Irresponsible Journalism

[mreye]

If Saddam didn't have those weapons, perhaps he should've allowed UN weapons inspectors to do their jobs.  And perhaps he shouldn't have invaded Kuwait 15 years ago.  Or shot Scud missiles at Israel.  Or shelled his own people with VX.  Or terrorized and tortured tens of thousands of others.  Or given $20,000 rewards to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers.  Do you see a pattern here?

 

The obvious answer to the second part of your question is that we can't force regime changes in ALL rogue nations.  We simply don't have the resources.  Our best course of action is to deal with the most threatening ones (i.e., ones that have or have been known to possess/use WMDs).  One could (strongly) argue that overthrowing the Islamic government in Iran would've been a better course of action.  North Korea would've been disarmed years ago if it didn't have China on its side.

 

BTW, I take the Hannity comparison as a compliment.   

Don't forget he also fired on our jets patrolling the no-fly zones daily.

[Mplssoxfan]

Here's a little more fuel for the fire...

 

http://story.news.yahoo.com/s/thenation/20...n/132550/nc:742

[TheBigHurt35]

I think you hint at the real reason we are in Iraq.  Launching points  - and a hard-core ally in the Middle East (aka puppet government).  Yea, it's elected, and yea, they'll disagree with the USA, but they won't bite our hand off.

 

With Saudi Arabia ties that weren't exactly perfect, we needed a foothold in the middle east.  Now we have one.  We have 150,000 troops right next to Iran, Syria, and Saudi Arabia, just in case they get stupid - which amazingly enough our ties are "back on track" according to Prince Abdullah after his last visit.  I wonder why?

 

Better a puppet government than a regime like Saddam's that executes/terrorizes innocent cititzens and financially supports terrorism.

 

Agreed that having an ally in the Middle East is very important, but I think it goes beyond that. The Middle East is a breeding ground for terrorists because the vast majority of the people live in poverty under repressive regimes. The Saudi royal family have more money than God, yet the country has a 40% unemployment rate. No wonder there are so many Islama-fascists there. Most people have little hope of leading a fulfilling, meaningful life. Democracy and Capitalism are the solution to that.

[southsider2k5]

And of course someone would try to mythbust this to see if it was even possible.

 

The linkage, FWIW

http://silentrunning.tv/archives/005868.php

[jackie hayes]

And of course someone would try to mythbust this to see if it was even possible.

 

The linkage, FWIW

http://silentrunning.tv/archives/005868.php

I just assumed that they meant individual pages, maybe a few at a time...

 

But the choice for the book,

[kapkomet]

And of course someone would try to mythbust this to see if it was even possible.

 

The linkage, FWIW

http://silentrunning.tv/archives/005868.php

 

Now we really have done it. So that will piss the muslims off FOR REAL this time.

[Soxy]

I just assumed that they meant individual pages, maybe a few at a time... 

 

But the choice for the book, 

Coming up tomorrow - Chomsky in a blender!

 

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[FlaSoxxJim]

Now we really have done it.  So that will piss the muslims off FOR REAL this time.

Only if they're big Michael Moore fans. ..

[jackie hayes]

Only if they're big Michael Moore fans. ..

Somehow I don't think they see eye to eye on pork products.

[kapkomet]

Coming up tomorrow - Chomsky in a blender!

 

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

Somehow, we knew you'd respond to that.

[southsider2k5]

 

Somehow, we knew you'd respond to that.

 

I was hoping Soxy would see that line. I got a laugh for her out of that one.

[Soxy]

 

Somehow, we knew you'd respond to that.

Well, I am nothing if not consistent.

 

Plus, who doesn't enjoy a good cunning linguist now and then.....

Edited May 18, 2005 by ChiSoxyGirl

[TheBigHurt35]

Somehow I don't think they see eye to eye on pork products.

 

[Rex Kickass]

First they blamed Clinton, then they blamed the Democrats, then it was Dan Rather, now it was Newsweek.

 

If the United States is being held hostage by a small article in the front of Newsweek and it causes "irreperable damage." If that damages our goals so much, why are we even bothering to fight a war in the first place.

 

Maybe we should be more concerned with making states we invade more secure and less with what a news magazine publishes.

 

By the way, the Pentagon didn't even deny the report until a week after it was published.

[LowerCaseRepublican]

I was watching MSNBC with Olbermann and he was discussing an NYT article that discussed multiple hunger strikes at Gitmo regarding descecrating the Koran and there was even a public PA announcement on the base saying it would stop. Two unnamed interrogators from Gitmo verified the claims. I don't have a link to the story -- if somebody would oblige me, that would be wonderful...just saw it while I was watching TV here on vacation, haha.

[LowerCaseRepublican]

Thank you.  Remember to tip your wait staff, and I'll be here all week.

 

Actually, what I am pointing out is that with the crucifix deal, when the religious folk freaked out, a whole bunch of liberals called them names, made fun of them, and said things like 'free speech', or'it's just a piece of plastic', etc.  Now that supposedly a BOOK was flushed down a toilet, a whole bunch of zealots rioted, killed people and caused alot of damage.  Over a book.  And the same people who wondered why Christians were getting so worked up over the desecration of one of their religious symbols, are now getting themselves worked up over the alleged desecration of  a BOOK.  Did you have a problem with Piss Christ?  I thought it was extremelt poor taste, in no way should be called art, and that if the guy got a government grant to produce that crap, he should have been forced to repay it, but otherwise, so what.

 

The difference is that we're currently not at war with predominantly Christian nations. And I could make the argument that the Koran is part of the Abrahamic religions so your incessant whining about Christianity should continue with this f***ing up of the Koran since Judaism, Christianity and Islam all have a similar basis in historical foundations for their belief structures. The US military is trying to, to bring back an old phrase, "win the hearts and minds" of countries that are primarily Muslim. It isn't a good idea to mess with their fundamental belief structures from the start.

 

Piss Christ was a pseudo-controversy here in the states. We're not at war with Christian nations so your complaint is a misnomer. Higher regard must be paid by the military because if they do partake in the lax bulls*** that resulted in Abu Ghraib etc., then they will be the ones with a much more difficult task on the front lines.

 

And if we're talking about zealots doing crazy s*** over a book -- look no further than the US home-grown nutballs called "The Army of God". For those not in the know, they are a group that has facilitated the bombings of numerous clinics, sent fake anthrax to clinics and committed other acts of domestic terrorism -- yet jack and s*** has been done to them by the administration since it is politically advantageous for Delay, Bush, Bill "I'm a doctor and think tears can transmit HIV" Frist to pander to the pro-life right...since Robertson and the Christian fundamentalist whackos spin any cracking down in a legal sense as, to steal the Bork line, "slouching towards Gamorrah".

[southsider2k5]

There are a couple interesting points raised here, but they are destroyed by the inherit racism of some of the comments... anyways, without further ado, just for Apu....

 

Ann Coulter

[TheBigHurt35]

There are a couple interesting points raised here, but they are destroyed by the inherit racism of some of the comments...  anyways, without further ado, just for Apu....

 

Ann Coulter

 

And I thought there was no liberal bias in the major media outlets.

 

What bothers me about this is that flushing pages of a book down the toilet doesn't fall into the category of prisoner torture or humiliation. As opposed to Abu Ghraib, it isn't a newsworthy story for a (relatively) clear-thinking American audience. I'm not saying that they didn't have the right to report it (IF it were true, and we're not even sure about that), but what was the point? The only purpose of the story was to incite anti-American sentiment in the not-so-clear thinking world of Islama-fascism. What does that accomplish, besides making our current administration look bad and putting our troops in even further harm?

[jackie hayes]

And I thought there was no liberal bias in the major media outlets.

 

What bothers me about this is that flushing pages of a book down the toilet doesn't fall into the category of prisoner torture or humiliation.  As opposed to Abu Ghraib, it isn't a newsworthy story for a (relatively) clear-thinking American audience.  I'm not saying that they didn't have the right to report it (IF it were true, and we're not even sure about that), but what was the point?  The only purpose of the story was to incite anti-American sentiment in the not-so-clear thinking world of Islama-fascism.  What does that accomplish, besides making our current administration look bad and putting our troops in even further harm?

The point is just that it was news, and the reporters want stories. It wasn't calculated, this is just getting silly. How exactly did Isikoff's massive liberal commie pinko America-hating bias play into the Monica Lewinsky story?

 

Which wing's vast conspiracy is the guy on?

[TheBigHurt35]

The point is just that it was news, and the reporters want stories.  It wasn't calculated, this is just getting silly.  How exactly did Isikoff's massive liberal commie pinko America-hating bias play into the Monica Lewinsky story?

 

Which wing's vast conspiracy is the guy on?

 

Funny, I didn't hear the much-more-newsworthy story of Saudi Arabia arresting 40 Christians for "trying to spread their poisonous religious beliefs." I wonder why that is... :rolly

[jackie hayes]

Funny, I didn't hear the much-more-newsworthy story of Saudi Arabia arresting 40 Christians for "trying to spread their poisonous religious beliefs."  I wonder why that is... :rolly

Is it more newsworthy? Is it unexpected? That doesn't surprise me very much. But I don't have a good idea at all what government interrogators do.

 

So why DID this biased hack suddenly go conservative in the late 90s, huh?

[TheBigHurt35]

Is it more newsworthy?  Is it unexpected?  That doesn't surprise me very much.  But I don't have a good idea at all what government interrogators do.

 

And why should you have a good idea of government interrogation methods? Shouldn't they be classified? Of course, we need to make sure that they're not torturing inmates but, as we've seen before, there are plenty of whistle-blowers in our military who would likely report it to senior officials or the press anyway.

 

I stand by my assertion that arresting Christians (you think they'll get due process in Saudi Arabia?) for spreading the gospel, something that most Americans find absolutely revolting, is a hell of a lot more newsworthy to Americans than someone flushing pages of a religious text down the toilet. Newsweek obviously had an agenda when they published the story.

[mreye]

The point is just that it was news, and the reporters want stories.  It wasn't calculated, this is just getting silly.  How exactly did Isikoff's massive liberal commie pinko America-hating bias play into the Monica Lewinsky story?

 

Which wing's vast conspiracy is the guy on?

He sat on it, that's how. He sat on it and Drudge ran it. Same with Juanita Broderick.

[sec159row2]

i think muslims desacrate the quran/koran more with their murderous interpretations of their holy book. now these goofs are saying it is ok to kill fellow muslims???

[FlaSoxxJim]

I stand by my assertion that arresting Christians (you think they'll get due process in Saudi Arabia?) for spreading the gospel, something that most Americans find absolutely revolting, is a hell of a lot more newsworthy to Americans than someone flushing pages of a religious text down the toilet.

 

And here I was beginning to think it was just me who found spreading the Gospel absolutely revolting.