Current Events Thread: You know shit is bad when even we aren't joking.

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Internet VFW > Current Events Thread: You know shit is bad when even we aren't joking.

vains: May 26, 2004; A Big Ten institution offering distance education catering to adult learners

Snowdens Secret posted:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByoiBgQMsfo&t=117s

I see flaws with this idea

The OOD and area guard are often already armed or can be quickly.

# ¿ Apr 7, 2014 00:53

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# ¿ May 22, 2024 19:19

vains: May 26, 2004; A Big Ten institution offering distance education catering to adult learners

Kung Fu Fist gently caress posted:

bet you tell all the girls that

He's never made it that far.

# ¿ May 22, 2014 06:31

vains: May 26, 2004; A Big Ten institution offering distance education catering to adult learners

Whip Slagcheek posted:

That's basically what it reads like. I'm not discounting his story, by many accounts Bergdahl sounds like a loving moron that deserved what he got, but the timing and choice of venue for his story is odd and you can smell the Obongo permeating from the jump.

Yeah, same. I got the douche-chills just reading what this insufferable manchild wrote.

# ¿ Jun 1, 2014 18:25

vains: May 26, 2004; A Big Ten institution offering distance education catering to adult learners

Courthouse posted:

Is this something directly tied to him, that would otherwise not have happened? Because there are losses while hunting talibs every year, and I don't imagine we wouldn't have been hunting them regardless?

They may have been killed regardless of whether or not they were searching for this guy. However, he did 'disappear' and they were killed while searching for him.

Casimir Radon posted:

Unfortunately he's got the "Suffering must make him a good person" going for him, ala John McCain (Who is nowhere near as much of a shitbag make no mistake).

Yeah, McCain sure was a shitbag when refused to be repatriated early despite regular torture. What a loving turd.

vains fucked around with this message at 16:08 on Jun 2, 2014

# ¿ Jun 2, 2014 16:04

vains: May 26, 2004; A Big Ten institution offering distance education catering to adult learners

Casimir Radon posted:

McCain wouldn't have gotten into the academy or graduated without daddy to smooth things over. He crashed 2 planes before getting shot down, again smoothed over by daddy. When he got out of Vietnam he promptly divorced his first wife (Who got a sweetheart deal apparently) and married a beer heiress who could finance his political career. His political career has been douchy as gently caress but continues to bank on his being a POW. I already said Bergdahl and McCain were related in the loosest of terms.

How are all these faggoty words from DND remotely relevant to some dude that likely walked off his FOB?

# ¿ Jun 2, 2014 18:00

vains: May 26, 2004; A Big Ten institution offering distance education catering to adult learners

:masterstroke: There is no recovering from the sperg smiley.

I don't think anyone said that Bergdahl was a good person. You just went off on some retarded tangent about McCain(because you're a retarded DND human being) when you saw the opportunity.

# ¿ Jun 2, 2014 18:27

vains: May 26, 2004; A Big Ten institution offering distance education catering to adult learners

Godholio posted:

I don't think there's any question the administration just pulled off a huge political coup by tricking the republicans into complaining about getting an American retrieved from captivity.

True. Barack Obama walks on water. He definitely didn't gently caress up.

# ¿ Jun 6, 2014 16:02

vains: May 26, 2004; A Big Ten institution offering distance education catering to adult learners

Zeroisanumber posted:

Compared to Bergdahl getting to make his own Danny Pearl video? Five dried-up Taliban cunts for one idiot in uniform is a steal.

I don't agree or disagree. Its just funny that people try and spin this like Obama is puppetmastering everyone.

# ¿ Jun 6, 2014 16:53

vains: May 26, 2004; A Big Ten institution offering distance education catering to adult learners

Victor Vermis posted:

I was in Al Anbar in late '08 to early '09 and this sounds right. I couldn't tell ya who was suicide bombing who but between the oodles of sleepy payroll'd militia watchmen, and lack of any clear objective for us since SOFA confined us more or less to the COP and IP stations, there was a feeling that absolutely nothing was going on.

Even elections went by relatively quietly. I can't even recall hearing of any snipers after the new year, and they were doing alright for themselves in late '08. Aside from 1 random KIA and a checkpoint in Fallujah getting hit with a suicide bomber, poo poo was completely dull in '09.

My whole battalion had 1 'firefight' in 2008 where some especially retarded Iraqis decided to shoot AKs from a pickup truck at LAVs.

# ¿ Jun 14, 2014 16:07

vains: May 26, 2004; A Big Ten institution offering distance education catering to adult learners

Flaky posted:

I was watching an interview by frontline with Robert Fisk from at least before 2006 where he reads an excerpt of one of his books which I will transcribe here, as it seems relevant to the current discussion:

"Well I was giving a lecture in the States, Valdosta, I'd never heard of it before, it's in Georgia, and a very smart guy came up to me, he was a Vietnam veteran, a very eloquent guy, and his son is leftenant-colonel, a medical officer, in Baghdad. It's very sad in fact because his other son is a doctor, who is totally against the war, and the two sons no longer talk to each other. And in fact when I met him he said he had just got a phone call from his leftenant-colonel son who is in Kuwait, just going to be sent up into Iraq, and I said "How is he?" and he said "He's frightened." But anyway, what he pointed out to me was that the military code in the United States, has been changed, or was changed, by Rumsfeld, and this is the little piece I wrote about him, and it is the words that chill me."

"In the week that George Bush took to fantasizing that his blood soaked War on Terror would lead the twenty first century into a shining age of human liberty, I went through my mailbag to find a frightening letter addressed to me by an American veteran who's son is serving as a leftenant-colonel with American forces in Baghdad. Put simply my american friend believes the change in military creed under the Bush administration [which I had no idea of by the way] from that of soldier to that of warrior is encouraging American troops to commit atrocities. So, first, here's the official US army's soldiers creed, originally drawn up to prevent any more Vietnam atrocities, any more My Lais.

I am an American soldier, I am a member of the United States army, a protector of the greatest nation on Earth. Because I am proud of my uniform I wear, I will always act in ways creditable to the military service and the nation that it is sworn to guard. No matter what situation I am in, I will never do anything for pleasure, profit or personal safety, which will disgrace my uniform, my unit or my country. I will use every means I have, even beyond the line of duty, to restrain my army comrades from actions disgraceful to themselves and the uniform. I am proud of my country and its flag, I will try to make the people of this nation proud of the service I represent for I am an American soldier.

And here is the new version of what is now called the Warrior Ethos, that's what the Pentagon calls it.

I am an American soldier. I am a warrior, and a member of a team. I serve the people of the United States, and live the army values. I will always place the mission first, I will never accept defeat. I will never quit, I will never leave a fallen comrade. I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills. I always maintain my arms, my equipment and myself. I am an expert, and I am a professional, ready to deploy, engage and destroy the enemies of the United States in close combat. I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life. I am an American soldier.

Like most Europeans and an awful lot of Americans I was quite unaware of this new and ferocious code for US armed forces, although it's not hard to see how it fits in with Bush's rantings. I am tempted to point this out in detail but my American veteran did so with such eloquence in his letter to me that a response should come in his words. "The warrior creed", he wrote "allows no end to any conflict except total destruction of the enemy. It allows no defeat, and does not allow one ever to stop fighting, lending itself to the idea of the long war. It says nothing about following orders, it says nothing about obeying laws, or showing restraint. It says nothing about dishonorable actions.""

I think this is tendency, although not made explicit, is what people in the other thread were referring to. I haven't read much of Robert Fisk so I can't easily decide whether it is a realistic interpretation or somewhat overinflated and sensationalist.

1-Nobody who is actually out there doing the shooting/killing could recite the warrior ethos if asked.
2-Words like disciplined, professional, 'army values' and the like indicate that obeying the laws governing armed conflict are important.

Its cool that D&D fags think they know anything about anything because they read some article written by an ultra-leftwing dicksuck or saw it on Vice.

# ¿ Jun 15, 2014 14:01

vains: May 26, 2004; A Big Ten institution offering distance education catering to adult learners

Flaky posted:

Is it really necessary to point out that the various creeds say more about the desired messaging of the leadership than of individual soldiers? I mean this is basically explicitly stated in the article.

Can you quote the creed and bold the sections that encourage the commission of war crimes(as defined by the Laws of Armed Conflict and not your homo dnd circle jerk)?

(USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)

# ¿ Jun 15, 2014 15:25

vains: May 26, 2004; A Big Ten institution offering distance education catering to adult learners

Please hurry before I commit some atrocities. I wasn't familiar with the warrior's ethos previously and I feel myself growing more bloodthirsty by the second. Thanks in advance.

# ¿ Jun 15, 2014 15:28

vains: May 26, 2004; A Big Ten institution offering distance education catering to adult learners

Acebuckeye13 posted:

Speaking as someone who lurks this thread and D&D, agree with both in some areas, disagree in others, I'd say it's pretty wrongheaded in its examination and condemnation of the area, both from a recent and historical perspective. It takes the worst aspects of exceedingly bloodthirsty militias, tries to apply those aspects to an overall "Them", which apparently encompass every person from the Himalayas to the Gulf of Adan, and then suggests that we should attempt to indiscriminately bomb every man, woman, and child living across that area. Ignoring the sheer logistical impossibilities and sheer inhumanity of such a task, I think it does display the sadly tragic mindset of a person who is incredibly angry at the seemingly senseless loss of life and constant conflict that embroils the region (Even though, technically speaking, neither Somalia or Afghanistan is actually in the Middle East), even though they have little understanding of the root causes of their conflicts. leading to such statements as

Which is so incredibly wrong and shortsighted I don't even know where to begin.

Also, having recently read Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq, it's probably worth mentioning that Germany and Japan probably turned out better by 1956 than Iraq has in 2014 due to factors far greater than "all a loving Arab understands is a boot on his neck and the muzzle of a gun screwed into the back of his flea bitten head." An actual occupation plan, for starters.

Also, one more thing-

The West never tried to "Let them have the right of self-determination". If we had, there wouldn't be an Israel, a Lebanon, an Iraq, or hell, even Saudi Arabia. The vast majority of problems that have come out of the region are the direct result of Britain and France trying to make Syria and Iraq their own brand-new colonies after "Liberating" them from the crumpling Ottoman Empire. I mean god drat, if you're going to advocate for the genocide of an entire region composing millions of people at least try and understand why it is the way it is. (WITHOUT immediately resorting to "They all behead children and kill old men", because that's clearly a logistical impossibility).

Please do not encourage him to post more.

# ¿ Jun 17, 2014 07:09

vains: May 26, 2004; A Big Ten institution offering distance education catering to adult learners

Jarmak posted:

Everyone point and laugh at the cop who thinks "glass that worthless poo poo-hole" is a joke post

Well, in his defense, he wouldn't know.

# ¿ Jun 17, 2014 15:12

vains: May 26, 2004; A Big Ten institution offering distance education catering to adult learners

genderstomper58 posted:

On the other hand, a $9,000 bonus for a senior executive is laughably small so I dunno I don't see the big deal about it heh

That's like a 6% bonus going off the median pay in their scale. Figure it skews more towards the low end and it still only goes up to 7%. That is indeed poo poo.

On the other hand, the VA is poo poo and I'm glad I don't need them for anything other than the last year of my GI Bill.

# ¿ Jun 21, 2014 19:07

vains: May 26, 2004; A Big Ten institution offering distance education catering to adult learners

Snowdens Secret posted:

It means admins were faking numbers and screwing vets over for chump change, is what it means

Well yeah, they're government employees. They're lazy and/or stupid and/or scum.

# ¿ Jun 21, 2014 19:12

vains: May 26, 2004; A Big Ten institution offering distance education catering to adult learners

Full Battle Rattle posted:

Has anyone ever claimed to be the caliph since it was officially abolished or are these jerks the first?

caliphelate these nuts.

A few, the title was only officially abolished in Turkey in 1920. Those guys never had a real strong claim to the title and were barely recognized outside the Ottoman Empire.

# ¿ Jun 30, 2014 01:45

vains: May 26, 2004; A Big Ten institution offering distance education catering to adult learners

Kung Fu Fist gently caress posted:

gently caress why did i click that

So you can touch yourself at night.

# ¿ Jun 30, 2014 03:40

vains: May 26, 2004; A Big Ten institution offering distance education catering to adult learners

Lazy Reservist posted:

Israel is looking for an ultimate answer, a final solution, if you will, to the Arab question

Hopefully they find one.

The worst part about Munich was when Eric Bana had a heart to heart with the PLO dude instead of just brutally murdering him.

# ¿ Jul 13, 2014 08:21

vains: May 26, 2004; A Big Ten institution offering distance education catering to adult learners

Genocide Tendency posted:

Ah yes. Gas a current events thread for discussing current events.

Seems legit.

Disagreements are frightening and must be avoided.

# ¿ Jul 31, 2014 08:48

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# ¿ May 22, 2024 19:19

vains: May 26, 2004; A Big Ten institution offering distance education catering to adult learners

KirbyKhan posted:

Israel seems to be pretty good about murdering browns. If that ain't our national interests, then I don't know what is.

The term "murdering" implies that Israel's actions in Gaza are unjust.

# ¿ Jul 31, 2014 18:29

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Internet VFW > Current Events Thread: You know shit is bad when even we aren't joking.