redguru said:
Not really since my graph includes accidental death and death by natural causes, and the non-war years are still higher death ratios per capita. Also, isn't it interesting how I cite all statistical information and historical data but you always seem to provide anecdotal evidence?
well, your link no longer works, so i cant take a look at it. repost link.
secondly, do you expect me to accept the idea that more soldiers die during times of peace than during times of war? what exactly are you trying to say, by saying that "during non war years there are still higher death ratios per capita"
ratios? per capita?
you guys are dying and being maimed at a rate of about 2 dead and 22 wounded (wounded = legs blown off) per day. PER DAY. and you want me to say, oooh, nice graph, nice statistics, your soldiers are sooo much safer when theyre at war. come on.
to quote some unknown dude, there are lies, there are damned lies, and there are statistics. sure, you linked a page during your post, but the inclusion of those statistics doesnt make you any more correct, or your argument any more weighty, than mine (which you describe as anecdotal, which is incorrect )
redguru said:
So now the elected government of Iraq is an oppressor? Is this because the Sunnis elected to not participate in the election?
it seems that i was quite clear in my statements, though since you are asking questions, then continue reading, my child, and be schooled
when i refuted your description of iraqi combatants as 'insurgents' an instead labelled them risistors to occupation, it was to counter the presumptive language used by your government to insinuate that the interim iraqi government was legitimate, and further that the resisting iraqis were fighting against their own governemtn, rather than american/coalition invaders.
the original government of iraq was hardly elected, it was installed. prime minister alawi has longtime links with the CIA, and has been implicated in some rather shady terrorists acts himself, including a few exectutions and a truck bombing. i would hardly describe the installed, impotent, toothless puppet government headed by a person more befitting the description of terrorist than many of the abu ghraib inmates himself an elected government representative of the iraqi people, which is horrendous enough, even if it were not for the massive conflict of interest in his appointment as minister.
and the non participation of the sunnis has nothing to do with that.
redguru said:
As I said before, the insurgents and foreign terrorists that are carrying out these attacks are more frequently targeting indiginous people than coalition forces. In fact, Iraqi neighborhoods are forming militias to stave off these attacks.
From CNN/Reuters
It's better to have our own militias because we can recognize every stranger who comes into our neighborhood and the police can't," said Sattar Hashim in New Baghdad, a district where a bomb blast last week killed nearly two dozen children.
Hashim said local men guarding the area at the funerals of those killed in the blast detained a Libyan man strapped with explosives who was aiming to attack the ceremonies.
Neighbors supported the informal security.
"When they blocked this road, less people came to my shop and sales went down, but I don't mind as long as we're all safer," said Sheikh Mohammed, the owner of a herbal pharmacy on a street blocked off by water pipes, gates and palm tree trunks.
is that a CNN link? CNN? please. who is shiekh mohammed? what is the name of his pharmacy? do you actually believe that news comes through the propaganda network you watch?
and what are you trying to insinuate, that the bombings are perpetrated only by foreigners against iraqi locals, and therefore imply that true iraqis are not actively involved in the resistence?
what is your point, exactly? that iraqi nieghborhoods are forming militias to protect them against foreign bombers? you mean, the foreign bombers who wouldnt be there if it werent for the united states? you mean, militias, to take the place of the military that the de-baathification of iraq dismantled, at the behest of the united states?
redguru said:
You missed the boat on my French statement, I wasn't dissing thier imperialism, I was making fun of their abyssmal war record. Sorry you missed it, I'll footnote stuff like that next time so you don't feel left out.
well, given that french criticism to the war has arguably been the most scathing in the western world, i would think that an ambigous statement like yours above should certainly be taken in the context of that opposition and not as some quaint, historical reference to their war record (and might i add, the US has an less than exemplary war record) so perhaps, when you decide to make an obscure reference to a comparitively meaningless bit of trivia via an ambiguous statement, perhaps you SHOULD bloody well footnote it.
redguru said:
I think we know a little about geurilla warfare. We used it fairly effectively in the American Revolution. The US is not bleeding to death in Iraq. Wishing something so does not make it so. If you really think so, click your heels and and recite three times "There's no place like home". It'll get you farther in the long run.
really? you dont think so? lets see....the resistance in iraq is in no way diminished (i can fish around and get the article for the american 4 star general who said that, if you like, but id rather not because i cant be arsed) while military recruiting targets in the US are down by 40%, the war (which has cost about 600 billion so far) has been financed through debt, the word 'draft' has been thrown around quite a bit lately, 49% of americans do not think that the war was worth it (i can fish for that one too, if you like) and this merely 2 years into a war that rumsfield has said may go on for 12 years, indicates a bit of a problem in regards to support at home (i can draw a dotted line for your thoughts to follow to understand that one, if you like) the polish have just described their participation in the war and its justification as 'being taken for a ride', the english are pulling out of iraq, the australians are also pulling out of iraq, the japanese are kind of left with their balls hanging out because they arent carrying guns...meaning, you know, theyll likely pull out soon, the american economy is shitting itself (again), the words 'impeach' 'bush' and 'downing street memo' are in the air (finally)....how much longer do you think this war can possibly go on? the US doesnt have an exit strategy, but niether does it have a game plan, the puppet government it hoped for looks to be out of the question, with a secular religious government (with ties to iran, no less...lol) poised to take power...bud i dont really see that youre winning here....and if you know so much about guerilla warfare, (do i have to say it again?) if you arent winning, youre losing.
redguru said:
Since a vast majority of the people in Iraq want to make this government work, and in fact, even the Sunni clerics are advocating voting in upcoming elections, your point of a growing insurgency is not valid.
USA Today/Christian Science Monitor
Except for the Sunni insurgent fringe, every faction appears eager to move forward to the constitutional referendum and the next elections. For many Sunnis, the elections appear to hold greater importance, as an opportunity to achieve genuine representation at a national level.
The General Conference of Sunnis, a loose-knit group of clerics and politicians, urged Iraq's Sunnis to register to vote to claim their rightful share in decisionmaking. Sunnis — the sect that held sway before the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 — have been hindered, unlike the Kurds and Shiites, by their inability to agree among themselves on major national issues. Shiite parties, in contrast, are reaching out to their supporters for input on constitutional issues. More than 1,000 Shiite women recently gathered to discuss the role they want in the future Iraq.
invalid?
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20050718/pl_afp/uspoliticsiraq
WASHINGTON (AFP) -
Iraq rebel attacks will peak in six months and US troops can begin withdrawing in a year, retired US general Barry McCaffrey told Congress.
"January through September 2006 will be the peak period of the insurgency and the bottom rung of the new Iraq," McCaffrey told the Senate foreign relations committee.
'invalid' lol i dont think so

and given that this whole war was meant to be a 'cakewalk', when i hear 'peak in 6 months' and 'us out in a year', i read 'its going to be fucking bad for the next 6 months, but hold tight, and in a year, youll hear the next excuse as to why the US cant leave'
but its nice that women are voting, isnt it?
the reason the clergy is advocating elections is because they know that if they dont, iraq will spiral into civil war, and it will be worse for everybody.
redguru said:
Why are you putting up an Iraq War strawman in a thread about China? Why do you seem to have a chip on your shoulder about the US? Why do you denigrate the other poster instead of refuting their argument?
because there is overlap between this thread and the other iraq thread, and it was appropriate contextually.
