Prisoners - War - Political Correctness...

[DeVitaf]

And far as I am concerned the way we handle their Koran is miniscule compared to what they have done to the people that have been captured in the Middle East since the war on terror started.

"T"

As far as I am concerned...

If we save a single american life with the info we extract from these prisoners then I don't care if we squish their heads until their eyeballs pop out while we do the two step on the koran.

Fighting a politically correct war to not offend the enemy (and france) is ludicrus and we are the only ones playing by these rules... ...'Going in soft' is causing more americann casuaties than is necessary.

Me ---> :shark:

When did we all become Oprah? This is war.

Flame away...

 

[Timmain42]

I'm pretty sure a lot of this "hand-holding and back-rubbing" stems from the fact that we're *trying* (and maybe not succeeding) to retain a moral high ground. We may be the only ones who are required to follow any sort of decent behaviour, but if we don't even bother attempting to be better than those we attack we're going to be in deep doo-doo after the shooting is *really* over (which may be years from now).

If we don't want the rest of the world to seriously consider us the Evil Empire during/after this conflict, then we need start acting like we care. The US is only 5% of the world's population, there ARE a great deal more humans out there than just us. I won't even get into the religious implications.

And the global fight against our becoming and being viewed as the Evil Empire may have already been lost... 2/3rds (approx) of the world already thinks we are the bad guys. Guess they never heard of China!

Face it guys, we could be giving the prisioners 7-course meals and wiping their butts for them, and we'd STILL be the bad guys. Desecrating a religious icon that also represents a portion of Americans or squeezing someone's head until their eyeballs bug out isn't going to make it any better, it will only make it much worse for us as a nation. We might as well set a standard that we want the rest of the world to live up to.

 

[OrionGirl]

We might as well set a standard that we want the rest of the world to live up to.

I agree 100%. How do we tell them not to kill our people that they capture, if we willing slaughter the prisoners we have taken? How do we expect them to respect the rights of women, if we don't respect their beliefs?

Do you really think that hurting those we hold captive--physically, mentally, or emotionally--will improve the situation?

I don't like this war. It's cost us too many lives, with no end in sight. We don't understand their way of thinking, we don't want to respond to their tactics. But violating what we believe--innocent til proven guilty, freedom of choice, all those wonderful things--to gain information that likely isn't going to be accurate (how much can people who've been detained for the last 3 years really know about the current situation) seems more abhorent to me than kicking puppies.

 

[125gJoe]

I agree 100%. How do we tell them not to kill our people that they capture, if we willing slaughter the prisoners we have taken? How do we expect them to respect the rights of women, if we don't respect their beliefs?.. ... .

Respect their beliefs???

Rights of women??

Who is slaughtering prisoners? And - for public 'terror' for all to watch??!

Respect??

...................

Back on Topic..
I'm at a complete loss of the lack of repect to our soldiers, when they are forced to give prisoners "their book" that teaches the very prinicipals 'we' are fighting against. 'Death to infidels'. Terrorism.
I'm sure somewhere it can also be shown in the 'work of art' 'book' that women are a lesser being.

It's amazing this document is 3 years old. And, the news media continues not to show it, but rather continue to be negative about the situation in whole..

 

[Timmain42]

It's amazing this document is 3 years old. And, the news media continues not to show it, but rather continue to be negative about the situation in whole..

That's the media's job. How else are they going to get ratings? If everything's hunky-dory, then no one will be watching TV.

 

[OrionGirl]

If you don't respect their rights, why should they listen to you prattle on about other people's rights? Respecting and agreeing are completely different things.

 

[happychem]

Respect their beliefs???

Rights of women??

Who is slaughtering prisoners? And - for public 'terror' for all to watch??!

Respect??

None of these are religeous issues. Their views towards women and treatment of prisoners are cultural issues, not religeous.

The middle eastern culture got stuck in the middle ages at some point in history and in many places hasn't advanced much. But none of these are religeous issues any more than our treatment of women and prisoners was some 200 years ago. It wasn't out of a sense of Christian values that the iron maiden or the rack were developed. Nor was the fact that women have been second class citizens without even the right to vote until the very recent history.

Your problem isn't with Islam, it's with the culture prominent in many middle eastern regions. That's something that really needs clearing up. As far as religeous doctrine goes, Mohammed was very clear that Christians and Jews should be respected by Islamics since they were the religeons from which Islam came.

As for the 'war', the problem is that this isn't a war. At least not in the traditional sense. Soldiers and weapons need an solid enemy. This is a PR campaign, at least, the "war on terror" should be approached as such. Certainly striking back at the perpetrators of terrorist acts is necessary, but terrorism is not going to be solved by any invasions or military manoevers. Terrorism is what you do when you can't fight face to face. If you don't have the military might to compete, you fight with what you have. The object is to make life miserable and to discourage further intervention. I'm not condoning it, I think that some of the acts have been horrific, but some context is needed.

"Know your enemy"
Better advice was never given. The only way to defeat terrorism is by taking away their recruiting base. As long as there are people out there who see the West as an oppressor there will be people ready to sign their lives away for the "greater good". This is a PR campaign, not a war as we know it. If the people believe that soldiers are there to liberate, protect, and provide a better life then the underground movement loses its momentum. But if soldiers are viewed as invaders and opressors then there's an endless stream of young men and women ready to die for the cause of liberty and sovereignty.

 

[125gJoe]

That's the media's job. How else are they going to get ratings? If everything's hunky-dory, then no one will be watching TV.

Right..

I've heard interviews with 5 different muslim Mosque leaders over the "radio". (..no one listens to radio..:laugh

The question of violence in the "book" was brought up, and each time, they could not explain it, but rather explain it 'away'... Each and every interview.
Some will never get it. But, this is not a peaceful 'belief system'...

(..now that was politically correct.. )

I hope my thread has some opening their eyes to this situation. And some will never understand the point.

....

uh oh.. another Tropical depression..

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[125gJoe]

None of these are religeous issues. Their views towards women and treatment of prisoners are cultural issues, not religeous.....

I don't believe that for a second. They blend together for those people. It is their culture.

__________________________________________________

On a lighter note...

Did you know there are no jokes about Saudi Arabian women drivers?

 

[nancie2k]

my sister sent me this
my dad was a pow in wwII
he was happy to eat bugs

Ask Me if I Care About 'Mishandling' of Koran
By Doug Patton
June 6, 2005

First, Newsweek pulled a Dan Rather on us, running a fabricated story just because they wanted it to be true. They told the world that an American guard at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detention center had ripped pages from a prisoner's Koran and flushed it down a toilet. As a result, innocent people died when practitioners of Islam rioted in protest in Afghanistan.

Oops, said Newsweek, it seems we can't back up our story. Oh well, it's probably true; we just can't prove it. (Isn't it convenient for Newsweek that the media now have "Deep Throat" to talk about so they can revel in their glory days and divert our attention from their criminal negligence.)

The lie heard round the world about the flushed Koran has caused convulsions in the Bush Administration and forced the Pentagon to launch an investigation of unfounded allegations contained in an unsubstantiated story. The results of said investigation are now in, and it seems there are at least five incidents of "mishandling" of the Koran at Gitmo.

Well, guess what? I don't care!

Are we fighting a war on terror or aren't we? Was it or was it not started by Islamic people who brought it to our shores on September 11, 2001? Were people from all over the world, mostly Americans, not brutally murdered that day, in downtown Manhattan, across the Potomac from our nation's capitol and in a field in Pennsylvania? Did nearly three thousand men, women and children die a horrible, burning death that day, or didn't they?

And I'm supposed to care that a copy of the Koran was "desecrated" when an overworked American soldier kicked it or got it wet? Well, I don't. I don't care at all.

I'll start caring when Osama bin Laden turns himself in and repents for incinerating all those innocent people on 9/11.

I'll care about the Koran when the fanatics in the Middle East start caring about the Holy Bible, the mere possession of which is a crime in Saudi Arabia.

I'll care when Abu Musab al-Zarqawi tells the world he is sorry for hacking off Nick Berg's head while Berg screamed through his gurgling, slashed throat.

I'll care when the cowardly so-called "insurgents" in Iraq come out and fight like men instead of disrespecting their own religion by hiding in mosques.

I'll care when the mindless zealots who blow themselves up in search of nirvana care about the innocent children within range of their suicide bombs.

I'll care when the American media stops pretending that their First Amendment liberties are somehow derived from international law instead of the United States Constitution's Bill of Rights.

I'll care when Clinton-appointed judges stop ordering my government to release photos of the abuses at Abu Ghraib, which are sure to set off the Islamic extremists just as Newsweek's lies did a few weeks ago.

In the meantime, when I hear a story about a brave marine roughing up an Iraqi terrorist to obtain information, know this: I don't care.

When I see a fuzzy photo of a pile of naked Iraqi prisoners who have been humiliated in what amounts to a college hazing incident, rest assured that I don't care.

When I see a wounded terrorist get shot in the head when he is told not to move because he might be booby-trapped, you can take it to the bank that I don't care.

When I hear that a prisoner, who was issued a Koran paid for by my tax dollars, is complaining that his holy book is being "mishandled," you can absolutely believe in your heart of hearts that I don't care.

And oh, by the way, I've noticed that sometimes it's spelled "Koran" and other times "Quran." Well, Jimmy Crack Corn and -- you guessed it -- I don't care!

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Doug Patton is a freelance columnist and political speechwriter who has worked for conservative candidates, elected officials and public policy organizations at the federal, state and local levels. His weekly column can be read in newspapers across the country and on selected Internet web sites. Readers can e-mail him at dpatton@neonramp.com.

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Note -- The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, and/or philosophy