The War

[blakely]

ok, so:

I work at a hotel, and as such i have to deal with relatively ignorant and just plain stupid people (tourists) everyday. But the lady i dealt with no more then 30 min ago really takes the cake.

I had checked her in this afternoon and had had to stifle the idea she had in her head that she deserved a military discount simply because her son was in the marines. She grudgingly stopped arguing and went up to her room. She then calls down to the front desk about 45 min ago to bitch a little bit more (apparently she felt she hadnt gotten enough in while she was down here) at me about the price of her room. When i refuse to argue further about the price and tell her that she currently has the lowest possible price, she says to me, "I can't believe you can treat me like this when my son is half way across the world fightong for your 'freedom'!"
To which, i say, "My freedom? Hes not fighting for freedom. Hes fighting for oil." Not the most articulate way of explain the intricate web of deceit that is the war in iraq, i know, but give me a break i was heated.

She later comes back down for round two and decides to start throwing out old standards like "how dare you" and "your a coward", as if killing people was the one true test of honor and courage. After calling me a "liberal son of a bitch" and asking me for a card to contact the district manager (after she had asked for the manager not realizing it was me). She left in a huff mumbling something about her son being a sniper and i settled back into my chair to continue reading feeling wholly satisfied with what i had just done.

[codytwo]

Please don't do this to the board.

[John Peel is My Co-pilot]

I'm in a strange minority. I love the war, yet hate the troops.


God, I miss Bill Hicks...

[BoneDaddy]

[Yablonowitz]

Current state of the conflict.

This is a fucking awesome read from someone who is really paying close attention to what's going on in Iraq.

[blakely]

Current state of the conflict.

This is a fucking awesome read from someone who is really paying close attention to what's going on in Iraq.

thats enlightening, im going to be spending some more time on that site...

[DeltaSigChi4]

I know exactly what is going on Irak.

And it's not good for anyone*.

E

* Well, besides the contractors. They lovin' it [like McD's]

[wmgaretjax]

god, I've had too many ridiculous conversations like this.

good for you.

[DeltaSigChi4]

I've glad you've had too many conversations about this.

Have you seen young men die for nothing?

E

[bballarl]

Nevermind.

[mob roulette]

i am of the opinion that delta is suffering from post traumatic stress disorder due to his experiences overseas. i'm not saying he wasn't a dick before he went into the service, i'm saying the military likely further messed with his already fragile ego. maybe we should all go a little bit easier on him. hugs people. we are dealing with a wounded animal here.

delta, do you need to talk? i am here for you bro. peace.

[adamnikyo]

You can always count on Delta to bring a hefty level of douche to a thread.

[Courtney]

Current state of the conflict.

This is a fucking awesome read from someone who is really paying close attention to what's going on in Iraq.

Thanks for sharing this article, Yablo. I enjoyed reading it.

Sometimes I find Salon pieces to be a bit hyperbolic, but this was a good one. I do find it strange that Evan Kohlmann chose not to mention the strong economic motivations both for people to join the insurgency and also for people to become jihadists. I think that's an important factor.

[TomAz]

I've glad you've had too many conversations about this.

Have you seen young men die for nothing?

E

One of the grave injustices of war is that heroes die and Delta survives.

[J~$$$]

Over the line.........but i giggled.

[Yablonowitz]

Thanks for sharing this article, Yablo. I enjoyed reading it.

Sometimes I find Salon pieces to be a bit hyperbolic, but this was a good one. I do find it strange that Evan Kohlmann chose not to mention the strong economic motivations both for people to join the insurgency and also for people to become jihadists. I think that's an important factor.

Salon runs the gamut. I personally love it because of all the different sources of admittedly left-leaning information there is there. There are writers on there that make me cringe but I've learned far more factual information from there than almost any news site, with the possible except of the the New York Times.

[Courtney]

Yeah, I agree, the lack of consistency at Salon is surprising. But in general, I'd much rather get my news there than USA Today or the like.

I am always tempted to get a paper subscription to the NYT, but I feel like that would be the ultimate betrayal as an Angeleno.

[fober]

There's a war going on?

[Stefinitely Maybe]

War, what is it good for? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

[kimery08]

(nothing nothing)

[fober]

(nothing nothing)

We would have accepted any of the following:

• Uh-huh
• Say it Again Y'all
• Listen to Me

You lose.

[wmgaretjax]

I've glad you've had too many conversations about this.

Have you seen young men die for nothing?

E

I have actually. In Ambon and East Timor.

[tiffdud41]

for nothing, hope they didn't think so, or if they did, hope it was worth it

[canexplain]

ying yang here on this one .... i hate the war and dislike the adminstration so much, words have not enough impact to express it ... but ... i joined the service during Nam because I wanted to change the system from the inside ... well of course it didnt work so i got even more liberal ... now our wp grad might be going to Iraq in a few months .... so I hate the war even more ... but i guess she thinks she can change things thru the system also .. we cant give up trying anyway ... it makes me sad to think that maybe it will never change .. cr*****

[wmgaretjax]

There's a war going on?

What's going on?

[blakely]

ying yang here on this one .... i hate the war and dislike the adminstration so much, words have not enough impact to express it ... but ... i joined the service during Nam because I wanted to change the system from the inside ... well of course it didnt work so i got even more liberal ... now our wp grad might be going to Iraq in a few months .... so I hate the war even more ... but i guess she thinks she can change things thru the system also .. we cant give up trying anyway ... it makes me sad to think that maybe it will never change .. cr*****

with all due respect, i dont understand how you might think you would be able to change things as a soldier. politicians decide what happens.

[Yablonowitz]

Yeah, I agree, the lack of consistency at Salon is surprising. But in general, I'd much rather get my news there than USA Today or the like.

I am always tempted to get a paper subscription to the NYT, but I feel like that would be the ultimate betrayal as an Angeleno.

Funny you mention that. Frontline just did a story about the LA Times and how it had had made great strides to be a major national newspaper to rival the New York Times and Wall Street Journal but because the Tribune Company bought the Times, they shitcanned a bunch of the reporters and made them scale back the scope of their paper to be more localized and focused on fluff. You guys may already know all this stuff but it was a sad tale about the influence of major media companies on news reporting. Fucking depressing, really.

[Yablonowitz]

with all due respect, i dont understand how you might think you would be able to change things as a soldier. politicians decide what happens.

That's sadly true lately. But there are actually very intelligent people in the upper tiers of the military who research effective strategies to fight terrorism and insurgencies. The man Bush tapped to head operations in Iraq is actually someone who applied effective counter-insurgency methods when he was stationed in a region in Iraq around 2003. He's well-educated and a pragmatic person who could have been very effective if his methods were used earlier on in the war. Sadly, he's got a far more complicated and nearly impossible situation to try to deal with. Right now, there's not much the military can do, in my opinion. Heavy state department involvement and major ass kissing, mea culpa diplomacy with non ideologic, pragmatic results-oriented focus is the only way out. But I don't know shit.

[HowToDisappear]

I watched that the other night, too. Great program, and yes, quite depressing. I wish Eli Broad and the Chandler Family all the luck in getting the paper back, although it's unlikely.

[J~$$$]

Did you hear that we have already claimed victory in the war on terror. People are saying terrorism lost its hard fought battle on October 2008, or a about month before.