The War on Terror /Central Asia/Mid East/Africa thread

[mastaflatch]

Wow, someone here is applying the dumb-as-fuck logic that soldiers are fed with to the Israeli-Palestinian situation! That's a new low - talk about being out of arguments.

This massacre is a crying shame. How the fuck can someone defend that?

[McParadigm]

Israel’s, Hamas’ Disregard For Palestinian Life Aligning Nicely

"They might be dead set on one another’s destruction, fine, but you can’t say they don’t make one hell of a complementary team when it comes to Palestinians dying.”

God bless the Onion.

[Norah]

[dimejinky99]

seriously...
http://www.broadsheet.ie/2014/08/01/oh-the-humanity-4/

[E.H. Ruddock]

Two hours in to the 72 hour cease fire and its over. Good job, both sides.

[elliseamos]

Two hours in to the 72 hour cease fire and its over. Good job, both sides.

fuckin' obama.

[dimejinky99]

Killing 40 palestinians in two hours into a cease fire..

fuckin Israel man...

[dimejinky99]

The video here is frightening..theyre hitting ambulances now..
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/07 ... _hp_ref=uk

[McParadigm]

seriously...
http://www.broadsheet.ie/2014/08/01/oh-the-humanity-4/

hahahahaha

[dimejinky99]

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/07/s ... 09617.html


US senate blocks aid to Israel...sadly, for totally the wrong reasons...

[enimmi]

Good article:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ali-a-riz ... 02701.html

[McParadigm]

I refuse to consider that the Huffingtonpost is suddenly writing about something other than celebrities in tiny shorts and why it's your spouse's fault that you had an affair.

Edit: terrible arguments. The "think how many civies Israel would be killing if it was really trying to do so" bit, for example, is a sideways argument ignoring the actual frustration being expressed...which is that Israel just doesn't actually give a shit one way or the other what's in a target area besides a Hamas weapons locker. And even that is not a stand alone issue....You have to also consider how short their shorts are and whether or not they live in these amazingly TINY houses.

[broken iris]

I refuse to consider that the Huffingtonpost is suddenly writing about something other than celebrities in tiny shorts and why it's your spouse's fault that you had an affair.

Edit: terrible arguments. The "think how many civies Israel would be killing if it was really trying to do so" bit, for example, is a sideways argument ignoring the actual frustration being expressed...which is that Israel just doesn't actually give a shit one way or the other what's in a target area besides a Hamas weapons locker. And even that is not a stand alone issue....You have to also consider how short their shorts are and whether or not they live in these amazingly TINY houses.

The article is missing a lot, it certainly could benefit from shorter shorts (did you see what Selena Gomez was wearing?), but as a Reader's Digest version of the average American's rationale, it's not that bad or poorly argued. The biggest omission is the rampant and unprovoked violent attacks by Zionist extremists against Palestinians. IIRC, there were 399 such attacks recorded by the UN last year alone, with less then 10% of the perpetrators being brought to trial. You can't think about the Palestinian people's perspective without understanding that a large portion of them that live on the borders are in a constant state of fear from terrorist attacks that the Israeli government is doing little to address. Hamas' creed of hate-filled violent vengeance against Israeli civilians is probably appealing to Palestinians who see all Israelis as complicit in these attacks due to government inaction.

The author also fails to address the perspective of the Israelis on the impotence of the U.N. and how they feel Israel is unfairly singled out. He mentions the horrible death tolls in Syria, the thousands killed by ISIS in Iraq, and touches on Sudan, but skips right over Libya and Nigeria where the weekly dead greatly outnumber those in Gaza who have been killed since Protective Edge began. Untold horrors just as bad as shelling children on a beach are committed across the Muslim world every single day, but from the perspective of the Israelis, what they see is the world's "governing body" rising up to protest when they attempt to defend themselves from a globally recognized terrorist organization. Why should they listen to what the globally community wants in the face of this apparent double-standard? Look at what has been done with Hamas' rockets after being found stored in U.N. run schools in Gaza. It's happened three times since the most recent conflict began and you know what was done with the rockets when it was discovered they were being illegal stored in those schools? They were given back to Hamas.

It also fails to point out that for the first time since the Israeli/Palestinian conflict began, Israel's actions are being implicitly supported by governments in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordon, Lebanon, and the UAE. These countries are used to using Israel as a distraction from their own abuses of their citizens, but now fear the effects of the Arab Spring could undermine their power.

Lastly, it fails to address the abuse of the word "genocide" with regards to Israel's current actions toward Gaza. Genocides have occurred all over the world; Cambodia, India, Germany, Nigeria, Serbia, but if you look at what that word means and the historical context of those actions, it's clear that what Israel is doing is not genocide. It's a massacre filled with war crimes, but it is not a genocide, and the continued improper use of that word to attempt to trigger certain reflexive responses from the global community undermines case against the legitimate crimes that Israel needs to be held accountable for.

[elliseamos]

and touches on Sudan, but skips right over Libya and Nigeria where the weekly dead greatly outnumber those in Gaza who have been killed since Protective Edge began.

those three countries have a continent in common. i don't think it's accidental, nobody gives a flying fuck about African countries.

[McParadigm]

i don't think it's accidental, nobody gives a flying fuck about African countries.

this made for an unusually terrible post/avatar blend

[elliseamos]

i don't think it's accidental, nobody gives a flying fuck about African countries.

this made for an unusually terrible post/avatar blend

i am nothing if not terrible.

[McParadigm]

i don't think it's accidental, nobody gives a flying fuck about African countries.

this made for an unusually terrible post/avatar blend

i am nothing if not terrible.

This made for a pretty great avatar/post blend.

[Fuck You Jobu]

1800 killed in the last 1.5 weeks in Syria - nearly the same toll in all of Gaza.

Where's the indignation and moral righteousness?

[McParadigm]

1800 killed in the last 1.5 weeks in Syria - nearly the same toll in all of Gaza.

Where's the indignation and moral righteousness?

Feel free to share your own indignation, rather than turning terrible human suffering in Syria into just an opportunity to accuse people of targeting Israel and being (sulk) unfair.

[elliseamos]

1800 killed in the last 1.5 weeks in Syria - nearly the same toll in all of Gaza.

Where's the indignation and moral righteousness?

Feel free to share your own indignation, rather than turning terrible human suffering in Syria into just an opportunity to accuse people of targeting Israel and being (sulk) unfair.

well one slight difference might be the fact that Syria (like Ukraine) is the new cold war frontline. As oppose to Israel/Palestine which has got to be the oldest conflict on Earth.