A glimpse of Iraq

Captain Furball

How do you feel after watching this?
Personally i felt physcially sick after thinking how
people must of felt while sick sh!t happened to them or their loved ones.
How long more do you think people will put up with this?
You need to go to Washington and hang every last bastard outside on the white house lawn.

Manic Moran

How do you feel after watching this?

I want my ten minutes back. Has a decent musical score, though.

NTM

BigDuffman

A bit too anti-corporate lefty for my taste. But your right some sickening stuff highlighted. That sick f**k with the puppy should be put against a wall and shot in the balls.

The patriotic American mindset of "Our boys are defending freedom and ragheads are bad" is getting on my nerves more and more these days. Dissenters should have their right to speak. Particularly interesting is the resistance of those who on one hand preach "freedom and liberty" whilst baying for the blood and censorship of those who wish to protest against the war by exercising their democratic rights and Freedom of speech.

Captain Furball

Manic Moran wrote: »

I want my ten minutes back. Has a decent musical score, though.

NTM

Why are you personally in Afghanistan?
What's your mindset?Protecting our freedoms?Seems funny and strange how you can make a smart comment when it suits you to do so.But then you sound like a college professor talking about weapons and how you had a lovely day out with the boys hiking in a foreign country.
Is it one giant field trip for you?Are you still in the scouts making camp fires? Or are you blowing some kids face off with an air strike.
Or are you the guy, in charge of the guy, who provides logistics to enable the other guy to blow the other guy up?How romantic and adventurous.

I'm not attacking you, these are all valid questions.
Up to you if you want to answer them of course.

Manic Moran

That sick f**k with the puppy should be put against a wall and shot in the balls.

The veracity of the video was never made public, and has been a matter of some dispute. However, LCpl Matori was discharged for bringing the Corps into disrepute.

Captain Furball wrote: »

Why are you personally in Afghanistan?

It's my job. Not my first choice, truth be told, but take the bad with the good. I actually signed up to be a tanker, not much tanking going on around here.

What's your mindset?Protecting our freedoms?

In the larger scheme of things, removing a threat, yes. In the more focused scheme of things (i.e. on a daily basis), trying to make life for the average Afghani a tad more tolerable.

Seems funny and strange how you can make a smart comment when it suits you to do so.

You've got to keep your sense of humour in this job.

But then you sound like a college professor talking about weapons and how you had a lovely day out with the boys hiking in a foreign country.

Well, I know about weapons and enjoy sharing my knowledge (there's a 90-minute video of me teaching about tanks at my local museum on Google Video), and I often have lovely days out with the boys. Every now and then someone shoots at us or tries to blow us up which can put a downer on things, but sometimes we do better than they do, which cheers us up immensely. The more recurrent problem is getting an illness from drinking the local water. It's awfully impolite to refuse the tea, no matter what the instructions from above may be about non-approved food and water sources.

Is it one giant field trip for you?

It's certainly an eye-opening experience. Face it, I likely wouldn't have experienced Arab or Pashto culture to quite the same extent had I not partaken in the Iraq and Afghan jaunts.

Are you still in the scouts making camp fires?

No, I was never good at the camp fire thing. Got out of the scouts about fifteen years ago.

Or are you blowing some kids face off with an air strike.

Only if the kid was shooting at us. To our knowledge, with one exception, we have not yet (in our AO) hurt anyone who was not actively engaging us. Believe me, the locals are not shy about letting us know when they've perceived an issue, or even have had an incident that they think they can blame on us (You damaged our wall, you killed our sheep, you hit our car etc). That exception was a vehicle accident, some idiot stepped out in front of one of our trucks. We fixed him up.

Or are you the guy, in charge of the guy, who provides logistics to enable the other guy to blow the other guy up?How romantic and adventurous.

Not at all. I'm the dude playing the dude disguised as another dude.

Up to you if you want to answer them of course.

Not a problem.

NTM

Captain Furball

The way you responded to my post says a lot of things positive about you.
Then again you are a mod on a site so you have to have some restraint.
Face to face I wouldn't get away with it.That's not to say I won't beat
you up though haha.

It's my job. Not my first choice, truth be told, but take the bad with the good. I actually signed up to be a tanker, not much tanking going on around here.

In the larger scheme of things, removing a threat, yes. In the more focused scheme of things (i.e. on a daily basis), trying to make life for the average Afghani a tad more tolerable.

Right so you wanted to drive tanks for the army.
But your army does not defend your country, it makes your country
what it is today.What treat are you talking about here?

The average Afghani should not be subject to foreign intervention
from an invading army.So you can favourably tag that onto what you do
while your occupying their country already.

Well, I know about weapons and enjoy sharing my knowledge (there's a 90-minute video of me teaching about tanks at my local museum on Google Video), and I often have lovely days out with the boys. Every now and then someone shoots at us or tries to blow us up which can put a downer on things, but sometimes we do better than they do, which cheers us up immensely. The more recurrent problem is getting an illness from drinking the local water. It's awfully impolite to refuse the tea, no matter what the instructions from above may be about non-approved food and water sources.

That's nice you have an interest in weapons, but you make it out like your
using them for good, when your not.You romanticise shooting people,
is that your god given right as an American?

So your unit hasn't killed anyone that didn't shoot at you while you were in their country.
That to me says your away with the birds and believe your actually the good guy.
You are aware your the bad guy right?I know you will come back at this comment saying,
yes I know, that's why they shoot at us and it will sound funny,
because you do have a good sense of humour it seems.

It's certainly an eye-opening experience. Face it, I likely wouldn't have experienced Arab or Pashto culture to quite the same extent had I not partaken in the Iraq and Afghan jaunts.

You learned about their culture because you were lied to by your government,
but you can't get out of your job because you have to watch your
buddies back and also get a wage.

Not at all. I'm the dude playing the dude disguised as another dude.

Your the dude playing the other dude,so which dude are you dude?

What's their tea taste like anyway?

Manic Moran

Captain Furball wrote: »

The way you responded to my post says a lot of things positive about you.
Then again you are a mod on a site so you have to have some restraint.
Face to face I wouldn't get away with it.That's not to say I won't beat
you up though haha.

If you ask around, you'll find I've always had a reputation for civility, even before my ascenscion to the demi-Godhood status of Moderator. (Praise, but no humility at all be upon my name)

Right so you wanted to drive tanks for the army.

Yes. Call it a misguided sense of socio-moral responsibility if you will. Of the various options available to me, I figured the military suited me a bit better than, say, EMT or firefighter. My initial application was actually to an Air Force rescue unit (more peacetime utility, after all), but I got suckered in to tanks by a friend of mine and never looked back.

But your army does not defend your country, it makes your country
what it is today.

From the manual, "The Army’s fundamental purpose is to serve the Nation and its people, defending their security and interests and securing their rights and liberties."

Please note that it does not actually say anything about defending the country, as that implies a geographic limitation. The military serves the nation's interests. If it's in the nation's interest to defend Alaska, we do it. If it's in the interests to kick Serbia out of Kosovo, we do it. And if it's in the nation's interest to ensure that certain anti-American organisations don't have a nation they can use to further their agenda, we do that too.

The average Afghani should not be subject to foreign intervention
from an invading army. So you can favourably tag that onto what you do
while your occupying their country already.

Fundamentally, I agree with you. The sooner we're out of here, the happier I'll be. Probably the sooner the Afghans will be as well. That said, the average Afghan should not be subject to the deprivations which were in place before we got here either. The trick is to make sure we leave the country in a better situation than we found it. I think we will.

That's nice you have an interest in weapons, but you make it out like your using them for good,

I think, on balance, we are. It seems you disagree.

You romanticise shooting people, is that your god given right as an American?

I don't believe I've ever romanticised it. I've just always worked on the basis that, as Harry Callaghan put it, "there's nothing wrong with a little shooting, as long as the right people get shot."

So your unit hasn't killed anyone that didn't shoot at you while you were in their country.
That to me says your away with the birds

How do you follow? Do you know something I don't?

You are aware your the bad guy right?

From whose perspective? From the point of view of an anti-war Westerner? Probably. From the point of view of a radical Islamist? Almost definitely. From the point of view of an Afghan villager who gets a visit in the dead of night from the Taliban saying "If you send your daughter to school, she will be raped. If you talk to the Americans, you will be killed", I think the situation becomes a lot more relative.

You learned about their culture because you were lied to by your government,

I learned about their culture because I went out and about and talked to them. My government had very little to do with that except setting the conditions which resulted in my being (t)here.

but you can't get out of your job because you have to watch your buddies back and also get a wage.

I'm a reservist. I have no need to be in the Army in order to get a wage. (In fact, in some respects, it is actually detremental to my civilian career)

Your the dude playing the other dude,so which dude are you dude?

Sorry, I had to get the gratuitous Tropic Thunder quote in there.

What's their tea taste like anyway?

Iraqi and Pastho chai are surprisingly similar. Both add sufficient sugar to the mix so that it becomes saturated and the excess fall to the bottom. I like it. (Subject to the fact that I can taste the river water, but maybe that's just my imagination)

NTM

BigDuffman

This is beginning to have a whiff of Troll feed off it!