A stain on US history...

[onejayhawk]

See? Doesn't give 2 flying farts about them. All he cares about is who to blame. And since he's incapable of blaming Israel, they can all get blown up for all he cares. It's all the Palestinians fault anyway. In fact I suspect the more blame he can pile on the Palestinians, the better, so kill away Israeli Soldiers. You've got people cheering for you.

Why do you treat this as a two party situation? It is not. The Israeli soldiers I give you. The Palestinians must be separated into militants and human shields.

J

 

[tetley]

I wholeheartedly support instituting a no-fly, no-shipping zone around Guantanamo and sending in UN peacekeepers to shut it down and investigate human rights violations. The U.S. sure has no problem doing it to other countries.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Why do you treat this as a two party situation? It is not. The Israeli soldiers I give you. The Palestinians must be separated into militants and human shields.

J

It would be a lot easier to separate them if they were being attacked somewhere other than in their own cities. "Is that a militant, or just someone who objects to us shooting up their neighborhood?" is a question no soldier should ever have to ask.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Why do you treat this as a two party situation?

I don't. You made that up.

edit: or you meant those who want peace vs those who want to prolong this conflict for political gain. That's 2 parties I recognise.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

I don't. You made that up.

edit: or you meant those who want peace vs those who want to prolong this conflict for political gain. That's 2 parties I recognise.

Still not an effective reduction. Those two parties leave out people like CH, who is all for prolonging the conflict but gains nothing from it politically or otherwise.

 

[Farm Boy]

I wholeheartedly support instituting a no-fly, no-shipping zone around Guantanamo and sending in UN peacekeepers to shut it down and investigate human rights violations. The U.S. sure has no problem doing it to other countries.

Cool, can we transfer the prisoners your way then? I'd like the place shut down. Obama would like the place shut down. Seems a less lethal way of going about it than picking a fight with the military industrial complex on exactly the playing field it loves to excel at.

 

[Gary Childress]

I wholeheartedly support instituting a no-fly, no-shipping zone around Guantanamo and sending in UN peacekeepers to shut it down and investigate human rights violations. The U.S. sure has no problem doing it to other countries.

At this point I sort of agree with you. Why the US is taking up the lead defending the world from a bunch of people that would probably saw your head off with a dull butter knife if they ever caught you is beyond me.

 

[onejayhawk]

I don't. You made that up.

edit: or you meant those who want peace vs those who want to prolong this conflict for political gain. That's 2 parties I recognise.

See? Doesn't give 2 flying farts about them. All he cares about is who to blame. And since he's incapable of blaming Israel, they can all get blown up for all he cares. It's all the Palestinians fault anyway. In fact I suspect the more blame he can pile on the Palestinians, the better, so kill away Israeli Soldiers. You've got people cheering for you.

Two parties. This is consistent throughout a number of threads.

By naming one, you exclude those not named. The principle is centuries old, Expressio unius est exclusio alterius. In this case you excuse the paramilitary groups. Again, this is consistent through several threads.

J

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

I was talking about CH's opinion.

Excellent deduction Sherlock.

edit: Which, by the way, is certainly consistent through several threads.

 

[EgonSpengler]

I heard a commentator wondering whether some kind of prosecution should be mounted against anyone, or whether this should be regarded as a kind of "truth and reconciliation" moment. I'm torn on that. Setting aside for a moment the pragmatic question of whether there are actually any laws under which to prosecute anyone, I'm interested in whatever will reduce the chances of this happening again.

Frankly, I'm not optimistic. I worry that as soon as this country gets into a stressful situation again, we'll abandon our ideals of justice, liberty, and human rights just as fast. We interned Japanese-Americans in a fracking heartbeat after Pearl Harbor. We went to war in 1898, 1965, and 2003 based on lies and propaganda. At what point can we say that a pattern in developing?

 

[warpus]

I heard a commentator wondering whether some kind of prosecution should be mounted against anyone, or whether this should be regarded as a kind of "truth and reconciliation" moment. I'm torn on that. Setting aside for a moment the pragmatic question of whether there are actually any laws under which to prosecute anyone, I'm interested in whatever will reduce the chances of this happening again.

Frankly, I'm not optimistic. I worry that as soon as this country gets into a stressful situation again, we'll abandon our ideals of justice, liberty, and human rights just as fast. We interned Japanese-Americans in a fracking heartbeat after Pearl Harbor. We went to war in 1898, 1965, and 2003 based on lies and propaganda. At what point can we say that a pattern in developing?

If CIA employees who were responsible were prosecuted and thrown in jail, future CIA employees would be a lot more hesitant to engage in torture and other illegal activities.

If their bosses are saying: "Don't do it, or we'll throw you in jail", then that basically puts the agency on a different path than it is now.

By not prosecuting, their bosses are basically saying: "Keep doing what you're doing"

 

[EgonSpengler]

If CIA employees who were responsible were prosecuted and thrown in jail, future CIA employees would be a lot more hesitant to engage in torture and other illegal activities.

If their bosses are saying: "Don't do it, or we'll throw you in jail", then that basically puts the agency on a different path than it is now.

By not prosecuting, their bosses are basically saying: "Keep doing what you're doing"

I'm inclined to agree. I don't really believe that a "truth and reconciliation moment" will lead to either one, but I would really like to be proven wrong. Am I Charlie Brown, running to kick the football again? It could be. It could be that certain former directors of central intelligence and certain former vice presidents need to go to prison for us to get [stuff] through our thick skulls. Don't ask me to hold my breath, though.