://cnn.aimtoday.cnn.com/news/sto...96.htm&sc=1107

Al Quieda has decided to release a video of the BEHEADING of an American civilian in response to the pictures of the Iraqi prisoners that were released to the press last week.

Civilians are beheaded, burned and hung from bridges by insurgents and terrorists... and the media goes nuts over a few embarrassing photos and actually can now enjoy the fact that because they released the photos to the public instead of the military, WHICH IS AGAINST THE LAW, they are now responsible for the murder of an innocent civilian.

Just a reminder of how the world has completely lost perspective in Iraq. This message has been brought to you by the Foundation for Common Sense.

[Rndm_Perfection]

Yeah, I saw that right when I signed onto the net...

Above all, it reminded me how futile revenge-for-revenge is. That is, if the video is legit and not an act to anger the US, then the terrorist "heroics" are just foolish fuel for the cycle. I know, it happens in just about every conflict... and I'm not telling anybody anything that isn't clearly obvious. But, it's the first thing that jumped into my mind. Media posts pictures... terrorists kill civilians... terrorist leaders get bombed... terrorists make the leaders martyrs and raid cities... etc.

But, that beheading better damn well get as much, or more attention than pictures of humiliation and abuse.

[The Germanator]

Who cares about war? Haven't you guys seen the new Zelda video?

[Rndm_Perfection]

Originally Posted by The Germanator

Who cares about war? Haven't you guys seen the new Zelda video?

lmfao, dare any of you insult me when I call this place "just a gaming forum."

[The Duggler]

Originally Posted by The Germanator

Who cares about war? Haven't you guys seen the new Zelda video?

My god, this place is full of comedy this afternoon!

[Professor S]

The discussion about Abu Graif went several pages before it was closed... an American is beheaded with a knife in a process that took over 30 seconds and the discussion about it degrades into humor in 5 posts.

Thank you all for proving my point.

[Ace195]

Originally Posted by The Strangler

The discussion about Abu Graif went several pages before it was closed... an American is beheaded with a knife in a process that took over 30 seconds and the discussion about it degrades into humor in 5 posts.

Thank you all for proving my point.

Strangler I undertstand what your talking about, and I'm against the media in it's full.. It's trying to make "News" when in actuality all it does is skip the stores that would be considered news and jump straight to the terrible side.


But as far as common sense goes I had a drill sgt. that once told me "Common sense is not so common." So..


I say to everyone that is bickering and bitching about IRAQ, sure be against the war but support our troops. It's not their fault that the war is going on, They give orders we follow.

[The Germanator]

Originally Posted by The Strangler

The discussion about Abu Graif went several pages before it was closed... an American is beheaded with a knife in a process that took over 30 seconds and the discussion about it degrades into humor in 5 posts.

Thank you all for proving my point.

Well...When you post something like this on a gaming forum right as some of the most interesting stuff was being announced at E3, did you expect any different? Believe it or not, some people are more apathetic about the war than anything else.

I hate it that US soldiers are being killed, but this is what we wanted right? This is making our nation and the world a better place, right? So, some of those who have gone overseas have been killed, yep, that is what happens in war. I was about as apathetic about the Iraqi torture photos as I am about the supposed beheading of the U.S soldier. People die, whether it's a humane death or inhumane, does it matter? Of course it's a terrible thing, and it's why I disagree with war in the first place, but there's nothing to be done once a war starts. We probably don't even know about some of the more terrible offenses that have been commited on both sides, so I can't believe that the torture photos or this video are the worst things that have happened.

I suppose my point is that you certainly can't get a good judgement on people in general when you base your results on what has occured in a gaming forum. The media personally has no effect on me. I will not be outraged by anything that comes out of this war, no matter how horrible because the word "war" makes bad news redundant.

Edit: My mistake, US civilian, not soldier. Doesn't change my general view though.

[Joeiss]

Those who commited the act to the American civilian are just a small few, and do not represent all Iraqis/Iraqi rebels.

[Typhoid]

Just remember the Media is going to focus on the bad more than the good, because it makes more interesting and better stories (usually). And usually during a war, or soon there after, its only the bad stuff going on in the media. Did you notice that towards the beginning of the war on Iraq, that the American media was focusing mainly on "How good this will help out the economies" and "The war on Terrorism must be stopped"...But now that it is remotely over they are focusing on " The brutality of American soldiers" and "Why is no progress being made?" (dont reem me...not my opinion)

The media will always look for a fresh new story, in a few months, or weeks they will be focusing on how good america is doing in Iraq again, because these stories will get old. And thus the vicious cycle of Patriotism and self-hate starts all over again..

[Dylflon]

An American being beheaded is terrible. But so is mistreating the Iraqi soldiers. Stuff like that isn't right no matter who does it.

I think it's a damn shame that anybody has to die be they civilian or soldier.

This war hasn't helped anyone out, really. Iraqis will probably hate Americans more than ever now that so many civilians over there have died.

This started out as a war on terror and turned into an invasion of a country.

Sure, Hussein is gone but I'm sure that not long from now, some new dictator will come into power and wreck up the place. Why this greatly concerns me is that this new dictator may have a score to settle with America because of all the damage that has been done.

Most people in iraq have lost family members in this war. Because of this there will be a lasting bitterness and hatred from the Iraqi people for decades to come.

I don't think the Iraqis wanted America in there in the first place. You can't help someone unless they want to be helped.

The war should have stayed against the terrorist organisations. If you turn around and invade a country, things are only going to get messy.

But back to the original point, I'm just as disgusted by an American prisoner being mistreated or killed as I am by Iraqi prisoners being mistreated or killed. It's equally bad no matter who it happens to.

[TheGame]

GameMaster this is an example of why you don't close unresolved topics, just let them die. Speaking from experience as both a mod and a person who likes to argue into the deep hours of the night.

Originally Posted by Dylflon

I think it's a damn shame that anybody has to die be they civilian or soldier.

It's a soldiers job to defend there country to the death... I personaly would much rather see a soldier die than someone who is not set up to defend himself. Everybody is eventualy going to die... soldiers chose to risk dying an honerable death by defending what they think is right. If it wasn't for people going out and dying for what they believe is right, we wouldn't be here.

[Dylflon]

Oh I know, The Game. I am in fact more appauled by civilian death.

[Jonbo298]

I found out a site that had the video and i checked it out. That was just f*cked up. Utterly f*cked up.

[TheGame]

Jonbo showed me the site too... That is a slow painful, and f***ed up way to die.