Forums » Off duty » News & media » Bush and Blair accused of War Crimes
|
Re: Bush and Blair accused of War Crimes
posted at 17/7/2012 8:13 AM BST
on bmj.com
|
Posts: 3003
First: 10/3/2009 Last: 17/6/2013 |
While I have sympathy for those who died on that day including Australian citizens (yes), the USA has had no attacks on its soil apart from by itself for a while eg the Civil War. Japan, Europe and Russia have been bombed into dust, even Australia was bombed for 900 days at Darwin and most nations have been bombed in war. This was the first time in ages the US has felt the shock of it all. It was a wake up call and thus began another round of wars. I did not mean funny really as slapstick humour but ironic. We call " funny" different to your " funny". Our funny is not your funny....funny that. I enjoy Planet America which shows on our TV. |
|
|
Re: Bush and Blair accused of War Crimes
posted at 17/7/2012 12:45 PM BST
on bmj.com
|
Posts: 5
First: 21/6/2012 Last: 17/7/2012 |
Perhaps there are some things we can all agree on Bush and Blair told us 3 things - Iraq has WMD - It is going to use them against us - the only way we can stop them is by going to war There was no WMD threat to justify war as the vast majority of us britons could see before the war started.Apologists for the war now say different things about it.Some (eg columnist Polly Toynbee in the UK Guardian) say they are quite sure Blair sincerely believed he was doing the right thing and that is all that matters.Others say Bush and Blair genuinely believed what they said about the threat from Saddam,eg some Iraqi citizen codenamed 'curveball' told american general Colin Powell a pack of lies about WMD and the credulous americans believed him.This story was recently reported in the UK Observer newspaper.Others use terms which imply that the morality of the war is just not an issue (of course they do not say this directly).For US/UK commentators to refer to the war as a 'blunder','act of folly','adventure','enterprise'(Rupert Murdoch) is an insult to the Iraqi people,well over a million,who were made homeless,maimed,bereaved and killed in this war. This report from Kuala Lumpur is very good news ,impotent though it may be relative to the US/UK military powers. |
|
|
Re: Bush and Blair accused of War Crimes
posted at 17/7/2012 4:56 PM BST
on bmj.com
|
Posts: 1302
First: 9/12/2011 Last: 12/6/2013 |
Good points Odysseus, I often wonder if there is an alternative to hiring Politicians, since they seem to be such idiots at times. Would it not be better to Have Doctors, and scientists run things perhaps, I mean Politicians seem to have no limit to stupidity at times? What are your thoughts? DuaneF In Response to Re: Bush and Blair accused of War Crimes: While I have sympathy for those who died on that day including Australian citizens (yes), the USA has had no attacks on its soil apart from by itself for a while eg the Civil War. Japan, Europe and Russia have been bombed into dust, even Australia was bombed for 900 days at Darwin and most nations have been bombed in war. This was the first time in ages the US has felt the shock of it all. It was a wake up call and thus began another round of wars. I did not mean funny really as slapstick humour but ironic. We call " funny" different to your " funny". Our funny is not your funny....funny that. I enjoy Planet America which shows on our TV. Posted by Odysseus |
|
|
Re: Bush and Blair accused of War Crimes
posted at 17/7/2012 9:44 PM BST
on bmj.com
|
|
Posts: 3003
First: 10/3/2009 Last: 17/6/2013 |
The desire for freedom and self-determination expressed in the American War of Independence has been hi-jacked by big government, big business and a bureaucratic juggernaut. The citizen is now in a similar position to the citizen of George 111. Ironically, relatively few US citizens vote in any one election. |
|
|
Re: Bush and Blair accused of War Crimes
posted at 17/7/2012 9:54 PM BST
on bmj.com
|
|
Posts: 1302
First: 9/12/2011 Last: 12/6/2013 |
Once again Odysseus you speak the truth! I fear America, Once land of the Free, now is chained to a pile of useless Laws, Bureaucratic mismanagement, and trvial regulations which only stifle growth, both economic and intellectual. Michio Kaku, in his you tube video speaks on this, with regards to the USA not producing the numbers pf PHDs anymore, or science people in general. I fear there is no fix in sight. Since I am 52, I might not live to see the end of America, at least not in extremis. But if it gets too bad, I will be forced to move. The only country which seems like America to me is Australia, Aussies are simliiar to americans in that they are livers of full lives. Yes Maybe Australia will be my resting place in retirement. Perhaps.... DuaneF In Response to Re: Bush and Blair accused of War Crimes: The desire for freedom and self-determination expressed in the American War of Independence has been hi-jacked by big government, big business and a bureaucratic juggernaut. The citizen is now in a similar position to the citizen of George 111. Ironically, relatively few US citizens vote in any one election. We are being swamped by legali requirements and bureaucratic regulations. It is getting worse. We have little say. Wars happen now without declaring war. Soldiers and civilians die in undeclared wars. The Reith Lecutre series 2012 is worth listening too particularly the one on Wackademia. Posted by Odysseus |
|
|
Re: Bush and Blair accused of War Crimes
posted at 18/7/2012 12:13 AM BST
on bmj.com
|
|
Posts: 3003
First: 10/3/2009 Last: 17/6/2013 |
Thanks for your sympathetic response, Duane. We are kindred folk. However the disease is afflicting us too. Richard Hill's book, Wackademia tells more. It is on iTunes. it is not unique to Oz but everywhere just about. Whackademiaby Richard HilThis book is available for download on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch with iBooks and on your computer with iTunes. Books must be read on an iOS device. DescriptionAustralian universities are not happy places. Despite the shiny rhetoric of excellence, quality, innovation and creativity, universities face a barrage of criticism over claims of declining standards, decreased funding, compromised assessment, increased vocationalism, overburdened academics and never-ending reviews and restructures. In a scathing insider exposé, Dr. Richard Hil lifts the lid on a higher education system that’s corporatised beyond recognition, steeped in bureaucracy and dominated by marketing and PR imperatives rather than intellectual pursuit. Fearless, ferocious and often funny, Whackademia exposes a world that stands in stark contrast to the slogans and mottos joyously promoted by our universities. Raising bold questions that go to the heart of Australian higher education, Whackademia is an unsentimental call for a re-enlightened higher education sector that’s not only about revenue, efficiencies and corporate profile. |
|
|
Re: Bush and Blair accused of War Crimes
posted at 18/7/2012 1:38 AM BST
on bmj.com
|
Posts: 607
First: 8/6/2011 Last: 17/6/2013 |
There is a myth from the ancient Greece about a person ( i don't remember the name ) who had in generally a very strong appetite. So at some point he was in the church of a godness ( i think Dimitra ) and he couldn't resist and he ate the foods which was on the altar for the goddess. Then the goddess get angry and the punishment for him was to have an appetite really unstoppable. So he start eating everything he could until at some point he had nothing else to eat . And because his appetite was unstoppable he ate his own flesh and so died . |
|
|
Re: Bush and Blair accused of War Crimes
posted at 18/7/2012 1:35 PM BST
on bmj.com
|
|
Posts: 607
First: 8/6/2011 Last: 17/6/2013 |
Yes . A version of the myth is this . The story begins with Erysichthon, the King of Thessaly, setting out on a task to build a hall. Erysichthon was in need of wood in order to build this hall, so he sought out to supply himself with wood taken from an enchanted grove of beautiful, very, very old oak trees. Selfishly and heartlessly, Erysichthon began chopping down the largest, oldest tree standing in the grove without giving it a second thought. With the first awful strike of his axe, the oak tree began to bleed. But Erysichthon paid no mind, and he continued to drive his axe through the tree's bleeding bark. Then, he heard a sound coming from the wounded oak. It was a sad and beautiful voice unlike any of a mortal woman, crying out for Erysichthon to stop his murderous chopping. It was the tiny voice of a Dryad living within the oak, begging him to stop. She explained in earnest that he was not only killing the mighty oak that had stood in this sacred grove for so long, but in the process, was killing her as well. Erysichthon, being the cold and heartless man that he was, ignored her desperate pleas to stop, and eventually chopped down the tree, thus killing it and the poor Dryad that lived within it. What Erysichthon did not know was that this sacred oak grove, with its ancient trees and their Dryads, was very special to the goddess Demeter. Once Demeter learned what Erysichthon had done, she sought to punish him. And punish him she did. Demeter inflicted King Erysichthon with an insatiable hunger. He became obsessed with food, and ate and ate, his stomach seeming like a bottomless pit. But as much as he ate, he was still always consumed with this horrible hunger. He eventually ate away all of his wealth, selling everything he owned for food and more food. Still, nothing would abate his terrible hunger. Finally, completely in the throes of Demeter's curse upon him, he began to devour his own flesh, dying a horrible, agonizing death. As word spread of his awful fate, caused by the fierce punishment from the goddess Demeter, mortal men took heed not to destroy any more of the sacred oak trees in the grove. |
|
|
Re: Bush and Blair accused of War Crimes
posted at 18/7/2012 9:37 PM BST
on bmj.com
|
|
Posts: 3003
First: 10/3/2009 Last: 17/6/2013 |
The British now admit to atrocities in Kenya in the 1950s in their war against the Mau Mau. History has a long memory. As for war criminals, the victors usually ensure that dirt is swept under the carpet. This was a "funny war". Anyhow, it was all a long time ago but it is funny how the embers still smoullder and with the right prevailing wind can be fanned back into life. I used to think we were the good guys. I don't any more. How many films are there on prisoners of war in Vietnam? The main reason was that prisoners by and large were shot. We were not in a declared war. It was a "funnny war" like most since. |
Forums » Off duty » News & media » Bush and Blair accused of War Crimes
