Lindy, I'm thinking that as Keith Locke says, NZ's good name is being polluted by the stupid American activities. I'm not impressed that the USA interrogation techniques aren't as bad as Saddam's, though some of the stories about Saddam are obviously exaggerated, for example, the story about babies thrown out of incubators was untrue, and maybe the USA does a lot more than has been disclosed.
Remember My Lai. It obviously wasn't of much concern to official USA given the minimal punishment given out. People trained as you describe, aren't likely to be the nicest soldiers in town.
It's obvious that the techniques displayed in the Iraqi prison pictures weren't particularly egregious punishments. It's silly that everyone acts so surprised.
You know, comments from posters in SI are not of the type that encourage support either. KLP, Ish and others tend to make one think that they should be left on their own to deal with things. I don't favour conscription, which is just slavery by another name, yet people here are in favour of it. Maybe it's time to pull out and leave Iraq to the USA to deal with. Which would mean we are against the USA on the principle of If You Aren't With Us, You're Against Us.
Keith Locke is on the opposite end of the political spectrum from me. To have us going the same direction is quite an achievement.
I'll take a tea break and reflect on where to from here.
If the USA loses me, things are really slipping. Yeah, yeah, I know, you can just scoff and snigger at a loser jerk individual. America is tough, USA is the greatest and answers to nobody and can do anything it likes and doesn't give a stuff about anyone else. But there are 5 billion of us [and some rounding errors]. If I slip away, a lot more have already gone. Maybe I'm just a bit tired. I'll sleep on it.
Mqurice
PS: There is currently some discussion in NZ about repealing the anti-nuke legislation which ended ANZUS [as far as the NZ part was concerned - unsigned by the USA]. I'll be arguing against that idea. I'd put it to a referendum, but not even bother because most people are against nuclear weapons in NZ and against nuclear power too.
We've already seen what French State terrorists did in Auckland Harbour to the Rainbow Warrior. I dare say they'd do the same thing [or somebody else would] to a USA warship, maybe blaming it on Islamic Jihad.
Warships should stay away from major civilian ports, like New York and so on, as warships are targets, and collateral damage could be substantial if they are targeted in civilian areas. Putting military people and equipment in civilian areas isn't a good idea, [unless they are required for actual defense]. A nuclear-powered warship sunk in Auckland Harbour would not be a good thing. Neither would a nuclear strike against a nuclear-armed submarine [maybe Al Q has a nuke already in Auckland, waiting for something useful to do with it]. |
