Who do you want to win the war?

Discussion in 'Politics' started by OPTIONAL777, Mar 27, 2003.

  1. That was one of your pal Adolph's favorite terms.
     
    #251     Mar 29, 2003
  2. Actually, I would predict a general decentralization of our/UK's indigenous peoples but not a general relocation. The fewer people per acre, the more difficult terrorism becomes. Of course, with decentralization the lines of communication become ever more important and so the destruction of these lines becomes ever more attractive from a terrorist's point of view.

    What then do we do? Some would say police the world but that is a logistical nightmare. It would be much easier to close the door to becoming a member of our wealthy society. As for the Adolf comment I hardly think it's comparable. After all, pre-world war II Germany was very poor and weak. Sure Adolf helped them out, but at best they were one among several viable contenders for world domination. The US/UK coalition already has the power Adolf desired. The question is then not at all like Adolf's "how to obtain dominance?," rather it is "how to maintain power."
     
    #252     Mar 29, 2003
  3. Man, what on earth are you talking about? The poster I responded to was alluding that there is a US "Lebensraum" in Iraq being attempted, a ludicrous supposition, "corporate" or otherwise. Suggest you look it up.
     
    #253     Mar 29, 2003
  4. I am sorry for being less than lucid. If you mean to translate Lebensraum as a radiation of our Anglo-saxon "species" into Iraq it is fact, we are of course already present in Iraq. As a corporate matter I hardly think it applies. However, if you mean to translate Lebensraum in this context as our making Iraq our habitat or as protecting Iraq as a habitat I would disagree.

    It would be my pleasure to assist you in any further translations should you find the German or English too difficult...
     
    #254     Mar 29, 2003
  5. Again, you don't seem to be using the word in any way that applies even remotely to the situation. Here is the best known historical usage of the word and the obvious one that the poster was referring and to which you stipulated with your "Adolph" commentary:

    *******************
    Lebensraum (Living space) is a Nazi Germany dogma that was used to justify its expansionist politics.

    Nazis claimed they needed additional territories to the east (Poland, Ukraine, Russia and other countries) for German people (both Reichsdeutsche and Volksdeutsche) and that these lands historically belong to them.
    *******************

    BTW, if your plan is to continue to bray the now over used "war for oil" premise, it has been thoroughly debunked.
     
    #255     Mar 29, 2003
  6.  
    #256     Mar 29, 2003
  7. Oh, now I understand; thanks for being your "lucid" self. First, we have to determine exactly how your interpretion of words differs from the known meaning that the rest of the world uses.

    Do continue to let us know your personal lexicography after the fact, that way you can never lose a debate. Have a nice day.
     
    #257     Mar 30, 2003
  8. Sat Mar 29, 4:16 PM ET

    CENTRAL IRAQ (AFP) - Iraqi civilians fleeing heavy fighting have
    stunned and delighted hungry US marines in central Iraq
    by giving them food, as guerrilla attacks continue to disrupt coalition supply
    lines to the rear.

    Sergeant Kenneth Wilson said Arabic-speaking
    US troops made contact with two busloads of
    Iraqis fleeing south along Route Seven towards
    Rafit, one of the first friendly meetings with local
    people for the marines around here.

    "They had slaughtered lambs and chickens and
    boiled eggs and potatoes for their journey out of
    the frontlines," Wilson said.

    At one camp, the buses stopped and women
    passed out food to the troops, who have had to
    ration their army-issue packets of ready-to-eat
    meals due to disruptions to supply lines by
    fierce fighting further south.

    Civilians have remained largely out of sight
    since the invasion began 10 days ago. Towns
    and villages are virtually deserted, prompting
    speculation that most had shifted to safer
    ground before the fighting began.

    Corpsman Tony Garcia said the food donation
    was an act of appreciation for the American
    effort to topple the brutal regime of Iraqi leader
    Saddam Hussein.

    "They gave us eggs and potatoes to feed our
    marines and corpsmen. I feel the local
    population are grateful and they want to see an
    end to Saddam Hussein," he said.

    "It was a lovely, beautiful gesture."

    Khairi Ilrekibi, 35, a passenger on one of the buses, which broke down near
    the marine position, said he could speak for the 20 others on board.

    In broken English he told a correspondent travelling with the marines: "We
    like Americans," adding that no one liked Saddam Hussein because "he
    was not kind."

    He said Iraqi civilians living near him were opposed to Saddam Hussein and
    that most were hiding in their homes and were extremely tired.

    Lance Corporal David Polikowsky stood guard over 70 POWS near the
    broken down bus, saying how grateful he was for food cooked and donated
    by locals, which included oranges.

    Looking on warily at the POWS he was guarding, who included two
    Jordanians, as well as an Iraqi colonel, captain, major and second lieutenant
    from special forces and the regular army, he said he had been moved by
    comments from local civilians.

    He said they told him: "We welcome you. What is your name? We will pray
    for you."

    He said another group of POWS, largely conscripts, had been moved south.

    "They told me they wanted to go to America after the war. I said where.
    They said California. I said why? They said the song Hotel California and
    they left singing Hotel California."

    Soldiers with this marine division -- on the east of a two-pronged thrust
    toward Baghdad -- have seen some of the fiercest fighting of the war so far.

    They battled their way through heavy fire at Nasiriyah, Sharat and Rafit
    before pausing to resupply within 250 kilometres (180 miles) of Baghdad on
    Thursday.

    Prisoners have been taken and pockets of displaced people carrying white
    flags have been seen along the way. Some have waved, others have asked
    the marines for cigarettes and water.

    But US troops have been keeping a wary distance from civilians, mindful of
    reports that some Iraqi forces were mingling with civilians in order to drift
    through American lines and launch surprise attacks.

    Ambushes and harassing fire along the massive communications lines to
    Kuwait in the south have caused casualties and disrupted supplies of water,
    food and fuel to the frontline troops.

    Garcia and Wilson are attached to a Shock Trauma Platoon with the Marine
    Expeditionary Force and have treated about 20 civilians for war-related
    wounds in the past five days.

    As troops munched on their feast, one medic warned the food could have
    been deliberately contaminated.

    He was quickly disregarded as the hungry marines forged ahead to make a
    fondue out of a donated tin of Australian processed cheese, but the
    potatoes were eaten before the cheese could melt.

    "Man I never thought a boiled egg could taste so damn good," one burly
    marine observed.

    http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20030329/ts_afp/iraq_war_civilians_030329211652
     
    #258     Mar 30, 2003
  9. Isn't it wonderful. Such a kind and loving act by so many on both sides in that testament that you just quoted. Here a "SUPPOSED" evil peoples in American army uniforms seeking to destroy a regime that has opposed its own for so long, could take a minute to share honest feelings of open kindness and compassion to and from so many down trodden Iraqi civilians who realized that they are not only valuable, desired and even needed, but that they could help the soldiers out in a pinch too.

    And I thank you too for finding the good amongst a possible bad situation. Thanks for showing us all that there are several ways to view that situation. I am sure those troops so far away from home welcomed a kind gesture in a land that has provided a unique kind of hostility. I am sure the suicide bomber thing crossed their minds as they approached the whole ordeal.

    By the way, don't worry about trying to convince the masses that the glass being half full instead of half empty here is a good thing. If they don't choose to see it, you can't show it to them. No matter how well your intentions! :)
     
    #259     Mar 30, 2003
  10. The simplest version of my previous post: I apologize.
     
    #260     Mar 30, 2003