Frankly, I think America's behavior in at least one regard has been unforgivable.
No one deserves to have Madonna foisted on them.
Spot On, Lads !! Or, better yet, got it in one!
Excellemento!
May the Schwartz be with you!(apologies to Mel Brooks)
In that case, I'm glad to see God made abortion legal, and talks to Pat Robertson so the rest of us don't have to.
Those of us who live in the UK or frequent biased-bbc.blogspot.com get this sort of Beeb nonsense every day. But the BBC also projects their nonsense worldwide through the World Service. This is funded by the UK Foreign Office - another snake in the grass most of the time.
Beck: Well, we just enabled Madonna, the Brit's let her in and bought her wares....
Diplomad: Absolutely hilarious!
I say, why wait till the next disaster to let the EU and the UN flounder? How about right now we just lock down our borders for a year - nothing in, nothing out. Stop all foreign aid, bring all the troops home, close the windows, draw the shades, lock the doors and party.
Then see who starts whining. Bet you it would be the Euroweenies first! (is there an accepted spelling for Euroweenies? I should check the OED)
Diplomad,
Concerning the Diego Garcia mystery. I can add one more piece to the puzzle. Click on this link...
http://www.mydiegogarcia.com/
notice the State Seal that first appears when the page opens.
The twin sea turtles.
Well, back in 86' a TOP SECRET US program, the purpose of which I am not at liberty to reveal, performed hidious experiments on these these poor creatures.
The result Mutant Nija Turtles.......
I have CREDIBLE information that it was these Nija Turtles equiped with the very latest Star Ship Enterprise transporters who SAVED THE FLEET ON DIEGO GARCIA
lEADBOTTOM
The sooner we come to realize that it's all Bush's fault in particular, and The United States' fault in general, the better off we'll all be. What's our fault? Name it. Just go down the damned laundry list. Oh yeah, we are kinda responsible for the internet too. So Kofi sez it's an illegal war. Jeez, what a cut. Kofi doesn't have much shame with regard to the 23 billion dollar oil for food scam, though. Wonder how many Iraqis starved to death, or died from some assorted diseases as a result of that? Couple of dozen, perhaps?
Aha, our MI6 people have obviously infiltrated the Beeb at last, and presumably given a few of the more virulent news team a little dose of some old fashioned darkened room and spotlight therapy. Or maybe they've woken up to the fact that even the really stupid viewers were starting to doubt their reporting ....
Just realised why my link doesn't work - another Beeb plot no doubt!
Are you logged one?
Otto Von Bismark is reputed to have said, or at least he is given the credit for saying (source versions vary slightly), "God takes care of babies, drunks and the United States of America."
Drink up, fellow Yanks.
JohninLondon, the BBC World makes CNN International seem almost neutral, if not leaning pro-US at times.
Wow,
I've heard lunatic theories on our side of the pond from time to time, but eading such crackpot theories posted by rational sounding folk from Europe and the rest of the world makes me wonder: Is the public distrust of mainstream media and government institutions that much farther advanced outside of the US that the lunatic brigade is becoming mainstream? Here in the US we have always regarded such institutions with healthy skepticism, but not the outright disbelief some of these folks seem to evince.
Dearest Diplomad,
The are not on to us, but they are on to you!
Mereka tahu yang anda ialah!
LHM
An American Expat in Southeast Asia
"Why did US base escape tsunami?"
Obviously God likes us better.
Was it God, the U.S. or a lack of warning caused by Euro vacation plan?
Here's the rest of your last quote:
"And how could God allow any of this to happen - and for that matter how could science? Susan Watts reports on the sophisticated monitors that operate in the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty Organization in Vienna which could have given advanced warning of the tsunami, had its staff not been on holiday..."Note to North Korea: Remember to schedule nuclear testing during holiday periods for the CNTBTO.
I love you guys.
I'm quite familiar with BBC Online. Has anyone ever visited their "Have Your Say" feature? Many of their topics (questions) are designed to encourage anti-American posts, and even when they're not, I am constantly amazed at the ingenuity of people to take any topic and put an anti-American spin on it.
Naturally, I found myself defending the indefensible - namely the US. Gradually, fewer and fewer of my comments were posted - even though they were always polite and courteous and, I at least thought, well-reasoned. Anyway, it has been a long time since any of my arguments have seen the light of the BBC day. I think I've been black-balled.
It's interesting that the BBC always claims within the "Have Your Say" section that "the following comments reflect the balance of opinion we have received so far:". What they don't say is that they choose topics and couch questions in such a manner as to generate the response they desire. To say nothing of the fact that conservatives
cont'd
have wearied at ever having their viewpoints heard in such an environment.
Diplomads - you are beautiful, love this piece especially!
In my little corner of the Far Abroad, the only English radio in my 45-min each way commute to/from the Embassy is BBC radio. I can't tell you how many days have either started off or ended badly due to this being my only option. There isn't a single news story they can't turn into an anti-American diatribe, whether it's through the stories they choose to "report" on, the "experts" they choose to interview, or the facts they opt to neglect. A story on Walmart? That's a great chance to show the evils of unfettered capitalism! The tsunami? A great chance to interview Patrick Leahy on the shortfalls of the Bush administration! Between hating America and promoting Islam (another of their odd predilections), they stay busy, and I stay sick.
p.s. I hope they appreciate having Madonna.
Dear Diplomad,
Any news on how the UNers are doing in Iraq readying for the election? It looks pretty good from the outside. Let's hope Kofi keeps well away.
(BTW, thanks for Madonna. Marrying her off to that twat means we don't have to watch any more of his twattish films.)
Funny that Diego Garcia was missed by the tsunami. BTW, in case the Beeb missed the boat (perish the thought, but pun intended) on this one, Diego Garcia is also known as the BIOT: British Indian Ocean Territory. It belongs to the bloody Brits!
Apparently the producers at the Beeb need to go back to school and study geography.
Is the BBC really a "news" organization? My understanding was that "news" organizations did some research (maybe even an onsite visit occasionally) on the topic and then reported objectively on that same topic. Oops.... just eliminated all the the U.S. MSM/Old Media also. I have got to stop being so darned idealistic!
Please spare a thought for us pro-Americans who live in benighted Britain and who have to pay roughly $200 a year just for the "privelege" of owning a TV. Don't forget also that we're the only country in Europe not allowed to join in the Green Card Lottery , so I can't even go West to escape al-BBC's rubbish.
If these stupid guys (at the BBC and elsewhere) really believe what they say... Wouldn't it be a good idea to make them feel personally the heat of what they say?
There should be a way, a practical and efficient one, to challenge all these people and defeat them!
For years I felt affronted by the endless political bias of the beeb. I relish an honest, well-informed political opponent, but these guys are crooks. Then, on the Iraq war, we agreed: they and I were both agin' it. So now I don't feel affronted; I feel polluted. Good arguments against the war are ignored: crude, near-racist anti-Americanism is trotted out relentlessly. The Bilge Broadcasting Corporation is a national disgrace.
Beck,
ITA on the Madonna remark. Nearly tossed my cookies Sat. night when I happened across her sourly singing Lennon's "Imagine" in the NBC tsunami relief dribble.
Yeah, "Imagine" Madonna with "No religion..." What, no kahbala? "Imagine" Madonna with "No Possessions Too..." What, no closets full of crappie fashion togs, or half a dozen multimillion dollar houses around the globe. No limo to trek her to her yoga dojo or kahbala shack or some elitist party? No private jet to spin her to her un-sold out concerts around the world?
"It's Easy If You Try..."
Diplomad,
Yunz iz da bomb!!!
Keep up the good work, here and over there.
God love ya!
Now that we have foisted Madonna on the Brits, can we send Celine Dion back to Canada?
Or is there truth to th erumor that Diego Garcia was saved thanks to broadcasting her songs at the waves.
Diplomad...
You brought the words REASON and NONSENSE to life again...combined with a big grain of salt/sense of humor "foisted" ....thanks. Any plans for 2008 elections? 
Is there any chance the housecleaning slated for the BBC by the new management will rid it of leftish bloat?
While I agree with most of your post regarding US might and a willingness to get involved with many different projects.
You have no right to boast of foisting Madonna on the Brits, we Canadians foisted Celine Dion on you!
I have a memo from a staffer at CBS News that Dan Rather soon will be doing a story on how the U.S. moved the base at Diego Garcia hours before the Tsunami hit. Apparently photos of the move were sent to CBS via a source of theirs in the Antarctic.
They also plan to investigate the reoprt that Dick Cheney was seen in Indonesia 3 hours before the earthquake.
I fear our house of cards is about to come tumbling down. Someone call God and tell him to smite them. I believe the smiting department is located in Indiana.
This is the funniest thing I've read in the last month (and spot-on regarding BBC,tv licenses & Madonna).
You guys rock!
There was an article in a Brit paper after Afghanistan about our capabilities, they described taking off at night.
Navy's explanation for why they weren't hit by the tsunami.
IS IT JUST US???
Well, the news from Wolfowitz Central is that the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit is almost done with the heavy lifting in Sri Lanka and is preparing to re-embark to take the next objective, The Sudan! Meanwhile, rumor has it they have adopted Queen's "Another One Bites The Dust" as their unit march. They figure that if the 1st Marine Division can march to "Waltzing Matilda" they ought to honor another of America's long standing comrades in arms.
Keep this a secret, we don't want the Beeb to find out!
Although I agree with the basis of your argument, the following comment annoys me
"while simultaneously keeping peace in Bosnia; fighting terrorists around the globe" etc... we brits are there too you know!
Diplomad:
I assure you, your star is rising. Just continue to do the same thing.
Also, good call on prefacing your post with a "anti-moonbat alert."
Thanx guys, Dr. Pepper almost came out my nose. A good way to start out the week.
You have it in one
Swede, my first thought was you should have out-crazied them. Something like:
"Everyone knows it was the US that was responsible for the exinction of the dinosaurs. They could have stopped the asteroid but didn't. Have they denied it? No. Have they shown any proof of their innocence? No. Why? Because IT WAS ALL ABOUT THE OIL!
Swede: At Biased BBC, we call it (Don't) Have Your Say or (D)HYS for short. Funny thing, but all of us have had the same exact experience with (D)HYS as you've had! Imagine that!
PS sailor dave:
Yeah, we noticed how you sneaky Canucks palmed off Celine and her doddering 95-year-old husband-manager on us. That's a freebie, but we give you fair warning -- if Alanis Morisette comes south, we're invading Toronto.
Another good one! I'm no Republican (I'm a little averse to political parties in general), but how can I resist wanting membership in an organization whose initials are RUM? Wait, is this how Don Rumsfeld got in? Ah, yet another conspiracy, I see!
To the Brits: Love you chaps, even if we did have to claw our way out. Imagine what Sam Adams and Co. would've done if they've had to deal with the Beeb Tax Act! Lots of Sonys drowning in Boston Harbor, I bet. But you chaps have been with us for the last century, and we couldn't've asked for more. PS - Can MI6 teach our CIA how to recruit charismatic, witty spies like 007?
To the Canucks: Check out this post: Canada - The Last Great Nation of Rugged Individualists? Time for a revolution!
Thanks for everything you've done, from your professional work to taking the time to write this blog. As a retired Army officer and former USAID contract employee in Europe and Africa, I know from personal experience how close to the mark you've been on everything. I've linked to you and tried to promote you among bloggers, for what little help that may have been. But I know many others--perhaps thousands--have done the same thing. Keep on truckin'!
Paul,
This Yank greatly appreciates you.... And the Aussies too.
From what I've heard, the Brits have had more than their fill of the Material Girl.
Feel free to boot her off to France at any time. It's where she belongs, anyway.
The reason Diego Garcia was spared the effects of the Tsunami is simple: the local populace with armed with squeegies and sent to the beach.
Diplomad
I like your website but this is a bit much - ''history's ultimate kick-ass machine.''
Bit late into WWI and WWII weren't you?
Probably easier to pick on the little countries - leave the big boys to the Red Army and us Brits.
Thanks margaret from an Aussie. To the brits, you may have your BBc we have got the ABC. They keep assessing themselves and coming up with not biased. Its the Australian population thats biased. Like when they voted for John Howard. the ABC commentator was nearly crying on the night.
The ABC also thinks the Enkightenment was a joke. Always run with the revelations from the Yank haters rather than apply reason. haven't heard them on Diego should prompt them
Woops didn't mean to be anonymous. Wouldn't like to be associated with some of those anons.
"Bit late into WWI and WWII weren't you?"
Yes, Mr. Sceptic, but we made up for lost time. Any American with any sense of history is awed by what you Brits did in the World Wars - especially in WWII during the dark days of the Blitz. And the Russians! Simply staggering the amount of punishment they took, and still go on to win. Both cases - a testament to a people's will, fortitude, and doggedness. America's great accomplishment, a least in WWII was in alomost totally supplying the Allies, while pushing back the Japanese, and planning for the greatest amphibious invasion in all history. Much to be proud of all around.
A bit late into WWI, but we got there, and did what had to be done...
Same for WWII.. and WWIII...
and here we are in WWIV, still a bit late.
Damned isolationists.
That's ok, we'll still do what has to be done.
Mr Sceptic, like so many Europeans the world stops and starts in Europe. Australians have no doubt that if it were not for the USA Australia would have fallen to the Japanese. On the other hand we did our bit for you there in Europe as well. The war in the Pacific was those Yankees and they paid a terrible price.
And some of us know that the Red Army started out with Hitler and co. I think the USA is entitled to believe that they have done an awful lot for the free world. Yes the Brits still are too. And the other "allies" of the USA
Mr. S(c)eptic: Umm, surely you're not proud of the cluster f**k that led to the Guns of August? Or actually chastising the US for abstaining from the senseless killing for the first three years thereof?
And if you check your history I think you'll find it was you lot who managed finally to rope us in, thanks in large part to the Lusitania debacle. You remember the RMS Lusitania -- a "merchant" ship you loaded with American passengers and 3-inch shells, in total violation of the laws of innocent passage?
And then, of course, if you had managed to restrain your French "freres" at Versailles, there never would have BEEN a WW2...
Anonymous (Ros??),
"Like when they voted for John Howard. the ABC commentator was nearly crying on the night."
We have them here too in the MSM.
Dan Rather(not) aside;
NBC's Katie Couric was practically in tears after George W. Bush one in the first election in 2000. She dressed in all black the day it was decided Bush had won all the re-re-re-re-counts in Fla.
This election, Nov. 2004, she went right to her closet the next morning and selected black outfits for roughly the next week for her appearances on the NBC morning show "Today"... One outfit was so freaking ugly it looked like something she had raided her great-aunt's closet for to wear to the great-aunt's funeral!
Ms Couric, yikes. Why didn't it bother her bosses, not the bias but the parading of it.
It appears that the BBC has some pretty solid competition.
Ms Couric is being touted to take Dan Rather's place ?
Maggie nailed it.
You guys rock, lol!
Diplomad, I love your blog! You folks have upended my view of the FSA: Maybe there is hope for the State Dept! However, I disagree with letting the UN and EU handle any diaster, major or minor, by themselves. The graft, moral cowardice and incompetence that would result would only shame them, while hundreds of thousands would suffer and die.
Mr. Sceptic:
Bit late in declaring your intention to honor the Entente, weren't you? Bit late in attacking across the Rhine while Hitler was tied up in Poland, weren't you?
The thing that galls you most isn't that we won two world wars for you, it's that we never asked for anything in return.
an apology from the Beeb.
Subject: RE: Factual Errors
Date: Fri, 20 Feb 2004 08:53:39 -0000
From: "NewsOnline Errors" Add to Address BookAdd to Address Book
To: 3dc@yahoo.com
Thank you for pointing this out. The story has been amended and we
apologise for our error.
Regards
BBC News Online
http://news.bbc.co.uk/
-----Original Message-----
From: 3dc@yahoo.com
Sent: 20 February 2004 04:06
To: NewsOnline Errors
Subject: Factual Errors
--------------------------------------------------
From:3dc
Email address: 3dc@yahoo.com
Url: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world...ope/
3504989.stm
--------------------------------------------------
COMMENTS:
You say the physical impossiblity of 5 times the speed of light in this
story. Please get some science education for you propagandist (nie
reporter).
See:
Colonel Baluyevsky gave few details of the new missile which was tested
on Wednesday, but said it was one that moved fiv
bbc apology continued ..
it was one that moved five times the speed of
light.
This enabled the weapon to manoeuvre while in orbit allowing it to
dodge
missile defence systems.
--------------------------------------------------
BROWSER: Netscape
VERSION: 5.0 (X11; en-US)
BROWSER CODE NAME: Mozilla
IP ADDRESS: 68.78.75.xxx
BBCi at http://www.bbc.co.uk/
This e-mail (and any attachments) is confidential and may contain
personal views which are not the views of the BBC unless specifically
stated.
If you have received it in error, please delete it from your system.
Do not use, copy or disclose the information in any way nor act in
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Fine - invade Toronto - and keep it while you're at it - Free British Columbia!
"Canada has already apologised for Bryan Adams" - South Park - Bigger, Longer, Uncut.
"while simultaneously keeping peace in Bosnia; fighting terrorists around the globe" etc... we brits are there too you know!
Paul, the Military appreciates the Brits, Aussies, Poles, El Salvadorians, Ukrainians, Bulgarians, Italians, Dutch, Romanians and all of the others currently on the ground in Iraq.
I know of NO Loyal American who will ever say anything to France except:
Die, ASSHOLES and soon! Well, that may be a bit strong, but NO AMERICAN will ever again do anything for France. They are a worse enemy than the MSM which includes the BBC and the ABC.
The BBC is a French lover and that is a problem for Britain to eliminate.
Diplomad's post was a great and very funny Satire!
My sum of knowledge about Diego Garcia is, well, nil.
But looking at a
map
, it is clear that the base and vessels would be protected from the East somewhat. Also, the US comments about lack of shelving appear to be true..
That took me, I don't know, 5 minutes to research.
hmm.. url for a chart is
http://www.globalsecurity.org/
mi...rcia_chart1.jpg
Visuals of (non-trusted source, of course!) pre- and post-tsunami Diego Garcia can be found at http://www.globalsecurity.org/mi...a-imagery-
3.htm
The BBC finally gets a clue about America's prowess in military - and a lot of other - matters. Note to BBC: A "can-do" attitude is highly prized in America. Wanna' keep up? Then get going.
We hear lectures (à la Max Hastings) about how the US is botching the war while our troops are on the ground, busy getting the job done.
An interesting fact about the US Navy: Each of our nine currently commissioned Nimitz-class aircraft carriers can deliver more firepower than the three British carriers and the single French carrier combined.
Another factoid: The world's second-largest air force isn't an air force, per se, but the air wings of the US Navy Atlantic Fleet. The third-largest? The US Navy Pacific Fleet.
As a direct result of US dedication and preparedness, when a disaster strikes, we send one carrier with its air wing and it gets the job done.
Kickass indeed.
Why did US base escape tsunami?
So it is true! I know there's been rumors. But this settles it, George W. Bush is Moses! He caused the seas to part and the tsunami passed on either side of Diego Garcia. It feels darn good to have God's right hand man as President.
I too had questions about Diego Garcia being "missed" by the tsunami. However, unlike the BBC, I went to several web pages that specialize on such things and wasn't surprised by the answer: a combination of wave reflections and underwater topography. Diego Garcia actually did see a significan rise in tides, but not a tsunami.
Too bad, the BBC should maybe look to the Muslim world for the answer in secret US/Israeli/Indian nuclear weapons tests.
Margaret,
I saw Madonna singing that song too. Every time I flipped past that station someone was singing something sappy. I honestly think that 'sappy' was the only requirement, nevermind what the words actually said. Actually, imagine all those things in that song and a bunch of bloated dead bodies and smashed boards and trash set back a ways from the newly pristine beaches fits pretty darn good.
You said...
"ITA on the Madonna remark. Nearly tossed my cookies Sat. night when I happened across her sourly singing Lennon's "Imagine" in the NBC tsunami relief dribble.
"Yeah, "Imagine" Madonna with "No religion..." What, no kahbala? "Imagine" Madonna with "No Possessions Too..." What, no closets full of crappie fashion togs, or half a dozen multimillion dollar houses around the globe."
"It's Easy If You Try..."
Yup, "tossed my cookies" pretty much described it.
Though I should say that I hope they raised lots of money. People should get credit for trying to help even if they are stupid.
You know... I'd heard rummors that Madonna was actually quite astute. Since we're talking about conspiracies, how possible is it that she's really a closet capitalist and Republican? Libertarian? How much of this is an act to present her public image in the most profitable way? And how strongly did she insist that she got to sing *that* *song*? Hm? Makes a person think.
Although I agree with the basis of your argument, the following comment annoys me
"while simultaneously keeping peace in Bosnia; fighting terrorists around the globe" etc... we brits are there too you know!
well, ya know...an elephant and a mouse run in the desert and mouse says "look, we're producing a lot of dust..."
but don't get me wrong, i like brits, but the bbc - that's a different opera....
ROFLMAO. Maybe it's time for a campaign to change the BBC nickname from Beeb to Boob, or has someone beat me to it.
Madonna: Having married the son/grandson of former officers of my regiment, she is incommon with my wife, a 'daughter of the regiment'. My wife now wishes me to transfer to the First Battalion Foot and Mouth so she does not have anything in common with Mad Madge....
USA:
1. We need you.
2. We appreciate what you do even if certain muppet like creatures with a liberal education do not.
3. Can you please change your current non-Empiricial policy and invade Europe again but take all the politicans away with you when you leave? Many thanks.
BBC? Thank God for the Internet and the ability to watch Fox News etc!
The DiploFraud's laziness and ignorance apparently knows no bounds. I think he may even be a teen, or perhaps a tweenie.
Imagine, using year-old news clippings and weeks-old conspiracy theories that nobody cares about anymore just to come up with the freaky RW premise: "America is God".
Both hilarious AND stupid. I guess those Royal Family gossip pieces proved too much of an intellectual challenge. The good part: he’s a fraud and Americans can take comfort in the fact that nobody this fucking dim is even ALLOWED in a US federal office building, much less actually WORK there…
Synova lol
Ya know, I'm not entirely convinced that Michael Moore, George Soros and a few others are not really part of Karl Rove's secret Republican "Black Ops" units 
.
As for the Beebs, I think they, along with pretty much the rest of European media have been taking too many lessons from Al-Jazeera and the Arab World lately. I thought WE were the ones supposed to be teaching them about proper journalism. D'oh!!
David Bowie said it first. Go track down "I'm afraid of Americans" if you don't believe me...
3. Can you please change your current non-Empiricial policy and invade Europe again but take all the politicans away with you when you leave? Many thanks. -dave t
Dave, we don't want them. Those people are the reason a lot of our ancestors left europe in the first place.
I'm afraid you'll have to run 'em out yourselves- or do what we did and emigrate. There's still plenty of room over here...
I looked at that five-times-faster-than-light article - I liked the part that said
"Although at that time" (2002) "Moscow did not object, it has lately complained about Washington's plans to build nuclear weapons."
Wow, we had *plans* to build nukes? What did we drop on Japan?
For those unfamilar with Bowie's lyrics (I had to look it up):
God is an american
I’m afraid of americans
I’m afraid of the world
But how does the Da Vinci code fit in?
Tell me that if you have it all figured out!
Your posts get better and better. Perhaps if they get much better, you will be offered a $9 million a year job at CBS, replacing you know who.
You seem to have squared BBC away, now help us out in the USA.
Dear Diplomad,
I suspect you are well aware of the coverage the local Asian press has given to the tsunami relief efforts, but I thought I might as well share some observations on the channel news Asia website. http://www.channelnewsasia.com/k...ves/
gallery.htm
I noticed a very limited mention of US/Aussie relief aid, especially compared to mention of the UN. This news blackout is more noticeable in tsunami photo gallery. Would you consider this type of slant typical of Asian press coverage?
Several pictures have captions with similar emphasis on “assault” and words to insinuate a military invasion. Other photos show US and Aussie forces as incompetent or inactive. For example photos of marines rescuing a downed helicopter or other crashed US vehicles etc. Other photos show military personnel sleeping, standing around joking, eating or otherwise inactive.
A shockingly low percentage of photos actually show US/Aussie personnel directly helping people. Many are labeled “U
To our Brit and Aussie friends, let me just say that, regardless of the good-natured ribbing going on here,we have the experience of having shared more than a few foxholes. There is not better bonding experience than that. Thank you for your contributions. Call us if you need us!
(Cont)
A shockingly low percentage of photos actually show US/Aussie personnel directly helping people. Many are labeled “US Navy official handout photo” to indicate a posed or propaganda picture. If viewed chronologically, there are a few photos which appear halfway through the gallery which indicate what the US and Aussie personnel have done for the victims. However, these photos quickly disappear to be replaced by photos of Russians (did they actually do anything of significance?), French (who did nothing at all) or Indonesian doctors. The majority of photos showing aid relief show the local military distributing supplies. Do those Asian people located away from the disaster areas actually know what the US/Aussie relief workers did to save the day?
3. Can you please change your current non-Empiricial policy and invade Europe again but take all the politicans away with you when you leave? Many thanks.
Hmmmm. Ya know Dave, we thought of this. We have several plans on the Double Secret ++ Conspiracy board about it.
Acutally though, we were thinking about doing it in reverse and invading, but leaving all of our crazy politicians in Europe!
Have fun with em!!
How about right now we just lock down our borders for a year - nothing in, nothing out. Stop all foreign aid, bring all the troops home, close the windows, draw the shades, lock the doors and party.
Viking Wench, thats about the MOST OUTSTANDING idea that I've heard in at least the last decade. Imagine if we cut all foreign, humanitarian, food, development, educational and on and on aid for a year. Imagine the size of the party we could have!
Or the large chunk we could take out of our federal deficit which goes to paying for these things.
Actually, it's pretty easy to have a kick-ass military like the US military if you think about it in the right light.
Start with some of the finest educated, most determined, bravest and courageous people you're likely to find on the planet.
Train them up superbly.
Provide them with the most advanced tools in the world to complete their varied missions with.
And spend about $350 *BILLION* dollars a year for about 50 years.
Viola! You got a #1 kick-ass military!
No Problem!
"You can see how the BBC is finally beginning to understand that the US military is history's ultimate kick-ass machine."
THe Diplomad continues: "Every dickwad between Sumatra and Samarra is beginning to learn what an awesome arsenal of firepower we have. Don't mess with the US, shitheads. We can blow up the world five times over before we've finished our lattes in the morning. We rule! Wachya gonna do, punks, when our potent, virile missiles splatter your pathetic shitty little hometowns. We gonna kick yer asses, then we gonna bitch slap you sad fucks into some democracy. We're crazy when we're riled up. Don't mess with us, fags. When you see us walking down the street, you best go on the other side. If we see you sweating us or giving us a look, we won't hesitate to pop you in the head. We're psycho. We'll pimp your moms and bone your titless wives. We're ferocious. We can bomb the..."
(dunks the Diplomad in a quagmire and watches him sink like the US in Iraq.)
Adriana,
I am not sure what you saw in those photos but I see quite a few photos showing US/Aussie troops doing good things (loading supplies, handing waters, carrying patients etc).
And I am not surprised that Channel News Asia focus more on the Asian efforts (particularly the Singaporeans since they are a Singaporean Channel). I am sure the media in your country focuses more on the contribution your country make and show little (if any) about those made by countries in the region.
In fact to those of you who had this vision that the US/Aussies are doing all the hard work should visit the link posted by Ariana.
Regards,
Willson
3. Can you please change your current non-Empiricial policy and invade Europe again but take all the politicans away with you when you leave? Many thanks.
Oh, and Dave? We'll be sending a whole BOATLOAD of total morons like MISSION ACCOMPLISHED here too.
That ought to improve Europe's situation significantly!
Have fun!
I guess the Brits are reverting to being sissies again. You can tell by the fruity way they talk. It's time to give them the French treatment, no?
"British commanders fear reaction to American aggression"
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/...cfm?
id=62282005
Christians were kindly tolerated by Saddam. What chance that the emerging theocratic democracy will be just as benign to them?
"Gunmen kidnap Catholic archbishop in Iraq"
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com...x.php?
sty=34897
MA gleefully quips: "Gunmen kidnap Catholic archbishop in Iraq"
Islam: The Religion of 'Peace'....
NOT!!
Our pimple-faces play on Xbox and jack off to internet porn; theirs are gunning down collaborators with the occupation forces.
"Rebels recruit more teens"
http://
www.thepeninsulaqatar.com...00501183625.xml
Made the mistake of actually reading the comments and the BBC question.
Unbelievable. This is superstition at it's worst. Why not start ducking Yanks in ponds.
How could the BBC be so stupid. The very fact that they would run with this, just after the tragedy makes them grossly insensitive at best.
It's bad enough that the web is drowning in the lunatics that want to be heard. That parade ignorance as a badge of honour. That the BBC is reduced to this is ghastly. So unethical!
Now I realise that The Australian Broadcasting Corporation is a bastion of excellence.
Hey, what sort of election is this? Posters, TV commercials,
patriotic festoons missing in most places in Iraq?
"Iraq violence spreads to 'safe' areas"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
intern...1392741,00.html
MA missed your dunk the Diplomad. I am too late the witch/yank inquistion had already thought of it.
Weak comments aside, do you visit Chrenkoff? While you are determined that Democracy Iraq is a failure I cannot agree with you. I think that the cusp has been passed. Iraq is getting there, which if you read Chrenkoff could lead you to feel a little more optimistic.
ME, democracy is coming, and despite your leaders hopes, you are like Eastern Europe and Asia and the rest just as capable and deserving of democracy.
Tsk tsk, you should not claim the US is God. Too blasphemous, that sort of thing can come back to haunt you, as when you are lazing around the swimming pool someday in Indiana and a tsunami hits you there. It's bad juju. Remember Lincoln's comment, that we are the Almost Chosen People.
That said, I fear many people around the world who seem to agree with thae sentiment. A couple of years ago there were bad floods in Europe, and the Germans blamed them on Bush, which seemed to indicate that they thought he was the Weather God or something. I thought then that if that was the case the least they could do is send a few maiden (or reasonable facsimile) sacrifices to him. Since he's a devout Christian and has Laura, he'd be unable to use them, so I was selflessly willing to step into his place. Swedish girls preferred.
Just your typical, All-American family, the kind that voted for Bush en masse. Add to this Rush's jocular exoneration of the Abu Ghraibites and you've got a good sense of what is meant by "family values" in the US.
"Parents defend the torture their son inflicted on Iraqi prisoners"
http://www.wchstv.com/newsroom/w.../wv/
news1.shtml
"I am too late the witch/yank inquistion had already thought of it."
Well, they're both reputed to be so light that they can float. No harm if you did dunk them.
"Weak comments aside, do you visit Chrenkoff?"
I have and have followed his links and know him, more often than not, to garble the articles he bases his cheerful tidings on, leaving the bits that give a true picture of the dire predicament there.
"ME, democracy is coming, and despite your leaders hopes"
My leaders are Bush and his puppet-masters and I abominate them and their self-serving cant about democracy and freedom in Iraq while they rob the people blind and set up military bases there to threaten other nations. They have no interest in the real democracy. We'll see how gladly they receive the new government that is likely to take power.
I'd like to request some guidelines for posting at this blog. I sometimes visit other homepages made available from posts at this site; but most bloggers draw the line between a polite invitation to read another viewpoint or a post with a valid challenge and that of repeat spamming in an attempt to ride on the coattails of another popular site. The time spent scrolling past such rudeness is irritating and detracts from serious posts.
Another generaliser MA. If you read of a Muslim mudering a Egyptian Coptic family (as you would know a possible scenario) and you read an individual claiming that they were the typical Muslim what would be your response. A criminal's family declares him innocent,so?
On what grounds do you condemn American families for this individual. If it would be rascist to generalise about Muslims is what you are saying racist. If so then how can you condemn others doing what you do.
Ariana,
Many of us have been making similar requests in comments over the past several days. I recommend e-mailing the host directly. I have done so and I encourage others to do the same. MA is perhaps one of the vilest presences I've ever come across on the Internet. It's time he was shown the door.
Ariana
Where did you misplace the other 'n' in your name?
Ros
It's not just Graner's family, but many in the consevative movement who are actually advocating torture against "terrorist", a name by which, the hypocritical US regimes calls all its enemies in order to deny them human rights. I adduced Rush's infamous apologia. Low-lifes like Pipes, Dershowitz, Podhoretz, et al. in the Zio-neocon movement expressly wish that we do what Graner has been sent to the pokey for. Being Puritans, they might dislike the sexual sadism but the option of torture is very much an open question to conservative policy-making unthinkers.
"Why did US base escape tsunami?"
---I think it's because US service personnel knew how to dog paddle. And you know some of them probably could surf. Anyway, my master had an even better conspircay theory--he was telling his girlfriend that Diego Garcia actually didn't exacape the tsunami--it got wiped pit! Woof! Woof! and that Bush isn't telling anyone. This is so Arab trerrorists bent on blowing it all up will go there in boats anyway and when they're out there floating around the USA will blow them all up! Whine! Arf! Arf!
Ariana:
Just try to ignore MA. He's a pathetic little lefty troll who doesn't have the courage or guts to stick to his own pitiful little blog, so he has to piggyback of off Diplomad's traffic. Simply pathetic, but then that is the status of Lefties these days and fits in perfectly with their parasitic natures. Just ignore him or "roast" him (I hear troll soup can be quite delicious if prepared with the right ingrediants or spices ), but don't even bother having a "debate" with him, that's not what he's here for.
Highlander
Like being a buttboy to the 'Murkin gov? Then the Bush junta might have more use for a Scotsman than just sheparding them like cattle in the Iraqi meatgrinder.
"Like being a buttboy to the 'Murkin gov? Then the Bush junta might have more use for a Scotsman than just sheparding them like cattle in the Iraqi meatgrinder."
Once again MA rushes to prove my point.
Highlander,
From past experience this individual is most likely someone in their teens and lacks any relationional skills. Usually this sort of disruption indicates a severe need for attention. If this individual can't earn it through positive actions, they resort to temper tantrums and attempt to prevent everyone around in their vicinity from having a discussion.
Friends- please don't respond to "Mission Accomplished," our resident troll. Better yet, don't read his postings. Scroll down, and if you see his name, just skip the posting.
Capital L, small A, capital F, small O, small N, small G.
Highlander,
Thought you'd like to hear a famous online expression for dealing with trolls.
"Don't feed the troll"
Lol! The degenerate Scot is petulant that his fascist redneck heroes, who viciously malign anyone that dares criticize the Booby-in-chief, are robustly maligned in turn by me. All of sudden, they fall to whining about vulgarity and abuse. O such sanctimony from known gutterrats! I know your right-wing kind and I know the deep malevolence and unnatural violence that dwells in your thoughts. If you fascists had your way, I am convinced that all opponents of this regime would be in jail, visited with the "fraternity-pranks" by the sadists in the US military or else we would be dead. I have no desire to be friendly with your type. I will return your spleen with spleen. Don't like it? Do your worst, Bush-slave.
Ariana,
Yeah, you're right, MA feeds off any sort of attention - negative, positive - it doesn't matter to him. In fact, reading our posts about him probably gratifies him to an obscene degree. It's best not to encourage it. In fact, it's best not imagine it.
I would recommend that his medication be doubled up on to start with.
I skip those posts, but as was mentioned that's an annoying thing to have to do.
Is there a reason he can't be blocked?
Bob LaFong,
You are absolutely correct. I will take the pledge here and now. I hereby swear that I will no longer feed the troll.
MA do you want the ME to have democracy, "real" or otherwise. If so when and how.
In a sense you defeat your own argument. Your position is that the US is not about establishing self-rule, which clearly democracy is. Yet you are of the view that the Iraqis will give themselves a govt that doesn't like the US. How could they do that if they had no oportunity to exercise free will.
Your hatred of your own nation is awesome. Try and remember that Osama hated you well before Iraq, unfortunately well before Bush. The anti-American sentiments in the world during Clinton were extremely strong, maybe you just didn't notice then.That it is possible that the so chic anti-Americanism has really hit its straps at the collapse of the USSR as a superpower.
Your view of how we sort things out I find very naive.It was quite unpleasant to to see some Muslims in Pakistan explaining what a useless lot infidels were, but their particular loathing was saved for peace marchers. That is not encouragi
Unnatural violence? As opposed to natural violence?
Willson,
My apologies, I missed your post.
You raise a good point
It's understandable that a Singapore media service would wish to show primarily Indonesian contributions. No country wants to look dependent on foreign powers. However, I looked through the entire photo gallery and I'll stand by my evaluation. The coverage of this news service should have shown more photos of the US/Aussies. They deserve the recognition.
Perhaps, my expectations are unrealistic considering the political climate
Has anyone noted that God seems to dislike Muslims?
OK folks Missed your discussion. Will do so.
"Has anyone noted that God seems to dislike Muslims?"
Of course He does. The man in the bright suit and slick hair on the pulpit Sunday morning said so.
(And these Islamophobes are going to bring democracy to Iraq! You've got to be joking!)
Didn't know you were a preacher too, MA....Hallelujah!
"Didn't know you were a preacher too, MA....Hallelujah!"
Cognative dissonance alert! Cognative dissonance alert!
Boobster attempted repartee and forgot that he was a humorless idiot!
Yeah, buddy, talkin' to a shithead's tough.
Once ya get through the stink though, ya about got the bozo whipped.
"Yeah, buddy, talkin' to a shithead's tough."
Then cease engaging in soliloquies.
If that's the case, why are you answering a soliloquy, smelly?
BWAAAAAAAAAAA! The freaking Euro-wimps.....
THEY NEED TO RIGHT THE FREAKING SHIP OVER THERE! BUNCH OF DHIMMIS!
Thank you, and good night.
Normal human commiseration for those suffering with being their own company. Dithering morons in public are really a sad case.
MA, I'll address you seriously this once. I hope you respond in kind.
What do you think we should do over the next decade to address our missteps in the world ?
What do you think we should do over the next decade to address the growing Islamist movement and their intentions to institute Sharia law in western nations? (they have stated that this is their intention in Britain and France and Holland at a minimum).
What do you think we should do over the next decade to address the growing civil war between the ME monarchies and dictatorships on the one hand and the Islamists on the other hand? (which we accellerated)
What's your alternative plan?
From way above..."A little late into WWI and WWII?" First of all, I love Europe, its beautiful old cities, various cultures, food, wine, cheese, and most Europeans. Lived there many years and would love to do so again. But...the US of A is populated with the descendents of those you crapped all over. My antecedents got the hell out because they wanted no more to do with your class system. They were at the bottom of the pile and boogied when they had the chance. They wanted to make a decent life with no one telling them what to do and they did. That attitude persists to this day hence our unwillingness to go to war; but we keep getting sucked into the world's messes. We go to clean them up, but reluctantly. "The Guns of August," as cited above, explains why the average Joe in the US wanted to stay the hell out of WWI. The Versailles Treaty, pages of spite and revenge, lashed together against our will, set Europe up for WWII and our folks wisely tried to stay out of it. A
Continued: After that, we decided we had no choice but to take the lead and deal with the post-colonial mess Europe left the world. I'm getting tired of it and think it is about time the Euros gave up their six week annual holidays, extended maternity/paternity leave, their huge social benefits net, etc., etc., and ponied up the jing to pay for a few carriers, airborne units, Air Mobility Commands, etc., etc., and start paying for the defense we have conveniently provided for them for going on sixty years. When the next big balloon goes up, it's gonna be a bloodbath and Europe's borders are not going to be very well protected by just a few divisions and wings of the U.S. military.
"What do you think we should do over the next decade to address our missteps in the world ?"
Withdraw from Iraq immediately; normalize relations with all ME countries, including Iran and Syria; likewise normalize relations with North Korea and Cuba against whom our hostility is a pointless relic of the Cold War since there is an absense of compelling reason to maintain the belligerence; put ourself under international institutions so that we won't hypocritically be chastising others for breaking international law when we ignore it at will; go for a real roadmap to peace that doesn't favor Israel to the hilt; respect human rights in our own country and cease taking on the mantle of being the best, most humane democracy in the world. We're not; keep in check our own religious fundamentalists who are setting us at odds with the world with their superstitious policies; stop bragging about our alleged greatness all the time.
"What do you think we should do over the next decade
"What do you think we should do over the next decade to address the growing Islamist movement and their intentions to institute Sharia law in western nations? (they have stated that this is their intention in Britain and France and Holland at a minimum)."
Well, the only thing we can do: bomb the backward fuckers into the stone age. Are you seriously asking me this preposterously misleading question? Muslims aren't trying to get non-Muslims to live under Sharia law. It is a few clerics who want it for their own religionists. I think it would be wrong to accede to them on that and all a government has to do is negative it ands the danger is removed. No invasion of the ME is required.
"What do you think we should do over the next decade to address the growing civil war between the ME monarchies and dictatorships on the one hand and the Islamists on the other hand? (which we accellerated)"
The only way to deal with it is through international bodies. The US on its own doesn'
The US doesn't have the credibility to arrange things to their satisfaction.
As for how the struggle turns out, that is mostly their affair.
Sorry peeps...can't stop reading and getting worked up to feed the troll. The current situation is really very simple. I think it was the The Diplomad who said somewhere (or maybe it was George Will) that the Constitution is not a suicide pact. The libs want us to respect the "rights" of everyone, including the terrorists. According to them, we must play by the Marquis of Queensbury Rules, step into the ring with our 8-ounce gloves on, prepared for a fair fight. Our opponents, on the other hand, from out of nowhere, anonymous in the audience, will simply lob a bomb into the ring and run away. Wake up! The gloves are off on this one and it is a matter of survival. I suspect most of the bleeding hearts have never heard a shot fired in anger. One's perspective changes dramatically then, especially if the shot is aimed at one. I'm gonna sleep well tonight because, paraphrasing George Orwell (Aldus Huxley maybe?) "there are rough men ready to do violence in the night to anyo
"there are rough men ready to do violence in the night to anyone who threatens us." I used to be one of those rough men, but I'm too old now and the wounds still hurt. Nite, nite.
Sorry like Curmudgeon got to say it. Yes MA muslims are aiming to force non-muslims to live under sharia law. JI is quite open about the SE asian Caliphate including a large part of Northern Australia. And that the caliphate will be under sharia law. Whether or not it is a reasonable ambition, it is an ambition. So wrong on that one.
Do you honestly believe that the Baathists who are currently fighting the insurgency and funded by Saddam's stolen money will simply say never mind we will all be friends now to the Iraqis that are resisting them. Why wouldn't they do what they were doing before, or do you think that like the holocaust it is a Jewish "lie"
I am so impressed that you know how to normalise relations with North Korea. But you better hurry before most of them have starved to death or been locked up in camps. Or is that another western lie.
Sshh! Us Aussies have a direct line as well, as the Cocos (Keeling) Islands were directly in the path of the Tsunami, but only had a tidal surge of 0.5 Metres. Guess we must be on the right or left hand of someone important, heh! Couldn't possibly be geography that saved us and the US base, could it. Must be a conspiracy!
"And how could God allow any of this to happen - and for that matter how could science?" followed by "(D)oes any of this shake faith in the existence of God?"
It's funny that the BBC thinks to question the existence of God, but not to question the validity of its science...
MA, thanks for the temperate answer. This is much better.
According to Norman Podhoretz' nomenclature, your position is a mixture of Isolationist Hard-Left, espoused by Noam Chomsky, and Liberal Internationalist, espoused by the Council on Foreign Relations among others. You distrust America's motivations and exercise of its power, so you want us to disengage, and you want the exercise of power to resolve disputes to fall to international organizations, like the UN.
Furthermore, you think the threat to us and civilization is non-existent.
Would you agree?
Also, what did you mean with this sentence?
I think it would be wrong to accede to them on that and all a government has to do is negative it ands the danger is removed.
I'm off to finish watching "The French Revolution", on the History channel. (off with their heads!)
Speaking of North Korea... check out Citizen Smash,
http://www.indepundit.com/
... the last entry for Jan 17th... scroll down.
Oh, and MA might accidentally be right about Cuba. What would happen if we started shipping huge quantities of consumer goods and tourists down there? You know, enough tourists that the visits can't actually be orchastrated and controlled so that the visitors with their capitalist ideas have frequent contact with people throughout the island?
"Sshh! Us Aussies have a direct line as well, as the Cocos (Keeling) Islands were directly in the path of the Tsunami, but only had a tidal surge of 0.5 Metres."
George no doubt put in a good word for you.
So, MA, let's see. We will withdraw from Iraq in a controlled way. If we withdraw too quickly, what kind of situation would we leave behind? Yeah, nasty. Oh, we are responsible for that situation? Then I guess it is our obligation to withdraw in a manner that leaves an empowered government and security forces. Of course, we will call that a success and you will call that a failure. sigh.
Does our relief efforts in SE Asia meet any standard you may have of us acting in a responsible fashion? I suppose we should get out of the way of the UN to handle the situation. So you expect the UN to resolve the situation there with the same effectiveness they displayed in Sudan? Rwanda? Congo? Bosnia? What could we do to make the UN be more effective?
Do you think that the US uses it's power for imperial purposes? colonial purposes? I won't argue that there aren't some bad examples of our foreign policy in the past. Puerto Rico for one, but that seems to have turned out
...well. If the US disengages, we would lose access to markets and correspondingly lose power.
Since we act in a less than "moral" manner, by some abstract definition of perfect morality, it is just that we stop using our power. Who would fill the corresponding power vacuum in the international scene? Does the entity who would fill that vacuum meet your standards of justice?
Should we concede to the terrorist demands, because we are the source of their concerns? What world results from conceding to their demands? Does the world view the terrorists promote match your expectations? It seems that the Islamists are interested in promoting a rather illiberal system. Do you think that America's progress toward a more ideal fairness is more unjust than the Islamists ideal?
What lessons does the reaction of the Afghani people to their "liberation" give you. are they better off and do they appreciate the direction they are now taking? If not, what would you propose?
...The last statement on the program "The French Revolution" was something along the lines of "how much violence is justified to attain the goal of liberation"?
What is wrong with the emergent rule: "those nations unable to protect and care for their own population, give up their right to sovereignty". doesn't this rule apply to the Sudan?
It is easy to criticize, when you've no responsibility to the outcome. My question remains, what would you do instead and what situation would that result in? Inaction seems to allow these fascists (the Islamists, that is) to take over the Middle East. Is that a good outcome? Disengagement seems to abandon the Shias once again and surrender the field to the Islamists.
Well, I did another speech. Sorry everyone.
After we dismantle the UN, could we dismantle the BBC and CNN? Hand bits of them over to FOX? Use them for kindling or something? I'm quite sick of them all.
sehoy,
American stationed in Germany
Retro,
Excellent post! As you no doubt know, you won't get a constructive answer from MA because he quite simply has nothing constructive to say.
Door #3, please.
You know what is saddest of all? You actually believe you ARE God.
Skipped ahead:
So I don't know how many other refugees from BIOT/Dodge/D-Gar/Diego Garcia have commented, but I will take this opportunity to put the BBC's mind,(or what passes for its' mind) at ease.
The reason that Diego survived the tsunami unscathed was thanks to the US Merchant Marine.
We cannot dump our trash in the lagoon or within DG's exclusionary zone...most of the place is a wildlife refuge, y'see. Hawksbill and Green Sea turtles spawn there,(they ARE pretty cool, some of 'em get to be the size of VW Bug roofs)
So we must stow our garbage aboard and once a month or so, depending on stench,weigh anchor and "walk the dog" to dump our trash out beyond the beyond.
Well, after 30 years of this, the garbage below starts to pile up..a "junk reef" if you will.
And voila...the plantation is SAVED!
Think nuthin' of it.
Regards;
Retro,
I've posed some of the same questions you ask of MA, to friends and co-workers who ardently protest our presence in Iraq. What I have found is that, without exception, they have not thought beyond our withdrawal. Apparently, everything will be as it was before. No consequences to be seen from our admitting defeat and leaving the ME to the Jihadists. No long-term repercussions to our ability to defend ourselves at home. It is a strikingly naive, short-sighted, and irresponsible worldview.
Dear Diplomad-
Operation Madonna? Ha!
You chaps really have some catching up to do.
Operation Beatles.
The Elton John Defence Initative.
The Boy George Action.
George Michael Task Force.
Last but not least our collabrative effort with the Canucks before they went Frenchie-
The Peter Jennings Double Swap.
Game,Set,Match!
Group Captain Mandrake:
Dear Sir;
If you would be so kind, please
'splain to us ign'nint billhillies the Theory and Practice of "Wham".
"Wham" what?
"Wham" where?
"Wham" who?
why "Wham"?
And don't even get me started on "KajaGoogoo"...(the war wound, y'see).
YVT;
Missin' A Codpiece:
"Withdraw from Iraq immediately; normalize relations with all ME countries, including Iran and Syria; likewise normalize relations with North Korea and Cuba against whom our hostility is a pointless relic of the Cold War since there is an absense of compelling reason to maintain the belligerence; put ourself under international institutions so that we won't hypocritically be chastising others for breaking international law when we ignore it at will; go for a real roadmap to peace that doesn't favor Israel to the hilt; respect human rights in our own country and cease taking on the mantle of being the best, most humane democracy in the world. We're not; keep in check our own religious fundamentalists who are setting us at odds with the world with their superstitious policies; stop bragging about our alleged greatness all the time."
LOL-ROFLMAO! What a wunnerful, wunnerful idea...I have a nominee fer Ambassador to Syria:
The Honorable Josiah Crabbe and
The Honorable Josiah Crabbe and his family.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad will be quite happy to see you, feller!
D'ye have daughters, Josiah? Ask 'em when they'd like their clitorectomies.
That's part n' parcel of them thar "internashnul standurds" you want us all to put ourselves under.
And I hope you don't mind that shipping container with the North Korean nyookular warhead in YOUR cul-de-sac, since there's no "compelling reason" for our enmity with the fine groovy dude Kim Jong Il.
And since you're advocating abandoning Israel to her fate, I figure we all have a pretty clear handle on what kind of creature you are, you fucking Nazi.
Oh, wuzzat? Yer NOT a Nazi, huh?
Sure, pal...you're just a "Facilitator" for the completion of the "Final Solution".
You'd happily sit in yer dreamworld singin' "Cumbaya" into the camcorder for the nice Jihadist Pig-Fucker holding the knife to your throat, while his butt-buddies slaughtered the only democracy in th
Bilgeman: Living up to his name.
"and foisted Madonna on the Brits (A Dr. Evil laugh is permitted here!)"
and we foisted Steve Irwin on both of you (insert Kookaburra laugh here)
Re BBC... I lived in the UK for 3 years in the seventies and considered BBC news to be the best. How times have changed. I can hardly bring myself to watch BBC World anymore because the "professionalism" seems to have disappeared.
MA,
Good stuff. I congratulate you for moving beyond ranting to offer an alternative. Congratulations also to Retro for encouraging you to do so.
Having said that, I would like to point out what I see are a few problems with your ideas for the future of US foreign relations.
You said: "normalize relations with all ME countries, including Iran and Syria; likewise normalize relations with North Korea and Cuba"
This is a rather interesting statement for you to make. Haven't I heard you criticize the US for maintaining good relations with despotic regimes in the past? Why is it okay now? You're also making a big assumption that these states' own strategic interests would allow for such a rapproachment. For someone who ardently believes in the limits of US power, you sure have a lot of confidence in our ability to unilaterally make hostile states play nice with us.
You said: "respect human rights in our own country", and
"keep in check our own religious fundament
cont'd:
fundamentalists"
How do you expect to accomplish the second without infringing upon the first? Or is it only the rights of certain humans that are to be respected?
and we foisted Steve Irwin on both of you (insert Kookaburra laugh here)
I have just watched him on TV, did he move here while I wasn't looking?
Amazing, MA is actually able to post a coherent statement and not just idiotic and insulting rants. Congratulations.
Aside from any other problems with his suggestions, the idea of solving our security problems by meeting the demands of the jihadis is rather naive. Any demands that were met would inevitably be followed, sooner or later, by other demands, and so on, an endless series. Remember that one of Osama's beefs against the US, given as one of the reasons for his declaration of war against us, is the Tragedy of Andalusia, the conquest by Spain of the Moorish kingdon of Granada in 1492. What are we supposed to do about that? It's like Litvinov's description of Stalin's foreign policy after WWII, any demands that were met soon would be followed by more outrageous demands. And one of the jihadi goals is that the whole world submit to Muslim rule (even those who don't convert). They believe that Muslims should rule everywhere, and they have a principled objection to de
and they have a principled objection to democracy, as the Nazis and Communists did. I suspect not even MA would wish to meet this demand.
We cannot stand on the defensive against the terrorists, for we cannot defend everywhere they might strike. We must seize the initiative from them and carry the battle to them. This is what the Bush Administration did. The Iraq Campaign is part of it. Introducing liberty to the Arab World attempts to drain the swamp that gave rise to the Islamist terrorists, the dysfunctional Arab political culture that has left the region ruled almost exclusively by tyrants.
I deduce that MA wishes to return to the FP of the Hoover Administration. It wasn't very successful at the time, and we now have nukes and terrorism to deal with, which Hoover did not. Sorry, no go.
And since you're advocating abandoning Israel to her fate, I figure we all have a pretty clear handle on what kind of creature you are, you fucking Nazi.
Oh, wuzzat? Yer NOT a Nazi, huh?
Sure, pal...you're just a "Facilitator" for the completion of the "Final Solution".
You'd happily sit in yer dreamworld singin' "Cumbaya" into the camcorder for the nice Jihadist Pig-Fucker holding the knife to your throat, while his butt-buddies slaughtered the only democracy in the Middle East, and granted Adolf muthafuckin' Hitler's Last and Dearest Wish.
Missin' A Codpiece=Pacifist Nazi shit-sniffer
GFY
Sorry for the quad posts, gang.
Weird connection earlier today...must be that solar flare goin' on.
Regards;
"According to Norman Podhoretz' nomenclature, your position is a mixture of Isolationist Hard-Left, espoused by Noam Chomsky, and Liberal Internationalist, espoused by the Council on Foreign Relations among others. You distrust America's motivations and exercise of its power"
I'm not entirely in agreement with Chomsky. I think the Afghanistan war had a reasonable casus belli, although it can be said that even there, the US went to war preciptiously, since the Afghanistan government wasn't given much space to deliberate before handing over Al Qaeda fighters. Nonetheless, it wasn't without warrant to attack the nation harboring a paramilitary group that slew three thousand civilians on our soil.
Liberal internationalists are closer to my tastes but I vary from them in there dogmatic insistance that all nations in the world must conform to the one democratic standard of governance. To be sure, we should insist in basic human rights being respected universally, but those human
Liberal internationalists are closer to my tastes but I vary from them in there dogmatic insistance that all nations in the world must conform to the one democratic standard of governance. To be sure, we should insist in basic human rights being respected universally, but those human rights can be secured even in non-democratic nations. Each country should be allowed to find a system of rule suitable to its own national genius. If the Iranians, for instance, wish to have a government of clerics because they see the rampant corruption in Western democracies where seemingly every wealthy shyster and frothy demogogue can mesmorize the idle populace with any claptrap in TV ads and frighten them into paranoia, I do not think we should reflexively call for the putting-down of such a regime. They wish to have men of probity and holiness who, by their religious professions, are disinclined to be venal and vulgar as Western politicians often are. By my lights, such a system has advantages and d
and disadvantages and we show our naivete by taking it as an axiom that democracies are unquestionably good and non-democracies absolutely illegtimate.
I also have some affinity for the paleoconservative criticism of this so-called "War on Terror" and its ultimate provenance from American Zionist circles, although, in general, I abhor the narrow chauvanism of the paleocons. Your sage, Podhoretz, may dismiss it as crackpot but he doesn't dare deny that, by Crassus' famous standard of "cui bono", Israel benefits by the chaos and civil war among its Muslim enemies and therefore, it and its fautors in the US are likely to have a hand in promoting it. Do you deny this?
"Furthermore, you think the threat to us and civilization is non-existent."
Certainly it is non-existent. The cry that civilzation is threatened is hyperbole. Our civilization is cetainly not threatened. Al Qaeda cannot literally destroy a nation of 300 million by dashing airplanes into tall buildings. Our
civilization is cetainly not threatened. Al Qaeda cannot literally destroy a nation of 300 million by dashing airplanes into tall buildings. Our lives are indeed remotely threatened by Islamic terrorists, but, in the great calculus of mortal dangers that human beings are subject to from birth to to the expiring breath, that isn't something to be overworried about.
"Also, what did you mean with this sentence?
I think it would be wrong ..."
I meant that it would be simple to deal with those who have called for introducton of Sharia law in Western nations: the governments there can simply say no.
As for Islamic extremists who dream of a renewed and expanded Caliphate, I think we should take them to be as dangerous as the KKK or any other marginal group.
"So, MA, let's see. We will withdraw from Iraq in a controlled way. If we withdraw too quickly, what kind of situation would we leave behind? Yeah, nasty."
Controlled way or no, we have civil war in Iraq and the US
hasn't the foggiest idea how to rectify it. Hoping that the mere passage of time will quell the restiveness is supremely utopian, (to fling a word at you often thrown at the Left). As long as the occupation is there, collaborators will be savagely killed. Just today, two supposed Shia spies for the US were beheaded in Ramadi.
Once we leave, the civil strife will unfortunately persist, but by removing the collaboration with foreigners, we can hope the fraternal contention will lose some of its asperity and viciousness that have been inspired by the presence of foreign armies on Iraqi soil. In any case, the movers of this war have proposed nothing but factless conjecture as to how the insurgency will be allayed.
"Does our relief efforts in SE Asia meet any standard you may have of us acting in a responsible fashion?"
The response was sufficent but the juveile boasting of it was grotesque. It's one of the ugly qualities of our country that needs to be reformed.
"I suppos
e we should get out of the way of the UN to handle the situation."
Look at the paper one these days. We already have made way for the UN. It runs things now in point of the Asia tsunami relief.
"So you expect the UN to resolve the situation there with the same effectiveness they displayed in Sudan? Rwanda? Congo? Bosnia?"
The UN wasn't any more or less effective in handling those wars than the US was. You keep forgetting that we are a veto-holding member of that body.
"Do you think that the US uses it's power for imperial purposes? colonial purposes?"
Imperial, yes; colonial, no. I believe that we are too insular to take to planting colonies in exotic lands. Besides, we have plenty of open space in this wide continent. We don't need to send out colonies. On the other hand, a good rule of thumb on imperialism is to see how our neighbors view our power. The entire world views us as a colossus exerting our might for our own benefit with as much assiduity as any sel
self-named empire of the past. We may deny it because we think our power is being employed benevolently, but it's an enormous power exerted upon other nations and it's not adequately checked by any opposing force. What further definition of imperialism are you looking for?
I'll deal with the rest of your questions another day.
Missin' A Codpiece:
"I meant that it would be simple to deal with those who have called for introducton of Sharia law in Western nations: the governments there can simply say no."
Ahh, I see. The Nancy Reagan School of Realpolitik, huh?
"Just Say No"
But what happens then, chummie?
"As for Islamic extremists who dream of a renewed and expanded Caliphate, I think we should take them to be as dangerous as the KKK or any other marginal group."
Oh, yeah, they KILL innocent people.
But according to you:
"in the great calculus of mortal dangers that human beings are subject to from birth to to the expiring breath, that isn't something to be overworried about."
And I'd observe that in the "Calculus of Terror", you need actually make examples of comparatively few to quell dissent and cow the herd...pick an era, examples abound.
"Our civilization is cetainly not threatened. Al Qaeda cannot literally destroy a nation of 300 million by dashing airplanes i
"Our civilization is cetainly not threatened. Al Qaeda cannot literally destroy a nation of 300 million by dashing airplanes into tall buildings."
Well, in fact, they can. If they do it often enough to cause people to lose faith in the ability of themselves and the government that serves them to protect them from it, or prevent it's reoccurrence by retaliating for it.
The loss of faith precedes the loss of will which leads to subjugation.
Look at yerself, yer own example.
They "only" managed to drop two buildings and damage a third, but YOU have apparently lost any and all faith that we can do ANYTHING correctly to defend and protect ourselves.
Or did you feel this way about us PRIOR to September 11th?
GFY;
Well done, MA. Just ignore Bilgeman for the moment - he's a trolling anti-troll! ;-D
I think that the fundamental divide between pro-war and anti-war positions is the measure of the threat. If one views the threat as practically impotent, minus the luck they had on 9/11, then we are waaay over-reacting and making it worse. If one views the threat as a generational danger to our way of life, since they could gain control over a "hydraulic empire" with trade and oil, then the anti-war position is a direct threat to our success. The degree of accurate and balanced portrayal in our media is critical to our evaluation, and they have not been so. I think it is very important to understand this fundamental difference of analysis and perception. This is more primary than realist, idealist, internationalist or whatever framework one uses to think about foreign policy. It also dictates whether we are acting imperially (we are, of course) in such a way that others can support. Med
Bilge-swiller:
"D'ye have daughters, Josiah? Ask 'em when they'd like their clitorectomies"
Hmmm. So you're back to abuse, are you, O hick on the high seas?
"Clitorectomies"? No, I'd save that for your wife since she's unlikely to get much tittilation of that knob of pleasure from her poor old "paltry" husband. It'd be like removing the appendix; a superfluous appendage for her, I'm afraid.
Media is so crucial to the whole equation.
I'll get into your details in a bit. I'm watching Condi Rice do a pretty good job in front of the Senate confirmation hearings. She is smart and sharp. I like her and I think the Europeans will too - seperating her from the policy, of course.
ps. I appreciate that you see our actions (multilateral) in Afghanistan as necessary and beneficial to us and them. Common ground!!
Missin' A Codpiece;
"Hmmm. So you're back to abuse, are you, O hick on the high seas?"
I don't cotton to Nazi shitbags, no matter how "pacifist" they pose.
Sailed under too many of 'em. Know their codes and habits and characteristics all too intimately.
'Tis a hard school, the sea...but the lessons she teaches go deep in the bones.
""Clitorectomies"? No, I'd save that for your wife..."
Ah-yep...that's one of those characteristics of the petitfuehrer, he dictates standards for YOU'n's to obey, but HE ain't a' gonna put HIS precious self and genetic legacies under the same standards.
GFY;
Bilgeman,
The loss of faith precedes the loss of will which leads to subjugation.
That's it right there. It may seem like school-yard rules, because in many ways it is, but the West's appeasement and lack of will is the foundation of al'Qaeda's strategic evaluation that was allowing him to become a mainstream movement. Do you think Osama has reevaluated?
Cut MA a little slack, ok? You don't want it to all devolve again, do you!? God forbid!
Yes, that's nice, but do you play the banjo?
shit, too late...
Don't worry, Retro. I know how to disriminate the fools from the misinformed. I'll continue answering you in civility if you like.
BBC's really good... for everything except news
Retro;
Congrats on the feat of coaxing MA into posting semblances of coherence, but frankly, all you've done is make him far more dangerous.
I much preferred his noxious and irritating rattling in the dry leaves.
Eve's error was in trying to reason with the Serpent, even the Christ didn't try it.
You listen to his words, and find yourself rewarding those who kill you and your innocents...and thinking this is freedom.
You find yourself abandoning your true allies in their mortal peril to their doom...and thinking that this is protecting your honor.
And you place the nation that was built with our ancestors sweat and blood, and held in trust by us for our children, in thrall to a group of unelected, unnacoountable bureaucrats whose only allegiance is to themselves...and think that this is liberty.
You don't walk a mile in the Serpent's shoes.
You don't "get into" the Serpent's head.
You don't "work through" to his "root causes".
You crush it
You s
You crush it
You stone it.
You club it.
Barring that, you point at it from a safe distance and scream "SNAKE" as loudly as you can.
Regards;
So this is what happens when you drink seawater.
Missin' A Codpiece:
"So this is what happens when you drink seawater"
That's much better, boy-o. I MUCH prefer my poisonous reptiles to be easily identifiable.
GFY;
"That's much better, boy-o. I MUCH prefer my poisonous reptiles to be easily identifiable"
Madman of the watery main, you're empoisoned everytime facts and truthful critiques infect your brain. Folly is your life's blood, you drawling dunce.
Missin' A Codpiece:
"Madman of the watery main, you're empoisoned everytime facts and truthful critiques infect your brain. Folly is your life's blood, you drawling dunce."
Music to mine ears, chappie, with every insult, you proclaim your impotence from the very rooftops.
Ahhh, the Serpent claims to know "Truth".
Now ain't that there a blasphemy 'mongst some circles?
Wonder what would happen to the author of such words under some of them "innernashnul standids" he espouses?
GFY;
"Music to mine ears, chappie, with every insult, you proclaim your impotence from the very rooftops."
Is that the illusion that helped you cope with all that taunting in Jr. High?
Missin' A Codpiece:
I'm off to bed, it is now time for you to get thee behind me, Deceiver.
GFY;
Oh, the devil can quote Scipture!
I'm sorry, but (NOCTURNAL E-)MISSONS ACCOMPLISHED is cracking me up. He attacks the "religious fundamentalists" in the USA (apparently everyone to his right who happens to own a Bible) while singing the praises of Iran's ayatollahs. He wants the USA to "normalize relations" with the most ABNORMAL regimes on the planet. And he goes on and on and on . . . Memo to the Management: Is this some sort of parody? After all, we know there are quite a few fools at the State Department who actually believe this sort of nonsense, which is why you're blogging anonymously.
OK, OK, I won't feed the troll anymore.
And, Group Captain Mandrake: Could you please explain the tactical significance of The Clash and the Spice Girls? Just curious.
Now that the BBC has lifted the lid on our super secret earthquake making machine, I wish the military would come clean about it so we could start using it to destroy terrorist strongholds. Even better, admit the truth about UFOs so we can start using that extra-terrestrial technology to locate and destroy all the enemies of freedom and democracy.
Then we can build that giant wall around the USA, shut ourselves off from the rest of the world and see how well they get along with US foreign aid, US trade, and US military protection.
After all, the great leaders of Europe did such a wonderful job for the past 1000 years, surely they don't need Americans to help them out.
As to Madonna....we should have sent her to France. The French already hate us for sending them Jerry Lewis.
MA, I'm too tired to get into it, tonight. I don't agree with Bilgeman that your cogent responses are more of a "threat" than your spamming. It at least falls within a framework to analyze. I think your assumptions are way off, but funny enough, if we win, we will never know the extent to which we avoided trauma. All you have to do is read the propoganda on the other side, the jihadist side, to see what we would be facing if we don't oppose them. The fact that you are underestimating the threat we are faced with explains most of your foolish and idealistic views. Another night we can cover it. I would just ask that you stop posting all those damn links. We read that same crap everyday and they really aren't making your arguments for you, you know. The trust level in them is minimal, since the reporting, and your linking, is so skewed in line with the story both would tell.
thanks.
Retro
My specific answers to your questions are up. Rejoin to them if you can. As for putting up news items mostly from local conservative newspapers around the country, I'll do it anytime I feel that the real horror in Iraq is being ignored by the right-wing noise machine.
MA, it isn't being ignored by us, but they are trees in the forest. Things are going really well, considering what we are trying to do and the opposition to it from the jihadists and Baaathists. OF COURSE there will be problems and setbacks. Jesus, that's the whole game plan from the other side. What's your message? Gee, this is going down the drain so we need to get out? You are spreading their propoganda. You are arguing for them to win a war, and yet you claim to have the soldiers interests at heart? The problem is that you cannot support the troops if you don't support the mission. Of course, I have never actually heard you claim you support the troops, but correct me if I am wrong. It is clear you don't support the US. News flash: we are winning dramatically and they nor you can stop it. Your position and most importantly your activism calls to account your credibility.
MA has yet to answer my questions. I'm particularly interested in knowing how he proposes to keep our own religious fundamentalists in check, while respecting human rights in this country. Those statements, without clarification, would seem to be at cross-purposes. Unless of course, MA is operating from the assumption that our own religious fundamantalists are not human - which is, given some of his previous posts, not entirely oustide the realm of possibility.
Look, Retro, you provide no facts nor links for your absurd optimism nor any philosophical basis for your complacent imperialism which has ignited so much destruction and misery. I took pains to answer your redundant questions with particulars. You haven't returned to them. Instead, you've launched into more question-begging about the goodness of the US cause and the immorality of supporting the insurgents. Until you rebut my answers with demonstrable facts and cease with your pseudo-intellectual assumptions about Iraq, you can consider this discussion to be over.
Again, with respect to the news items which show the true situation in Iraq, I will continue to bring them to the attention of this right-wing blog and others because it is only right and proper that you see the handiwork of your policies. You went for this war and now you wink at the calamities that hae followed in its train. Just this morning, I saw a grisly photo in the paper of a little Iraqi girl, crying and splatte
splattered with the blood of her parents who had been killed by trigger-happy US soldiers at a checkpoint. That photo affected me much. That little girl is now an orphan and will rightly grow to hate the US and instill that enmity into her children. You and your fellow wingnuts want to avoid discussion of this. You want the illusion of a bloodless war to be perpetuated by the lazy, obsequious mainstream media. You want to carry on with your jack-off diatribes against the UN, Islamicists, feminists, the French etc.,undisturbed with having to hear about the horrors you've created. Nuh uh. You, the Diplomad and the other screechers in the right-wing blogoshpere will continue to hear about it from me at least. Don't like it? Tough shit. Who cares what you like?
Skeptic, what an idiotic comment.
"Diplomad
I like your website but this is a bit much - ''history's ultimate kick-ass machine.''
Bit late into WWI and WWII weren't you?
Probably easier to pick on the little countries - leave the big boys to the Red Army and us Brits."
Leave the big boys to the Red Army and you Brits????
The big boys pushed you Brits off the continent at Dunkirk and at the Pelopónnisos, and you could not return without an enormous amount of help from the United States.
As for the Red Army, though they fought well, probably more afraid of Stalin than they were of the Germans, the would have been crushed had it not been for German strategic mistakes and the bitter Russian winter.
And it was the U.S. who almost single handedly broke the "big boys" in the Pacific with very little help from you Brits.
So don't give me this crap about the U.S. leaving the big boys for you to deal with. Next time you post a comment be sure you get your hi
(continuation to the skeptic)
next time you post a comment you might want to get your history straight.
America is living on borrowed time
Missin' A Codpiece:
"I saw a grisly photo in the paper of a little Iraqi girl, crying and splattered with the blood of her parents who had been killed by trigger-happy US soldiers at a checkpoint. That photo affected me much. That little girl is now an orphan and will rightly grow to hate the US and instill that enmity into her children. You and your fellow wingnuts want to avoid discussion of this."
And you, OTOH, will obsess upon it.
A sad and ugly fact of war, and no denying it.
But tell us, MA, did those tragic and pathetic missing persons postings stuck on every bus kiosk and storefront in Manhattan leave no impression upon you?
Is your compassion selective for only when it suits your politics?
And, beware of news images...they are misleading because they are often bereft of context.
Remember this?:
http://www.treefort.org/~cbdoten...ks/080-
4450.htm
read the accompanying article, even the photographer lauded General Loan's actions.
But that's
But that's not how it played then and for nearly two dacades thereafter.
So, why don't you post the link to this alleged photograph that allegedly moved you so much?
We know you're capable.
Then we can examine what context is available of this alleged event.
'kay?
MA,
It appears that MA is quickly reverting back to form. Well, he is certainly out of his element when flushed from cover and challenged to put forth and defend constructive ideas.
MA likes to play on one side of the ball exclusively. His specialty is to take hackneyed liberal dogma, mix in a few sodomitic and fecal references, ball it up, and sling it at his antagonists from the protection that offering nothing up for criticism affords.
Diplomad, wasn't it the BBC who had their
man Gilligan broadcasting on radio that
there were "NO Americans in Baghdad",
while on TV at precisely the same moment
they were broadcasting views of Americans
helping tear down a hated statue of
Saddam in a Baghdad square?
Oh, THAT BBC!
Highlander:
"It appears that MA is quickly reverting back to form. Well, he is certainly out of his element when flushed from cover and challenged to put forth and defend constructive ideas"
Maybe he just got his feelings hurt...can't imagine why, me bein' such a fuckin' "people person" n' all.
Musta been sumthin' YOU said.
You may have a frosty beverage...
Regards;
I AM CANADIAN !! (ay)and i will NOT AVERT MY EYES, GO WATCH A MICHAEL MOORE MOVIE OR GO LISTEN TO A STREISAND ALBUM.
unlike my left leaning fellow countrymen i think MICHAEL MOORE IS A TRAITOR TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. i for one thank mr.bush for taking the war over there and not allowing it to remain on north american soil...thankyou
Like Swede, my polite - but conservative - posts to the BBC's 'Have Your Say' have always been rejected.
The argument that the US should withdraw from the world and batten down the hatches would be a tempting proposition for some of our American cousins, I'm sure. It would scare the living daylights out of the rest of us - and might ('might' that is) teach the EU that value of having the US on our side. But in pursuing her national self-interest (an honourable pursuit, I might add) the US actually needs to throw its weight around a bit so complete withdrawal is more fantasy than a serious option.
However, not assisting in the tsunami disaster would have definitely shown up the UN and EU for what they are - especially as the death toll escalated. But Americans just wouldn't do that and so the Euros and UN get yet another chance to bite the hand that feeds them.
Better tell these people running their mouths about American natural disaster conspiracies to knock it off...or we'll turn on the volcanoes!
Those have been my sentiments for over 20 years.
Let the EUnichs come to us, with cap in hand, and ask, nay!, beg us for some C-17s to help drop supplies.
See how they get on without us, indeed.
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