Force is the only thing those people (Arabs) understand

[qanda]

Since the implementation of Operation Iron Hammer by the US military, I have heard at least five pundits say that force is the only thing those people understand. I don't believe that to be true, but if you go along with that argument wouldn't that mean that we're using the same methods of Saddam to control the people of Iraq? Is what we're doing any different than what Saddam did?

[Kusala]

1. So much for Iraqi democracy

So sayeth Obvious Man.

Other jems from Obvious Man:

March, 2003 THIS IRAQ WAR IS GOING TO BE A CLUSTERFUDGE
October 2000 WE'RE ALL SCREWED NOW(except the corporations and wealthy of course)

[MrSoundAndVision]

2. You better believe it

and these are the same tactics used by many other deplorable groups in history, but I won't be specific.

"Iron Hammer" is about terrorizing the population of Iraq in order to hand over these phantom insurgants everyone keeps talking about. This is military strategy at its worst. These hawks can't even see that they are occupiers, and that the natural, the human, reaction is to fight back! This is a filthy war, and history will not forgive the ignorance of the American people. And yes, I know the right-wing pundits don't care about the American people's reputation.

"Iron Hammer" is about the military declaring that it will indiscriminately kill Iraqis just because election season is coming, and the administration needs some good news EVERY DAY, or America will not believe his lies anymore.

[RobertSeattle]

3. Good observation

"Those People" is a subtle de-humanization. Replace "Arabs" with Jews, Indians, Mexicans and you've got the basic BS argument to kill any group of people.

[Scott Lee]

14. That's why "they" are called "Sand N*****s" at www.hillary.org

The rightwingers who have taken over that place love to refer to Arabs like that. Puts it all into persepctive, doesn't it?

[_Jumper_]

4. Are they talking about all Arabs or the Arab insurgents and terrorists?

?

[democratreformed]

5. Oh, I've

believed from the very beginning. We are forcing something on those people that they neither desired or even understood. We are no better than Saddam.

[MSchreader]

21. Uh, no

The Iraqis understand democracy very well. They had a democratic system for a while, until the CIA bankrolled the Ba'athists and put them in power because the previous government was friendly with Moscow.

Martin

[jokerman93]

6. Watch Bush and media punks

I predict we will stop hearing anything about establishing democracy and all that.

Now we're down to freedom and security. Whatever that is.

Also, we're staying till the job is done. I always loved that one. Everyone knows the job's done when Bushboy says it is.

[tom_paine]

7. Funny, force is the only thing the Busheviks understand, too

[maggrwaggr]

22. precisely. So who's gonna provide it?

they're all safe and sound in their bunkers.

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. Yep

Oh and they are also using the same words of Air Marshall
Harris, as a flght leader he flew missions over Iraq in
1920.. yep during the Great Arab Revolt

Isn't it amazing that the same words used by the brits back
then are coming back?

Another group we used them words was... Vietnam

Now to refresh everybody's memory... did the Brits
end up controlling Iraq? (NO)

Did we end up in control of Vietnam (NO)

This only tells me that we are entering a new and very
dangerous phase of this mess for everybody, Iraqis, Americans
and yes even we, the people.

Oh and there is this historian who has said this is Nam on
Steroids, yep, even though teh analogy breaks under durress, this is
Tet II. (Truly the great Arab Revolt of 2003 but that woudl require
people to know of the first one)

[rucky]

9. "these people"

racist. bastards.

[Jacobin]

10. Hey, its why you have to whip slaves, too

I mean, we all now they are lazy, good for nothing savages who are not civilized and won't work unless you beat them. And we won't use spears....(much too old fashioned)....we'll use hi tech laser bombs 'n shit.

The world will understand...really. They will. and the "good arabs" will understand too.

/sarcasm off

This is so fucking disgusting and outrageous that it is getting to be like Germans justifying their actions against Jews in WWII.

OutFuckingRageous

[seventhson]

11. Hey - It worked in Vietnam, didn't it???

NOPE!!!


Assholes are stupid.

[Forkboy]

12. We'll teach them not to like freedom!

[maxsolomon]

13. THIS STRATEGY HAS WORKED GREAT IN PALESTINE!

they're doing exactly what the guerillas want. alienate the populace with indiscriminate brutality.

sun tzu wrote about this crap 2000 years ago. they don't have a better plan?

our hegemony has been destroyed in iraq. its over. no respect, and soon not even fear.

[Capn Sunshine]

24. and it worked great in Afghanistan too

and Chechnya
:nuke:

[Media_Lies_Daily]

25. Until the wedding party got killed. That raised a lot of eyebrows.

[PurityOfEssence]

15. History marches on; I'm sure they don't value life as much as we do either

That's always been a standard way of dismissing the racially/culturally inferior and denying them classification as full-fledged humans. It's a nice handy way to absolve oneself from having to be a decent sentient being.

What's sickest about the deep moral ugliness of the current American Conservatives is the lack of imagination for better justifications. Then again, conservatives aren't noted for creativity.

[Bandit]

16. Force is the only thing the Bush* people understand

Compassion is just a sound-bite. Isn't it amazing how they try and lay on their enemies exactly what they are guilty of?

[laura888]

18. Agreed. n/t

[bleedingheart]

17. Given that...The Democrats should use more force when dealing

with Repubs.

[teryang]

19. Why do they use the word "iron?"

This is an interesting choice of words. Why not steel? Iron is obsolete, like 19th Century colonialism. Steel hammer is too reminiscent of Nazi terminology. Colonialism is the precursor model of government for totalitarianism.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

27. What is the background of nearly every one of our fearless leaders?...

"Steel" may be a word they come by honestly.

[rustydog]

20. If force is the only thing they understand...

Wouldn't one reasonable-thinking person come to the conclusion that shock and awe, 18,000 bombs in a 48 hour period on one town would be an outstanding show of force?

I believe the international red cross put dead civilian estimates at over 10,000. Isn't that an imressive show of force?

One must remember, All of the right-wing echo-artists who spew this crap RAN from the military when Uncle Sam called them, now they talk like they know war or Iraqi people (who do know war).
They are Administration hacks who are gutless cowards to the very core of their souls.

tens of thousands of dead and injured people, Afghanistan,Iraq, American troops and innocent civilians of those two war-torn nations.

Screw the cowards.

[Malikshah]

23. A recent letter to the editor of the Sun-Sentinel in Florida

Dated 11/12/03

This is the community I live near, and teach in. And folks wonder why I get so testy when lecturing on the Middle East...

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/letters/sfl-pbbr57nov12,0,3627814.story?coll=sfla-news-letters

Text of Letter w/o the miscreants name. One can go to the link to find it though.


Beating resistance



Many months before we obliterated two Japanese cities to save American lives, I, as a World War II infantry officer, witnessed a similar situation in the destruction of the German city of Worms.

Already the object of a plethora of international condemnation, it is time for us to take similar measures against the growing Iraqi resistance.

Simply pick a city, give reasonable notice that if one more U.S. soldier is harmed, that city will no longer exist, and then have the courage of our convictions.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

26. I seem to recall from my lessons in American History that we've had...

...that attitude about every group we've encountered from the days of the Puritans to present day.

I'm wondering when the rest of the world will come to that understanding about us?

[0007]

28. It appears that Saddam Hussein had better control ......

than the U.S.

[qanda]

29. Maybe that's why we supported Saddam

For such a long time. Because he was showing us how to run things once he outlasted his usefulness.