panzade
 
  2  
Reply Tue 21 Jan, 2014 09:20 am
@wandeljw,
Quote:
I should not speak for Frank

I'm glad you're speaking up...but explain why it's not fair?

We've already pretty much proved that America is a bully.

In fact the problem is that Frank wrote a JTT headline for his question and then had to dodge the rotten tomatos normally reserved for JTT.
No.
The question should be :"Is America a more benign super-power than previous nation builders?"
Then Frank could have stood proudly with his good citizenship medal on his lapel.
panzade
 
  2  
Reply Tue 21 Jan, 2014 09:23 am
@izzythepush,
We had some big marches too. About intervention in Vietnam(which I attended)
Machs Nicht bro.
Fact is. The UK bought into the whole shebang with soldiers and everything.

Once again.
Please don't try and re-write history
Romeo Fabulini
 
  -2  
Reply Tue 21 Jan, 2014 09:36 am
Quote:
Izzy said re GW Bush: I'm amazed that anyone can still believe he was a good president. Can you think of anything positive to say about his term in office?

He kept America terror-free for the next 7 years after 9/11..Smile
His quotes show he was a man of steel-

"This is war. Somebody's gonna pay"
"Countries that harbor terrorists are as guilty as they are"
"Give us the terrorists or we'll come and get 'em"
"America will never seek a permission slip to defend herself"
"A soft line toward terror is not gonna happen on my watch"
"My job is to secure the homeland and thats exactly what i'm gonna do"
"We will not sit back and wait to be hit again"


No wonder the US people loved him to bits and voted him back into the White House for a second term..Wink

As for Saddam, he gassed the Kurds and was preaching terror, so he had to be rounded up, WMD's or no WMD's..Smile
"Does America realize the meaning of every Iraqi becoming a missile that can cross to countries and cities?" - Saddam Hussein, September 29, 1994
"Oh sons of Arabs and the Arab Gulf, rebel against the foreigner...Take revenge for your dignity, holy places, security, interests and exalted values" -Saddam Hussein, January 5, 1999


"We got him!"- George W Bush
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/ExIS/saddam-captured.jpg
0 Replies
 
Olivier5
 
  0  
Reply Tue 21 Jan, 2014 10:31 am
@Frank Apisa,
Quote:
But plenty of time!

I don't have plenty of time and neither do you. Which is precisely why you should try and not waste time with futile anachronisms and "what if history had been different" questions...

In that pseudo-historical vein, what I'd really like to know is this: How would American colonists resisted the British army back in 18th century, if King George had had access to the sort of technology the US have access to now?

The red coats would have treated Lexington and Concord like the marines dealt with Falujah, sent drones up the arse of all the founding fathers... and the only picture left of George Washington would have been something like this:

http://www.laprogressive.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/abu-ghraib2.gif
Frank Apisa
 
  0  
Reply Tue 21 Jan, 2014 10:46 am
@Olivier5,
Olivier5 wrote:

Quote:
But plenty of time!

I don't have plenty of time and neither do you. Which is precisely why you should try and not waste time with futile anachronisms and "what if history had been different" questions...

In that pseudo-historical vein, what I'd really like to know is this: How would American colonists resisted the British army back in 18th century, if King George had had access to the sort of technology the US have access to now?

The red coats would have treated Lexington and Concord like the marines dealt with Falujah, sent drones up the arse of all the founding fathers... and the only picture left of George Washington would have been something like this:

http://www.laprogressive.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/abu-ghraib2.gif


Hey Olivier...wass happenin'?

I gotta tell ya...I truly do enjoy when you show that I have gotten as far under your skin as I have. You really have to do something to deal with that better.

Anyway...my point here has been that all nations that have been at the top of the power heap (at least, all that we know of)...have pushed their weight around. I've used Greece (Alexander), Rome, the European powers...and England...as examples of powers that have bullied.

I also have suggested that the US...is more restrained in the use of what they have available...than those good folk were.

I have not argued that we are angels...or that we have not done things that are reprehensible...

...but I have argued (AND WILL CONTINUE TO ARGUE) that compared with the way those former military giants handled what they had to work with...the US has shown restraint.

If you disagree...fine.

You have mentioned that you live in France, Olivier...but I don't remember you mentioning your nationality. Perhaps you would share that...and we can take a look at what your nation did when it was a power...if it ever was.

Or continue to snipe from hiding as you have been. Wink
panzade
 
  1  
Reply Tue 21 Jan, 2014 11:28 am
@Olivier5,
Quote:
How would American colonists resisted the British army back in 18th century, if King George had had access to the sort of technology the US have access to now?

Speaking of pseudo-historical, your premise belies your intellect.
Gettouttahere with that merde Very Happy
izzythepush
 
  1  
Reply Tue 21 Jan, 2014 11:54 am
@panzade,
The difference was Blair went against the will of the people. The vast majority of the population opposed it.

Quote:
Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets of London to voice their opposition to military action against Iraq.
Police said it was the UK's biggest ever demonstration with at least 750,000 taking part, although organisers put the figure closer to two million.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/2765041.stm

When the majority of the population are opposed to something you can't say they bought into it, regardless of what the politicians did.
panzade
 
  2  
Reply Tue 21 Jan, 2014 11:58 am
@izzythepush,
Quote:
When the majority of the population are opposed to something you can't say they bought into it, regardless of what the politicians did.

You say Tomato I say Tomahto dear friend.
The history of our two nations is not defined by what the people wanted but what the government did.
As a token of my respect I will withdraw the phrase "UK bought into"
Everybody happy?
Walter Hinteler
 
  1  
Reply Tue 21 Jan, 2014 12:05 pm
@panzade,
panzade wrote:
Everybody happy?
Affirmative.
0 Replies
 
izzythepush
 
  1  
Reply Tue 21 Jan, 2014 12:08 pm
@panzade,
A bit, when over 50% of the population supports military action then you can say we bought into something, like Afghanistan, but if over 50% is opposed like Iraq, you can't.

0 Replies
 
wandeljw
 
  1  
Reply Tue 21 Jan, 2014 12:13 pm
@panzade,
panzade wrote:

Quote:
I should not speak for Frank

I'm glad you're speaking up...but explain why it's not fair?

We've already pretty much proved that America is a bully.

In fact the problem is that Frank wrote a JTT headline for his question and then had to dodge the rotten tomatos normally reserved for JTT.
No.
The question should be :"Is America a more benign super-power than previous nation builders?"
Then Frank could have stood proudly with his good citizenship medal on his lapel.



To me, labeling a nation as a bully is shallow. How has this been "pretty much proved?"

Narrow-minded demonizing of an entire nationality is fodder for extremists.
Romeo Fabulini
 
  1  
Reply Tue 21 Jan, 2014 12:16 pm
Nice wingsuit-

http://www.laprogressive.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/abu-ghraib2.gif

PS- as a Brit, I know most British people were glad that Blair invaded Iraq to help bust Saddams ass.
Overall Blair was a washout as a Prime Minister and that was the only decent thing he did..Smile
0 Replies
 
Frank Apisa
 
  1  
Reply Tue 21 Jan, 2014 12:18 pm
@wandeljw,
wandeljw wrote:

izzythepush wrote:

To be honest Frank I'd rather think nicely of America than rake over the coals ad nauseam. I'm being honest with you about the effect I think your thread has had. Ask yourself has this thread had the desired outcome. I really don't think it has.

However, you can comfort yourself with the knowledge that as this is A2K, with a small audience, any damage to America's reputation is tiny and localised.


I should not speak for Frank, but I saw his purpose as merely pointing out that calling America "a bully" is not fair.


Apparently I missed this earlier.

Thank you, Wandel.

I have explained often that I am not tooting our horn...nor suggesting we are without blemish.

But I do think that compared with what earlier nations that have been dominant nations...we have acted with relative restraint.

I understand many people disagree with me...some very strongly.

Fine.

I'm glad some, like you, see a bit of what I have been saying.
0 Replies
 
panzade
 
  2  
Reply Tue 21 Jan, 2014 12:34 pm
@wandeljw,
Quote:
To me, labeling a nation as a bully is shallow. How has this been "pretty much proved?"

Narrow-minded demonizing of an entire nationality is fodder for extremists.

You must have missed my post on the Wolfowitz Doctrine which evolved into the Bush Doctrine. If that's not an example of a nationality "bullying" the rest of the world....
0 Replies
 
timur
 
  1  
Reply Tue 21 Jan, 2014 12:36 pm
A government is not a nationality..
Setanta
 
  1  
Reply Tue 21 Jan, 2014 12:44 pm
@wandeljw,
wandeljw wrote:
To me, labeling a nation as a bully is shallow. How has this been "pretty much proved?"

Narrow-minded demonizing of an entire nationality is fodder for extremists.


Frank didn't ask if Americans collectively were bullies, he asked if America were a bully. Frank established the discussion on the basis of the behavior of nations, and he has continued it in that vein. Did you just forget to read the opening post? Have you ignored his continued (and idiotic) references to the "restraint" the United States has shown? I guess you must be saying that Frank, from the outset, has been shallow and narrow-minded.
wandeljw
 
  1  
Reply Tue 21 Jan, 2014 12:51 pm
@Setanta,
I see the distinction that you are trying to make. Timur said it better: "a government is not a nationality." Unfortunately, terrorists do not seem to make such distinctions.
Setanta
 
  1  
Reply Tue 21 Jan, 2014 12:55 pm
@wandeljw,
I wasn't trying to make a distinction, i made it. Frank is responsible for the focus on nations here. His opening post is an extended tu quoque fallacy, and he has kept that up ever since.
0 Replies
 
Frank Apisa
 
  0  
Reply Tue 21 Jan, 2014 01:33 pm
@Setanta,
Setanta wrote:

wandeljw wrote:
To me, labeling a nation as a bully is shallow. How has this been "pretty much proved?"

Narrow-minded demonizing of an entire nationality is fodder for extremists.


Frank didn't ask if Americans collectively were bullies, he asked if America were a bully. Frank established the discussion on the basis of the behavior of nations, and he has continued it in that vein. Did you just forget to read the opening post? Have you ignored his continued (and idiotic) references to the "restraint" the United States has shown? I guess you must be saying that Frank, from the outset, has been shallow and narrow-minded.


Jabba, there is no reason for "idiotic" being included in that commentary.

Fact is, I did not talk about "restraint"...but about "relative restraint"...as compared with other nations that have been at the top of the heap.
Foofie
 
  1  
Reply Tue 21 Jan, 2014 01:39 pm
@Frank Apisa,
Frank Apisa wrote:

Setanta wrote:

So we're basically back at the pot-kettle situation, the tu quoque fallacy. That's not surprise. The United States has not shown any more restraint than any other "great power." Frank's just too ignorant to know that, and completely unwilling to admit his ignorance, or to cure it.


I am not ignorant, Jabba...I am merely sharing my opinion that we are not abusing our great power more than any other great power of the past.

And yes...according to t he books, the Hutt's were not as restrained in their use of power as we.


The modus operandi was different. Prior great powers colonized, and plundered. We make trading partners with perhaps a special deal? We are using capitalism for obtaining what we need. Priviously, it was colonize and plunder. How can anyone argue that difference?
 

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