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Muscle Tracer posted:I'm not sure how you misconstrued a post that boiled down to "America is extremely flawed even centuries after becoming a democracy, why do Americans keep expecting other democracies to succeed where we still fail, and in their infancy" as pro-American imperialism, but I'm sorry that you came to that incorrect conclusion. It is not the case, to think so would mean you are the product of a failed education system. You are also being pitifully blinded to what I Assn saying. Its not so much that you're pro-US, more that you are looking down on Arabs, and your best intentions don't make up for you're incidental racism in doing so, just a the best intentions of those who committed the crime of the stolen generation don't make up for the horror of their words and actions
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Mar 26, 2013 23:13
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Pointing out very obvious flaws in the societies and governments of Arab nations is not the same as "looking down on Arabs", any more than pointing out flaws in the USA and Western Europe is "looking down on Europeans." It's just a factual observation and very much in accordance with actual Leftist ideas of universalism. And any real leftist talking about bigotry, corruption and so on in Arab countries is not blaming the ordinary people for the state of affairs, but centuries of colonialism, oppression and foreign-backed dictatorship and current historical and material conditions, and it's done out of a sincere desire to see genuine emancipation (in all its forms) for the oppressed and marginalized everywhere in the world. And none of the people here criticizing the status quo in one Arab country or the other is excusing America for its own crimes. I guess some wishy-washy post-modern Liberals can take exception to all of this, if they really want to. OwlBot 2000 fucked around with this message at 23:24 on Mar 26, 2013 |
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Mar 26, 2013 23:21
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Brown Blitzkrieg posted:It is not the case, to think so would mean you are the product of a failed education system. What is not the case? "It" is not very specific, as I cover two separate topics in the post. Are you again stating that there are no oppressive or regressive regimes in West Asia? I can think of at least one that has been getting an exceptional amount of coverage in this thread. I'm also not sure where you see racism in my posts, as I haven't actually mentioned race in any of them.
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Mar 26, 2013 23:46
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Brownie? Why are you bringing up the stolen generation as a metaphor for... I'm not sure what, exactly? It's a very horrible thing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stolen_Generations but not on topic at all. Look, you keep doing a heckuva job, and we'll keep talking about the things in this thread. So, as I was saying, given the money to the Jihadists are coming from, largely, private sources, is it likely that it'll be backtracked? Probably won't mean anything if it is, though, because those people giving arms are rich enough to avoid justice of any kind. As far as the CIA goes, anything at this level would involve direct Obama approval. Obama, I think, would be very careful about things likely to result in backbiting 20 years from now. Can we draw any conclusions from that?
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Mar 27, 2013 01:11
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Warcabbit posted:As far as the CIA goes, anything at this level would involve direct Obama approval. Obama, I think, would be very careful about things likely to result in backbiting 20 years from now. Can we draw any conclusions from that? Isn't the whole "we want to minimize the impact of these weapons after al-Assad falls" thing the main reason why they brought weapons out of Croatia, where it'd be Yugoslavian weapons not quite compatible with the Soviet and US stuff floating around everywhere else?
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Mar 27, 2013 01:28
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point of return posted:Isn't the whole "we want to minimize the impact of these weapons after al-Assad falls" thing the main reason why they brought weapons out of Croatia, where it'd be Yugoslavian weapons not quite compatible with the Soviet and US stuff floating around everywhere else? I'm not sure, but the CIA is fond of weapons that have shelf-lives measured in a decade or less, and it wouldn't be hard to convince Saudi Arabia and the other big money men that it's in their best interest to not have a bunch of military weapons bumping around the neighborhood. Anything that's more long-lasting is probably too big to pick up and put in a backpack.
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Mar 27, 2013 01:49
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Good debunking, but I feel it's necessary to point out that nobody in the US takes Frontpage seriously as anything other than a crazy rightwing magazine. http://brown-moses.blogspot.com/2013/03/a-great-example-of-how-not-to-write.html edit: the second google result for one of the authors is an article entitled 'In Defense of Christian Supremacy' Xandu fucked around with this message at 15:31 on Mar 27, 2013 |
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Mar 27, 2013 15:29
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My post has also been published on the CBRNe World website, although the page is broken at the moment. The Front Page Magazine piece was so dreadful in everyway I felt compelled to post, it was sub-Prison Planet journalism, and exactly the sort of badly written poo poo on arms that really gets on my tits.
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Mar 27, 2013 15:41
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This interesting document has surfaced on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Syria_Horra/status/316921331998400513/photo/1 It is supposedly a request from the Unified Judicial Council in Aleppo, asking all the rebel battalions in Aleppo to arrest and hand over anybody launching rockets or mortars from residential areas to the council. Interesting to see how everybody responds to the request.
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Mar 27, 2013 15:42
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That's very interesting if it's real, I might make some queries with people who could confirm it's accurate.
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Mar 27, 2013 15:47
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Xandu posted:Good debunking, but I feel it's necessary to point out that nobody in the US takes Frontpage seriously as anything other than a crazy rightwing magazine. Termite based bomblets ? Sounds like a bioweapon right there !
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Mar 27, 2013 15:57
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The worst part is I proof read it 3 times for poo poo like that, now the world will think Assad is spraying Syria with flaming insects.
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Mar 27, 2013 17:03
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Brown Moses posted:The worst part is I proof read it 3 times for poo poo like that, now the world will think Assad is spraying Syria with flaming insects. Discounting the horror that would be involved, that would be pretty awesome.
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Mar 27, 2013 17:09
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Probably not unlikely that they'd believe so anyway even if it was spelled correctly. I know I did in my youth (though I'll lay some blame on Donald Duck comics introducing them as the weapon of choice against ancient wooden ships and then not bothering to show them in action)
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Mar 27, 2013 18:29
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Brown Blitzkrieg posted:As a person with ancestry from the region, I find the term Middle East highly offensive. Middle in relation to what? East in relation to what? Europe, you loving Eurocentrist. I'd prefer to be defined by geographical relation to Asia, not a rotting, open wound like Europe. This is why the United Nations and slightly progressive places like Canada use the term Western Asia instead of "Middle East". I prefer "Western Asia" but people generally won't know what you're talking about (which is the point of using words). Even "Western Asia" could be construed as offensive if you wanted to since the whole division of Eurasia is arbitrary as well. In either case, saying "Middle East" doesn't even rise to the level of saying "Burma" or whatever, it's really just an arbitrary designation. There are much more legitimate things to worry about, such as people conflating West Asia and Islam, or how people include North Africa for the "Middle East" and implicitly minimize the relevance of non-Arabs in North Africa.
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Mar 27, 2013 19:50
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You know, Asia's a rotting, open wound, too. In fact, there's only a few places that aren't rotting, open wounds. They're very cold.
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Mar 27, 2013 21:05
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eSports Chaebol posted:In either case, saying "Middle East" doesn't even rise to the level of saying "Burma" or whatever, You most likely know it as Myanmar, but it will always be Burma to me.
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Mar 27, 2013 21:07
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While flaming الشرق الأوسط for being Eurocentric, why not flame المغرب and اليمن for being Arabiacentric? I can understand the argument, but the indignant outrage sounds so constructed and fake, especially when combined with some reference to one's ancestry when there clearly are West Asians capable of speaking for themselves.
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Mar 27, 2013 21:08
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Svartvit posted:While flaming الشرق الأوسط for being Eurocentric, why not flame المغرب and اليمن for being Arabiacentric? I can understand the argument, but the indignant outrage sounds so constructed and fake, especially when combined with some reference to one's ancestry when there clearly are West Asians capable of speaking for themselves. Morocco even has the same problem as the U.S. stealing "America" for itself!
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Mar 27, 2013 21:10
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And onto something that isn't dogged by semantics and actually matters- Moaz al-Khatib's speech at the Arab League yesterday is something else. Probably one of the most inspired speeches I've seen out of an Arab political leader: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnNLK82neGo
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Mar 27, 2013 21:33
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edit Oops old article
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Mar 27, 2013 23:34
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There's some claims on twitter/facebook that the FSA shot an Iranian cargo plane carrying weapons as it was landing in Damascus. https://twitter.com/AliNahar/status/317065895996432385
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Mar 28, 2013 01:34
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Xandu posted:There's some claims on twitter/facebook that the FSA shot an Iranian cargo plane carrying weapons as it was landing in Damascus. Did they just shoot it or did they shoot it down?
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Mar 28, 2013 01:37
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I'm not sure if shot it down is accurate (I think it like just landed), but it did blow up.
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Mar 28, 2013 01:38
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Xandu posted:I'm not sure if shot it down is accurate (I think it like just landed), but it did blow up. Wow. Assad is gonna be pissed when he checks his tracking number.
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Mar 28, 2013 04:47
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Brown Blitzkrieg posted:As a person with ancestry from the region, I find the term Middle East highly offensive. Middle in relation to what? East in relation to what? Europe, you loving Eurocentrist. I'd prefer to be defined by geographical relation to Asia, not a rotting, open wound like Europe. This is why the United Nations and slightly progressive places like Canada use the term Western Asia instead of "Middle East". In reference to Jerusalem.
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Mar 28, 2013 04:48
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computer parts posted:In reference to Jerusalem. Just to clarify some points on this, West Asia is a widespread designation used in diplomatic circles. It's been used for 60-70 years now, and is used by pretty much all states when setting up diplomatic 'zones' for their foreign services. I still have no idea why people would be offended by terms like 'middle east'. Even the Syrians, who refuse to use it in any capacity do so because they see the terminology as an attempt at 'dividing the Arab world', but not something derogatory in and as of itself. The speech Moaz Alkhatib, as I previously said was amazing. Shame it hasn't been translated into English yet. His background as an imam has probably helped him out, and he seems to have a knack for conflict resolution. When you're trying to manage a group of people with egos the size of planets that is a very important skill to have.
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Mar 28, 2013 07:42
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Xandu posted:I'm not sure if shot it down is accurate (I think it like just landed), but it did blow up. This claims to be it exploding https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-ZbdlrzmSA
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Mar 28, 2013 09:22
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Brown Moses posted:This claims to be it exploding That's definitely some kind of ammo dump going up. Hopefully better pictures of what went down will show up before too much longer. If it is a cargo plane full of ammunition and bombs that went off at Damascus Airport, then some parts of that airport are going to be out of business for a while.
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Mar 28, 2013 11:31
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Here's a 20 minute interview of me from when NOS TV came to visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SC-pEBV9rus If you speak Dutch there's a 4 minute radio interview with them too. I'll also be on the main NOS TV news bulletin tonight too, plus there was a write up in one of the Dutch papers too. I should also be on CNN today as well.
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Mar 28, 2013 11:41
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That's nice, NOS news is the nr. 1 news channel here. I'll link tonight's news item when it's out.
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Mar 28, 2013 12:42
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Muffiner posted:The speech Moaz Alkhatib, as I previously said was amazing. Shame it hasn't been translated into English yet. His background as an imam has probably helped him out, and he seems to have a knack for conflict resolution. When you're trying to manage a group of people with egos the size of planets that is a very important skill to have. Dunno if you saw it, but I posted an English translation of his speech on this page.
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Mar 28, 2013 15:27
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suboptimal posted:Dunno if you saw it, but I posted an English translation of his speech on this page. Ah yes, I saw it. I saw the Alarabiya logo and automatically assumed it was the original video, sans translation. Brown Moses posted:This claims to be it exploding
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Mar 28, 2013 19:01
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Honestly wasn't expecting thisquote:A U.S. Army veteran is charged with conspiring with an Al-Qaida group to wage war against the Syrian regime. http://www.washingtonpost.com/local...99de_story.html I assume it's to deter other Americans from going to Syria.
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Mar 28, 2013 20:10
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Xandu posted:Honestly wasn't expecting this That's pretty hilarious, could have been Caro. I wonder what the WMD charge relates to? Also, here I am on Dutch NOS TVs top news show. That 2 minute piece took 2 hours to film. [edit] Ah, apparently WMDs are a bit different in US law in this instance. Brown Moses fucked around with this message at 21:04 on Mar 28, 2013 |
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Mar 28, 2013 21:00
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On the plus side, having "Used a WMD" and "Shot down an Army Helicopter" on your rap sheet gotta be worth something inside an american prison, right? 
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Mar 28, 2013 21:17
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Pimpmust posted:On the plus side, having "Used a WMD" and "Shot down an Army Helicopter" on your rap sheet gotta be worth something inside an american prison, right? "What you in for?" "Shot a guy during a robbery, you?" "Joined a Jihadist group and waged war on the Syrian government. I was filmed shooting down a helicopter."  "So, you want the top bunk?""Please."
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Mar 28, 2013 21:29
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Xandu posted:Honestly wasn't expecting this quote:Harroun is not charged with providing material support to a terrorist group, but instead conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction outside the U.S., a law that applies to U.S. nationals operating anywhere in the world. The statute makes no distinction or exception for an individual who may be fighting a hostile regime. That sounds pretty flimsy. I wonder how locking him up for intervening is going to look if the U.S. intervenes in some way later. It's also curious that this is the first I've seen of someone being charged in a situation like this. There's plenty of evidence to prove that Caro, Matthew Van Dyke, and I'm sure a few others have done the same thing. Maybe it's just a necessary backlash against the "American works with Al-Qaeda in Syria!" headlines. And why the hell did he come back? He can't have known they were going to arrest him. Volkerball fucked around with this message at 21:34 on Mar 28, 2013 |
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Mar 28, 2013 21:30
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Volkerball posted:That sounds pretty flimsy. I wonder how locking him up for intervening is going to look if the U.S. intervenes in some way later. I think if the US intervenes later it won't mean poo poo for his trial, the same way being charged for going vigilante on a group of drug dealers is still a crime even though police go after drug dealers all the time. As to WMD charge all I can figure is that got some kind of evidence, probably flimsy, that either he or the group he was with was interested in getting their hands on parts of Assads chemical stockpile.
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Mar 28, 2013 21:50
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cafel posted:I think if the US intervenes later it won't mean poo poo for his trial, the same way being charged for going vigilante on a group of drug dealers is still a crime even though police go after drug dealers all the time. 18 USC § 2332a - Use of weapons of mass destruction posted:(c) Definitions.— For purposes of this section— By US Law an RPG or MANPAD counts as a WMD. It's just that civil law and modern warfare have extremely different views on the 'mass destruction' bit.
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