Journal SailorBob's Journal: Hey swordboy! 10
Hey You! swordboy !
Why don't you get rid of your bullshit sig? Aren't you even going
to attempt to answer me? Or are you just another piece of shit propagandist
who doesn't give a damn about the truth?
1/3rd of US foreign aid goes to 0.1% of the population [wrmea.com]
Why are you posting an inflamitory offtopic sig linking to an anti-Semitic website which openly supports terrorism?
And just to point out the bias here, Israel get's $2.5 billion (1.5 military, 1 civilian) a year in aid from the USA (the site you link to doesn't even get the basic numbers correct), while Egypt gets $2 billion a year in military aid. People are starving in the streets in Egypt, but the country refuses to convert even $1.00 of that military aid to civilian aid. And of course there's Jordan which averaged $284 million per year over the past 5 years and will go up to $300 million next year, which put together with what Egypt get's is almost identical to what Israel gets.
And of course there is indirect aid to the Saudis. Ten's of thousands of American soldiers protect the biggest supporter of terrorism and bin-laden in the world. If you want to bitch about something bitch about the fact that the state department coddles and protects a government which directly (if "secretly") supported and still supports the people responsible for the Twin Towers bombing.
1/3rd of US foreign aid goes to 0.1% of the population [wrmea.com]
Why are you posting an inflamitory offtopic sig linking to an anti-Semitic website which openly supports terrorism?
And just to point out the bias here, Israel get's $2.5 billion (1.5 military, 1 civilian) a year in aid from the USA (the site you link to doesn't even get the basic numbers correct), while Egypt gets $2 billion a year in military aid. People are starving in the streets in Egypt, but the country refuses to convert even $1.00 of that military aid to civilian aid. And of course there's Jordan which averaged $284 million per year over the past 5 years and will go up to $300 million next year, which put together with what Egypt get's is almost identical to what Israel gets.
And of course there is indirect aid to the Saudis. Ten's of thousands of American soldiers protect the biggest supporter of terrorism and bin-laden in the world. If you want to bitch about something bitch about the fact that the state department coddles and protects a government which directly (if "secretly") supported and still supports the people responsible for the Twin Towers bombing.
true (Score:1)
Re:true (Score:2)
Re:true (Score:1)
Re:true (Score:2)
All the anti-war people I've spoken too are against saddam, and pro democracy for iraq. They just worry (justifyably) that dubya is really in it for the oil.
Of course he is, but if even a little bit of democracy is a side effect, then surely thats good?
Re:true (Score:2)
Take a look at this: Germany: Postwar Occupation and Division [germanculture.com.ua]
Initial response... (Score:1)
Why are you posting an inflamitory offtopic sig linking to an anti-Semitic website which openly supports terrorism?
I will respond to this. I just wanted to let you know that I have acknowledged your comments. Because of the topic involved, my response will be lengthy. I don't have the time required to assemble it right now.
Perhaps tomorrow... Definitely this week, though.
Until then.
Re:Initial response... (Score:2)
Re:Initial response... (Score:2)
I actually went through and re-read the stuff in the link and, while there is certainly a bias, I didn't see anything anti-Semitic or pro-terrorism. Certainly, one could start clicking on the site and wind up at a site that I did not intend, but then this could also happen from google, yahoo, etc. If you don't believe the numbers, then perhaps you could check out the documentation from the other side of the spectrum [us-israel.org] Ultimately, I will try to find something more appropriate to link to (but the topic will remain unchanged).
Back to the explanation...
I put the link in my sig because it was very enlightening to me. You see, before September 11th of 2001, I cared more about trivial things like football or plans for the weekend than I did about anyone on the other side of the US border. For the most part, I was your average "stupid american white guy" isolationist.
And then I lost five coworkers to "terrorism".
And afterwards, the mainstream media tells me nothing in the way about "why" this happened. Rather, they led me to believe that these terrorists acted out of pure evil and nothing more. They were just crazy. There is nothing that we can do about crazy people. So I got all caught up in the anti-Muslim mood of the country and, eventually, I offended someone who was important to me. At this point, I did not know what to think.
But then on the way home from work, I happened to be flipping through the stations and picked up an NPR [npr.org] report on "why". Though I pulled into my driveway only minutes into the report, I ended up sitting in the car for about 45 minutes while it finished. I have yet to change the station. Finally a news source that isn't owned by big business.
In the end, I made up my own mind based on seemingly factual information (please steer me in the correct direction if I am wrong but a google for 'US foreign aid' will bring in information from all around the spectrum - I've read a lot of that).
Don't get me wrong - I do realize that Egypt is getting a lion's share [us-israel.org] as well. It is my opinion that, because of the atrocities comitted by both Palestinians and Israelis, neither side deserves ANY of my tax dollars. Furthermore, the aid to Israel puts the US at risk for terrorism, IMHO. While it might not be right to base a decision on something this profound, I do not see a better way out. I'm certain that, if the roles were reversed, the situation would not be any better and Jews would be the ones profiled and stopped at the airports as potential terrorists.
IMHO, violence in the middle east is not going stop until one side is eliminated. I don't think that money can help prevent that. They've previously tried other fixes [un.org] several times [un.org] with no success. As far as the elimination game goes - even if Israel wanted to (but they don't), we all know that the US would never allow them to eliminate the Paestinians.
So that leave us in the position of waiting until the other side attains a weapon of mass destruction. I don't want to be anywhere near the cross-hairs when this happens. If that means dropping aid to a potentially deserving country, then I am very sorry.
So I will change my sig to something more fair. Again, the topic will change but I will try to find something a little less biased.
Cheetos,
Darren
Another - Initial response... (Score:2)
I'm thinking about splitting my answers into a few seperate posts for different subjects. Does that sound alright to you?
Re:Another - Initial response... (Score:2)
Sounds good to me...
In all actuality, I really don't care anymore. I've been in oodles of fights with friends and family over this stuff. I'm getting married in March and my wife-to-be and I have decided that this isn't the kind of world that we should be bringing children into.
So it isn't like I'm going to 'infect' others with my sentiment. I won't be having kids and everyone thinks that I'm a fool. Perhaps if I lived in a not-so-fortunate country, I might be driven to die for my beliefs. Pro-peace is a very difficult place to stand, these days.
(no more sig, congrats...)