There have been several times more Iraqis killed by fellow Iraqis than Iraqis killed my Allied forces since the end of the invasion. At this point Iraq is in civil war. Take the U.S. out of the equation and if anything the bloodshed will accelerate.
Give me a break. I could just as easily post pictures of massacred baby Kurds, or, if our military made them public, photos of dead Iraqis used by the insurgents as human shields while they snipe at our troops (hmm, could that be the circumstances of the above pictures?). How about images of our dead contractors hanging from that bridge, their corpses mutilated and dismembered? Of the remains from the plethora of mass graves where Saddam's henchmen dumped tens of thousands of their fellow citizens after executing them (often after extreme torture and rape)? Or pictures from 9/11, say of our fellow citizens jumping to their deaths from the Twin Towers? The remains of Israeli victims of suicide bombings, like school kids? Because it's all tied in together. Bush understands that establishing a democracy in the Middle East is our best chance of combating terrorism, of finding a peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, of preventing further 9/11's. I have a baby daughter, and if she was killed in similar circumstances I would want revenge, no doubt about that. The question is - who would I direct my anger at? The Americans whose bombs killed her, or the Ba'ath insurgents who used my house and family as cover and want to return my country to the old days of tyranny, torture, and fear? Our military is doing its darnedest not to inflict civilian casualties. If they wanted to they could just say fuck it and level all these hotspots, civilians be damned. But they aren't. So go ahead. Post your graphic pics and scream "Quagmire! Vietnam! Retreat! It's all about the oil! Bush is Evil!" And I'll try to differentiate between your diatribes and the rhetoric of al-Sadr or the Saddam loyalists, no matter how eerily similar they are.
This "enemy" loves this sort of press attention. They do not wear uniforms, they hide among women, children, the elderly...in schools, hospitals, and residential areas. They are like the most vile rats, crawling around in the dead of night spreading their disease of hate and planting bombs. They love to show pictures of the injured women and children..."pity our cause, look what the evil infidel American pigs have done". I am not a huge Israel fan, but they have learned the only way to deal with rats is to hit them hard and keep the numbers down. I say wipe them out every last one. I am proud to be American! (let them take Natalie Maines as hostage and slit her throat on national TV...ok by me)
Do you think if Cuba had the second largest oil reserves in the world that Castro would be in power right now?
I am simply "amazed" at all of the members of ET that believe that it is worth shedding the American "blood" of our young soldiers for a bunch of people that couldn't care less about embracing democracy. If you really believe that the people in Iraq are going to embrace a democratic form of government complete with a constitution at the end of June when we will be handing over the Country to the Iraqi National Congress, then you really are quite naive. In my opinion, this was a tremendous "miscalculation" by the Bush Administration, and the polls this week are beginning to confirm this. Anyone happen to see Dick Morris on "Hannity & Colmes"? He says that Bush got creamed in the polls this week, and needs to recognize "why" if he is going to be re-elected in November.
I think this time the shit is too big.... I can smell the stink here from Italy....oh by the way, anyone heard anything about the black boxes on 9 /11 planes or any news on the pilots's comunication before the takeover? .......hmmmm now I can even see that big big pile of shit from here... Love yall
Nothing suppressed there. I've read transcripts. Black box stuff is sketchy. They rewind every half hour. But flight communications with FAA is in public record. Chilling stuff.
not ONE of the EIGHT black boxes - two per plane - survived! Not just those of the planes that crashed into the Twin Towers, but also of the other two planes! Not even of the one that crashed into the ground in Pennsylvania. Do you know the kind of crash these black boxes are designed to withstand? The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) web site gives valuable information regarding these devices. Regarding the Cockpit Voice Recorder it says: "The CVR records the flight crew's voices, as well as other sounds inside the cockpit. The recorder's "cockpit area microphone" is usually located on the overhead instrument panel between the two pilots. Sounds of interest to an investigator could be engine noise, stall warnings, landing gear extension and retraction, and other clicks and pops. From these sounds, parameters such as engine rpm, system failures, speed, and the time at which certain events occur can often be determined. Communications with Air Traffic Control, automated radio weather briefings, and conversation between the pilots and ground or cabin crew are also recorded." [NTSB web site] Regarding the Flight Data Recorder it says: "The FDR onboard the aircraft records many different operating conditions of the flight. By regulation, newly manufactured aircraft must monitor at least twenty eight important parameters such as time, altitude, airspeed, heading, and aircraft attitude. In addition, some FDRs can record the status of more than 300 other in-flight characteristics that can aid in the investigation. The items monitored can be anything from flap position to auto-pilot mode or even smoke alarms." [NTSB web site] Thus as we see each plane is equipped with two separate "Black Box" devices which relay different yet complimentary information. It goes on to say: "Both the Flight Data Recorder and the Cockpit Voice Recorder have proven to be valuable tools in the accident investigation process. They can provide information that may be difficult to obtain by other means." [NTSB web site] They are meant to be the hardy and sure way to get information regarding the last minutes before the plane went down. Here are the specifications of these devices including what they can withstand: FLIGHT DATA RECORDER Time recorded: 25 hour continuous Number of parameters: 5 - 300+ Impact tolerance: 3400Gs /6.5ms Fire resistance: 1100 degC/30 min Water pressure resistance: submerged 20,000 ft Underwater locator beacon: 37.5 KHz Battery: 6yr shelf life 30 day operation COCKPIT VOICE RECORDER Time recorded: 30 min continuous, 2 hours for solid state digital units Number of channels: 4 Impact tolerance: 3400 Gs /6.5ms Fire resistance: 1100 deg C /30 min Water pressure resistance: submerged 20,000 ft Underwater locator beacon: 37.5 KHz Battery: 6yr shelf life 30 day operation These specifications indicate equipment which can survive just about any conditions and any crash. Indeed, Black Boxes have been recovered from crashes in swamps, mountains, and oceans. ABC News reports: "Although investigators look for an entire black box, sometimes the only parts of the device that survive are the recorder's crash-survivable memory units (CSMU). the csmu is almost indestructible. It is housed within a stainless-steel shell that contains titanium or aluminum and a high-temperature insulation of dry silica material." "It is designed to withstand heat of up to 2,000 degrees fahrenheit for one hour, salt water for at least 30 days, immersion in a variety of liquids such as jet fuel and lubricants, and an impact of 3,400 G's. By comparison, astronauts are typically exposed to up to six Gs during a shuttle takeoff." [ABCNews] So the Black Box is designed to withstand an impact of 3,400 G's. So what about the Pennsylvania crash site? "The voice recorder was said to be heavily damaged, and the manufacturer was being asked to help with further analysis. The plane that crashed in Pennsylvania was reported to have hit the ground in excess of 500 miles per hour." [ABCNews] The plane hit the ground at 500 mph. Taking the weight of the plane, its speed of descent, the G's end up much, much lower than 3,400. Since each plane has two separate Black Boxes which are designed to be indestructible in the event of a tragedy, that makes a total of eight black boxes. We are to believe that all the Black Boxes were damaged beyond use, while a measly paper passport survived!