gotterdamerung

Slothrop, you are not paranoid or afraid because you are probably not going to get involved besides tapping out your thought process on a keyboard. Why dont'cha get over to the big sandbox and show your mettle?

I don't own a gun. Choke yourself.

However, the Israeli's have engaged in a policy of deterring attacks, and have maintained strict guidelines about how hard they hit Palestinian targets. Try not to forget that they are fighting for their existense. It is easy to armchair quarterback from the isolation of the US. Fallujah and the surrounding areas are now an Iraqi problem and it will be up to them to determine their best course of action. I think the US has demonstrated a great amount of restraint in our responses to the insurgent uprisings that are occurring. The problem is that these uprisings are largely being funded by Syria and Iran. Neither of which has any interest in seeing a free and democratic Iraq backed by the US. Anyway, Maupin has largely gone unnoticed in the media and I feel like it is a shame to have downplayed this young mans plight which I'm sure was a horrific experience for a young American doing his duty as a soldier. The continued assassinations of Americans is something that needs to be examined closely. It demonstrates resolve on the part of our enemies while we idly debate the merits of the Iraq war.

You guys should do the world a favor and simply blow your brains out.

Some of you seem to be gloating at your own demise. You're not fit to even pay taxes in the United States.

The bending of perceptions to sell a news story or influence an election is a contrived form of sedition. I believe the penalty for sedition is the death penalty. Al Jazeera kills people every day by giving terrorists an audience to commit ritual and publicized murder. Is Al Jazeera on your side protected lib?

I believe the reason is that they represent terrorist entities operating inside the country and by revealing their identities they not only put themselves at risk, but put their organizations at risk. It's a bit like the old dot com ploy of presenting on the face your company as large and well staffed when in reality it was some dude in his basement reselling server space at a huge markup. I assume some of these terrorists reinvent themselves every week to give the appearance of large networks when it is probably the same 5 murderers over and over. Spreads fear and creates intelligence miasma.

Once again. I am baffled that Americans are so blind as to assume that the pictures from Abu Ghraib were in any way equivalent to the murders, bombings, kidnappings, gunfire, ambushes, etc etc etc that Americans and our allies are being subjected to over here. I say get the media out so we can wage war with impunity and get this thing over and done with once and for all. Your perceived right of freedom of information is impinging on soldiers and contractors rights to stay alive in a difficult environment.

According to the guys in his unit he went by the name of Matt. He is not a Marine he was Army.

You're right I should have kept my opinion off the thread. The guy was an Army PFC who has been missing since early April when he was taken hostage after a convoy ambush. He is being reported as another brutal murder by Arabs of an American. Shot in the back of the head on video, and remains unknown. If he really is dead than R.I.P. Matt Maupin, and if this was a ploy by terrorists to create pain for his family then I hope the terrorists are condemned to eternity in a hell we can't even fathom. Either way, Matt Maupin we are thinking of you and your family.

Maybe you could just say something nice about Matt Maupin there guy. I don' subscribe to the gay ass trends on this site like trolling to create an argument.

I am completely baffled by some of your opinions on some of these threads. Are you guys sure you aren't French climbers masquerading here?

There is conjecture that Matt Maupin was shot in the back of the head by hooded terrorists as shown on Al Jazeera. I guess that doesn't affect many of you though, because Kerry is cool, and you're safe as a bug in a rug.

Nonetheless, putting Kerry in office will do nothing but obfuscate the issues at hand. The guy is practically a seditionist in the guise of a legitimate politician. If you enjoy seeing your fellow countrymen truly being sacrificed for nothing than by all means put him in office. It's your conscience after all.

Most of the information is not on the internet and is available in print format only. If I posted some of the sources it is highly doubtful that many people here would actually take the time out of their lives to read it. A condensed version of many events was written by Yossef Bodansky and compiled into a book recently.

I am opposed to the commercialization of this wilderness area at the exclusion of those who have explored it for years. What can be done to prevent this? I have time and money I can donate.

Good post SailBOI. I imagine it is the descendents of these riff raff who will pay for their pompous attitudes. You guys sure are brave and sure of yourselves from Seattle. Having spent 10 years studying the members of the greater climbing community from a distance I have to remind myself what a pathetic fringe group you all really are. A short visit to pubclub a few weeks ago confirmed my suspicions of this fact. Stoned eyes, shaggy hair, slurred speech, dirty clothes, poverty level lifestyles. For the most part I assume you have never been a part of anything except a reclusive circus sideshow subculture. Some of you were lucky Bill Gates and Co came along to lend legitimacy to your perceptions of life in general. Beck, you look like the even queerer version of Morrissey from the Smiths. If such a thing is possible I suppose... Learn to swim...learn to swim....

Truth is stranger than fiction. This shit over here is pretty intense, and I am not making up any of these theories. This is based on declassified intelligence which is freely available under freedom of information. There are various levels of informed journalism and much of the stuff these days is fixated on partisan aims. Truth becomes distorted as the march for the most virulent strain of sensationalistic journalism carries forth. Wassup Ryan?

I guess some people would prefer to be entertained by fat fuck film producers who lead clueless lives of self indulgent propoganda. I'm pretty sick of the liberal American mindset. Makes me wonder what the fuck I even care what happens to most people. At least I know I've earned a right to live in the United States. Do you hear that liberals? I shit on all of you.

Most people will just continue to hide behind the perceived safety of their rhetoric rather than get up and start fucking some of these assholes up. Militant Islamists are a bunch of sick minded cowards.

Most of the WMD evidence was moved into Syria prior to the war and Damascus and Tehran made plans with elements inside of Iraq for a prolonged guerrilla war. Syria and Iran blew smoke up the UN's ass to appear as if they were at odds over the Iraqi deal, when in reality they were both planning the insurgency in tandem. Duplicity is something the Arabs excel in. They want power for themselves.

Clinton agreed with most of the current Bush doctrine in a public interview during a political year. All politics and public opinion aside, this is an important statement from an intelligent former president. I understand his tenure was based on economics and I enjoyed some of that prosperity myself. I think hindsight is giving him the opportunity to galvanize Americans to face up to the current realities of our geopolitical status. I do not believe that Kerry is the man we need in office. We need strong forceful leadership with a popular base in the American population. If Bush gets reelected he needs to understand that the American population deserves better from himself and his arrogant cabinet of neoconservatives.

Roger that. Back in Iraq as of yesterday. We'll see what the next few months bring us here. With an estimated 25-35K Iranians in country now, and Syria funneling war hardened Chech's in I believe the current conflict will expand greatly. Enjoy the freedoms of the United States and the relative peace there.

The war you are calling a war on terrorism is evolving into the de facto 4th World War (I am hearing more and more the Cold War referred to as the 3rd conflict). Iran and Syria are directly responsible for the growing insurgency in Iraq, for provocative attacks on Israel, and attempting to further destabilize the middle eastern region. The Soviet Union is courting Iran on many levels. Europe, most notably France and Germany, are doing everything they can to insure the failure of regime change in Iraq. Everything you know or think you know should begin to become an understanding that the United States is becoming one of the most isolated countries in the world. Being devisive, putting the US down, or following some of the current liberal thought processes only strengthens the resolve of our enemies. If anything, 9/11 and the Iraq war, have shown the wolves in sheeps clothing who's sole purpose is to dethrone the one remaining superpower in the world. Lofty morals and ideals will crumble once you begin to realize that the world has changed 100% in the last 3 years and we are now in a fight for our position in the world. Back your soldiers, call your leaders to task for their actions, educate yourselves with more than news sources. Don't assume that a pullback will guarantee anything right now. Rather it will excerbate the problems we face. Look for books written by non aligned intelligence assets regarding the real reasons behind what is going on. Stop bashing Israel mindlessly, and realize that their fate is closely tied to yours. Look for the causes rather than the responses of their actions. They are more often than not provoked by Iranian, Syrian, and many well financed terrorists. They are under the threat of hundreds of long range ballistic conventional munitions and surrounded on all sides by fanatical corrupt regimes. Face the fact that although Saddam and Iraq did not play a direct role in the 9/11 attacks that they did indeed play a major role in international terrorism. There are other organizations besides Al Qaeda. Face the fact that the whole WMD question has become politicized and that inside the intelligence community it is well known that most of the WMD assets were shifted inside Syria prior to the war beginning. That issue has been quelled and we have taken it up the ass because of the wranglings of our so called European allies. I am deeply troubled by the lack of understanding of the average American regarding the current situation at hand. When I return home I become aware of the arrogance and isolation that most Americans exude. The world is rapidly changing and for most of you at home, it is still not visible. It is a far away problem shared by only a small few in a large population. More and more when I come home though I find the war affecting families who's sons, daughters, fiances, husbands, fathers, mothers have gone overseas to answer the call to duty. A noble calling which fell into disrepair during an unpopular war in another far away country. This era however is much different. The bombs are already falling in the US, and for most that was already an event that occurred on a far shore. There will be more attacks. Wake up now.