Post #294,417
10/8/07 10:57:49 AM
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NATO Staggers in Afghanistan
[link|http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aXrmNtGeybxw&refer=worldwide|Bloomberg]: Oct. 8 (Bloomberg) -- NATO's campaign in Afghanistan is under threat from member countries on the front lines clamoring to get out and others on the sidelines refusing to go in.
With military casualties on the increase this year, the Netherlands and Canada are weighing full or partial pullouts within the next 18 months. Meanwhile, leaders in Germany, France, Spain and Italy, mindful of polls showing a majority of Europeans oppose the conflict, are resisting calls to send troops to relieve them.
The European reluctance to fight is making it harder for the 41,000-strong force to consolidate gains against the Taliban, which is battling on in the rugged terrain of southern Afghanistan six years after the U.S. drove it from power in response to the Sept. 11 attacks. It is also endangering the unity of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, raising the stakes for a meeting of defense ministers later this month.
[...] It certainly doesn't sound good for the west to help the Afghanistan government consolidate its control over the country. Cheers, Scott.
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Post #294,418
10/8/07 11:03:20 AM
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My nephew heads over there next year
He is with the Canadians elite regiment. They appear to be taking the brunt of the fighting alongside US troops.
thanx,
bill
Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?
Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free american and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 51 years. meep
reach me at [link|mailto:bill.oxley@cox.net|mailto:bill.oxley@cox.net]
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Post #294,423
10/8/07 11:47:32 AM
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It's a tough situation. I hope he'll be safe.
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Post #294,635
10/16/07 12:38:40 PM
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Oh yeah? Which one? JTF2?
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Post #294,646
10/16/07 1:23:30 PM
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princess pat
Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?
Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free american and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 51 years. meep
reach me at [link|mailto:bill.oxley@cox.net|mailto:bill.oxley@cox.net]
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Post #294,649
10/16/07 1:29:07 PM
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Not an elite regiment
A good regiment with a long history, but not an elite regiment like Joint Task Force 2.
So their turn's coming 'round again, eh? They were first in when the Canadians first moved to Kandahar, IIRC. By all accounts, they acquitted themselves well there. I'm sure they'll do so again.
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Post #294,650
10/16/07 1:35:18 PM
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I was thinking in terms of my younker years
when they were the elite, back in the 70's you had them and then the rest of the army.
thanx,
bill
Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?
Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free american and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 51 years. meep
reach me at [link|mailto:bill.oxley@cox.net|mailto:bill.oxley@cox.net]
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Post #294,667
10/16/07 9:58:13 PM
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Yeah, those were the days before
the Airborne Regiment. JTF2 is its successor, and is more-or-less equivalent to the Seals or Special Forces.
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Post #294,433
10/8/07 1:35:41 PM
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We just don't understand...
[link|http://www.shamar.org/articles/basically_good.php|http://www.shamar.or...asically_good.php]
Its got some very good indicators, we as the "West" just don't understand.
--
[link|mailto:greg@gregfolkert.net|greg],
[link|http://www.iwethey.org/ed_curry|REMEMBER ED CURRY!] @ iwethey
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Post #294,440
10/8/07 11:18:39 PM
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:-O. +5, Interesting
Heck, I'd even go +6, Interesting! It's a very compelling summary.
Wade.
Is it enough to love
Is it enough to breathe
Somebody rip my heart out
And leave me here to bleed
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Is it enough to die
Somebody save my life
I'd rather be Anything but Ordinary
Please
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-- "Anything but Ordinary" by Avril Lavigne. | · my ·
· [link|http://staticsan.livejournal.com/|blog] ·
· [link|http://yceran.org/|website] · |
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Post #294,443
10/9/07 2:54:19 AM
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-1BS:It's a superficial, fallacious, bigoted Jeezmoid screed
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Post #294,450
10/9/07 9:18:52 AM
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So you disagree?
Its all nature and no nurture?
Too much of today's music is fashionable crap dressed as artistry.Adrian Belew
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Post #294,447
10/9/07 7:56:10 AM
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He has oversimplified pretty much everything
He seems to have as a basic assumption that people who think people are born basically good, can't also think that they can go bad. He seems to limited his thinking to subset of the human population. First, if you believe people are born good, you will attribute evil to forces outside the individual. Not true, if don't believe in a supernatural being who created the world then it is hard to attribute evil to an outside force. Second, if you believe people are born good, you will not stress character development when you raise children. Absolutely wrong, and it should be obvious that it is wrong. Not everyone, religious or not, makes it point to teach their children how to make the world a better place. But, stressing character development and overcoming the human condition is limited to people who think liek he does. Third, if you believe that people are basically good, God and religion are morally unnecessary, even harmful. He seems to unfamiliar with the diversity of opinion in the Christian church, let alone others outside the 3 major reveled religions. Fourth, if you believe people are basically good, you, of course, believe that you are good -- and therefore those who disagree with you must be bad, not merely wrong. Wrong. In my experience this kind of thinking is more prevalent in people who in absolutes, regardless of what their religious beliefs, or lack thereof, are. Understanding that others can be good or bad, and that even good people commit evils acts is not limited to people who reject the notion that people are basically good. There are many varying viewpoints about how and why people commit evil acts and he is over vastly simplifying that discussion. Seamus
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Post #294,449
10/9/07 8:51:41 AM
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But from that we can see things with new eyes.
His point about the moral assumption of the human being is clearly abhorrant to you, but another point can be taken from it. And that is that the Western leaders tend to ascribe motives behind the actions of terrorists (he listed poverty) could well differ from their actual motive (perception of comparative human value).
I would be tempted to say that those who do not hold absolute views on 'Good' or 'Evil' would also have trouble, simply because they do not understand the drive of people who do hold such absolute views, whether they be Sunni terrorists or Southern Baptists. Note this says nothing about who is right.
Wade.
Is it enough to love
Is it enough to breathe
Somebody rip my heart out
And leave me here to bleed
| |
Is it enough to die
Somebody save my life
I'd rather be Anything but Ordinary
Please
|
-- "Anything but Ordinary" by Avril Lavigne. | · my ·
· [link|http://staticsan.livejournal.com/|blog] ·
· [link|http://yceran.org/|website] · |
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Post #294,454
10/9/07 10:08:29 AM
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Not really
His views to me are not abhorrent, the are simplistic. He seems to be lumping people into two groups. One group who believe that man has to struggle to overcome his bad nature. Otherwise, you believe the external forces cause people to do bad and evil things. Where do you put the people who believe that some people are born with the capability to commit evil acts and others develop it later in life?
In my opinion, you don't have to have an absolute view of morality to understand absolutism or even be effective dealing with people who think that way.
Even though you can glean from his writings the point about the absolute values of the religious terrorists we are currently fighting, other writers have made that point more directly.
Seamus
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