Irate over Iraq

**ben** · 26th January 2003, 04:31 PM

OK. I've finally had it. I want to spit in John Howard's face over his spinless fawning over Bush's bellicose stance on Iraq. I know this is a bad topic for any message board and could cause a lot of flames but **** it! I'm pissed off!!

It's Invasion Day (Australia Day) today and I am more ashamed than ever to be Australian.

This war, if it comes, will not be fought in my name. I didn't vote for Howard and I sure as hell wish more Americans had got off their arses and voted for someone other than Bush. Before he was just a dickhead with little education and good connections. Now he's dangerous.

Why isn't there an emoticon for utter helplessness and frustration?

b

**aru-ma** · 26th January 2003, 05:04 PM

Hey ben,

I for one agree with you with spitting on johnny H's face, always did since I came here but if you think of it he's not the only one to blame on this matters, there's the people who voted for him

(dont look at me, I'm not a citizen) plus I dont think a well mannered pet would turn on its master.
As for invasion day its more like "yeah sure we did horrible stuff to you(natives)people but that was in the past, cheer up! oh btw we're not going to apoligize[sp?]"
As for Bush (and Howard) being an idiot isnt illegal so there you go.

well, there's my 5 cents, cant give you 2 since 1 cent coins isnt around anymore.

**KhawMengLee** · 26th January 2003, 11:45 PM

Talk about terrorism...what the hell is Bush's coalition doing?

They have already divided the spoils amongst themselves. I love it how they say they are not there to steal oil but to "manage" it for the Iraqi people...yeah Bull-fucking-shit!

How much more instability and shit does Bush wanna create? South Korea and Japan were just about to get on with peace/reunification talks with North Korea and Bush opens his big yap and declares them part of the Axis of evil. I dunno what his problem is about nuclear weapons...America has tons of that shit and as far as I know they were to only ones to drop it on people, so they have no right to tell us what to do...

sigh,
PEACE
MENG

Critical_Bill · 27th January 2003, 10:47 AM

bush is a monkey in a suit, and somone else is most likely pulling his strings... this whole "let's attack iraq" think came right out of left field, and somewhere someone probably told him
"you need to have a war to be re-elected for next term"
while you need to atleast keep tabs on a situation like iraq, it needs to be a UN issue, and NOT a one state police action!!!

as for howard...heheh...well, from the day i got to australia everyone keeps telling me how he's a dillweed, it astounds me that this man ever got into office heheh

**KhawMengLee** · 27th January 2003, 11:01 AM

he's smart...he played on the whole "refugee" issue. His office painted the refugees as being illegal immigrants. This is bull because refegees once they claim asylum are classified as political refugees.(They are definately not illegals)

There are tens of thousands of illegal immigrants in Australia and the majority are British and American tourist/backpackers who have overstayed their visas.

Howard also laid claims that the refugees tried to dump their children overboard to gain help from the Navy to bring them to Aust. Once again this was shown to be false.

sigh...he just played on the racial fear vote....smart move...

**Ares2907** · 27th January 2003, 12:16 PM

C'mon guys and girls, surely you've worked it out by now. It's war for entertainment and profit. How much will military suppliers such as Boeing and McDonnel Douglas (to name only two of hundreds) make in a war on iraq? Anyone making ordnance stands to make a killing. If I had a bunch of spare money to invest right now, I'd be waiting for delaration of war then buying a whole bunch of call options on companies such as these.
How much will CNN make by selling live to air coverage of the war on Iraq? How many people around the world will sit glued to their televisions in rapt fascination as the forces of good and righteousness march across enemy territory and into the evil capital Baghdad?
War for entertainment and profit. Australian soldiers are there for little johnny howard to secure his tarriff free exports to the states and doubtless other little gems that his brains trust has come up with to 'build' the nation. No doubt Tony Blair has a similar interest (oh and to resurrect the imperialist glory of mother England).
So stock up on tv snacks, keep the beer cold, cause once war is declared, you know in front of the tube will be the only place to be. Come on everyone, jump on the bandwagon and sign the petition in support of war for entertainment and profit.
</sarcasm></cynicism>

**John W** · 27th January 2003, 02:16 PM

Wow- my first non-kendo related post!

IMHO Saddam H. should have had a bullet when the Gulf War started, it's only since Sept 11 that the world has clicked at how deadly and dangerous small groups of evil people can become.

Yes, there are other motives at hand aside from toppling Saddam but don't forget this- Saddam H is one evil man. He has no problems using chemical weapons on his own people so what is going to stop him firing a few nukes into other countries if he had the opportunity to do so.

I have no doubt that a war will happen. The USA or any country for that matter does not just ship off 60,000 troops half way across the world without some sort of exchange. Yep! war sucks, no one likes it, but some thorns have to come out and Saddam is one of them.

**KhawMengLee** · 27th January 2003, 05:06 PM

Ah, but who put him there...don't forget, up until recently he was USA and Britain's favourite dictator. They loved him when they set him up to power because he helped them against the Iranians.

Lets not also forget that Osama was backed by the CIA against Russia.

Using chemical weapons? I remember a CNN report about how Iraqi cavilians were suffering radiation sickness from the depleted uranium shells used by Americans...funny how that report was never followed up upon.

My beef here is that the coalition will probably set up another dictator that will be their puppet...
sigh

**iwatekenshi** · 27th January 2003, 05:34 PM

I wish the only WMD was a shinai. Then the world would be a much better place. Enough already.

**KhawMengLee** · 27th January 2003, 06:05 PM

then the Kenshin with the biggest shinai wins!

**nodachi** · 27th January 2003, 06:12 PM

If someone has a board, then someone will be grumpy and come along with a board with a nail in it, and then someone will come along with a bigger board with a bigger nail...

Sorry for the Simpsons reference, but it is the ugly side of human nature.

And it doesn't help when I have heard from people studying political science that in some of the intro courses they talk about what does it mean to have political POWER, who deserves to hold it, why, and so forth. People need to stop dealing with who holds the power and focus more on resolving conflicts for MUTUAL benefit without resulting to force.

BigG · 27th January 2003, 07:47 PM

I'm with you nodachi ... I feel that if someone wants to be elected to a political office of power, that should want should immediately preclude them from being elected to it.

The phrase/buzzword that is applicable is 'asymetric threat'. in the 'olden days' a conflict/ war was largely assumed to be between 2 sides, both of which being clear of the underlying motives for the other. With terrorism, it isn't that simple, the driving doctrine is sometimes unknown or unclear. It seems to me that geroge w's war on terror (which is essentially confronting the asymetric threat of all terrorism, apart from the IRA) has become 'war on Iraq 3' to reduce things to the conceptually simple symetric threat of one enemy.

If that makes no sense .... sorry

G

**hamish** · 27th January 2003, 07:53 PM

At least the last Bush had the sense to realise he had no idea what to do in Iraq if he went all the way and killed Saddam, not so with red-neck Dubya. Is it just coincidence that he's a former oil man?

Hamish