Showdown at Google Gulch
Let’s do some browsing around the city of Baghdad, on Google Maps:
Hmm… looks like a traffic jam in Sadr City. How convenient that a satellite was overhead just at that moment.
Wait a minute… those are tanks! Google Earth has a file which identifies the tanks:
Down the street, you can see some Humvees. This is a major battle going on! They appear to be in a standoff against some insurgents hiding behind a line of cars.
The copyright date says 2006, but if we look at the insignia on COB Speicher over in another part of the country, they are the 4th and 1st ID, which were stationed on Iraq in 2004. By the way, if you’re curious you can look around Speicher and see lots of Apache helicopters.
So, I’ll therefore propose that this stakeout is a widely-reported one from April 2004 in which seven American soldiers died in action, although it could have been one of many other Sadr City battles throughout the year. The tanks might be identified as 2nd Bridgade, 1st Cavalry.
Even on a simple satellite map, it’s impossible to escape the reality of war.
(I am not a military buff. All identifications and sleuthing were done by a certain W. Morgan — I simply found the GEarth locations he was talking about on GMaps. If you work for the U.S. military, make sure to put in a good word for him!)
Holy shit. This is very informative, and very good insight.
sweeet stuff
Hi!!!!!
Please, i need help!!!
In my weblog, my comments don’t open for any people!!!! Only members, do you know with open?!
Tanks
Sorry my poor english!
I hope a lot of US soldiers died in this battle. Fuck those murderers.
Interesting but if it were in a battle, wouldn’t you expect to see some fire or at least smoke plumes?
Thank you!
I wonder how long the war will be prolonged thanks to your generosity in handing over your analysis to the enemy.
Loose lips sink ships, and prolong the war. Shut up and stop showing off how clever you are, and focus on how to help your country. A sharply worded e-mail to Google CC’ing the Pentagon should have been all you needed to do.
Wow… insightful comment asshole…. I’d like to think that everyones life would be valued…. Ah thats right peace can only be used to cover non americans
[...] Apparently Google’s satellites captured a battle going on in Iraq. [...]
Hi Wang:
I’m hungry. Could you please hop on your bike and bring over some eggrolls, spareribs and beef lo mein.
Thanks.
it's called force recon, it's just a day to day patrol of the city. i also wish A***** Wang had enough balls to say who he was. Just another pussy protected by the freedom of speech.
Wang, so you are pro-terrorist? You chinese? I recall your government thoughout history is familiar with murder.
Hi Wang:
I forgot. Extra duck sauce please.
Mr. Morgan seemed pretty confident that it was not your average force recon. If you download the KMZ file you’ll see one of those going on in another part of the city.
Thanks!!!
But I found my error!!!!!!
I check one wrong item!!!!
Thanksss!!!!
i suppose we can expect republicans to attack Google Earth now for “national security”
Yeah so Andrew Wang did say who he was; Andrew Wang.
PS: Anti American =/= Pro-Terrorist. The More You Know.
To “Thankful”. Loose lips applies to sharing information about upcoming events, not past ones. Given that the author clearly linked to CNN as a news source, I would suspect that if malicious forces wanted to gather more information, they could easily obtain it from CNN rather than digg or google maps.
God bless us
“I hope a lot of US soldiers died in this battle. Fuck those murderers.”
Coming from someone who lives in the United Sates you are the one that should have died over there! but your too chicken and can only make comments on a blog. loo hoo ser!
Wow, there’s some real asshats on this thread. It’s called a life, you should really look into getting one. kthnxbai
More fli rye.
Every one.
relax, we are all anti yank
put bushy over there and see how he goes
Wang should be a North Korean.
Looks like just a standard patrol to me. Then again, I only spent 8 months with the Marines doing these type of patrols near Hit, Iraq..
Seriously though, a firefight would look very different. This is way too organized.
so they missed you Tom?
was that another ied i just heard?
[...] If you check out this webpage You can see tanks in the streets of Baghdad on google maps. A neat look at war from a commander’s view. [...]
Andrew Wang = troll.. Don’t be a victim. Ignore that shit.
The images are from DigitalGlobe, a US satellite imagery company. All of these companies are under “shutter control” via the Pentagon — nothing gets released (especially in a hot area like Iraq) without the Pentagon giving it the ok. If there were anything compromising or even valuable-to-the-enemy in these images, you’d never have seen them.
Whether you support the war or not (and I’m not getting into that), many of us have friends and family over there. Wishing them all dead doesn’t make you many friends. One can support the individual soldiers while not being in favor of the war or the policies that instigated it.
uh, yeah, WHATEVER, youre one bored jackoff
Ok first off no one can do crap with 2 year old images. Second like someone else said these don’t release anything that’s not supposed to be shown.
God bless the usa. fuck the rest of you assholes
interesting comments, I’m sure none of which mattered. I wish those that seem so hell bent on placing blame on foreign countries looked at what we used to try to be as a nation.
Genocide is something worth acting on, of course any threat to our nation is worth acting on, but let’s correct our intelligence before we lose credibility. The soldiers are brave and just no-matter what, they are doing what our country sent them to do. The question is whether their lives will ever equate to what we sent them to accomplish. There have been no WMD, oil prices are sky high.
Freedom is a great cause, but that war is best left to diplomacy and our economic strength (they are nearly one in the same). Genocide is a worthy cause, and I hear ya, Sadam did that too. How about the rest of the world? Africa to start? But let’s not look too far from home… imigration is a real problem that we all will have to face. It’s not glamorous, but it’s real, just like the billions we’ve spent on our war in the middle east.
I believed once in a country that kept to itself, provoked was fierce. That has been lost on political rhetoric and empty promises. I’m so tired of it all. I only posted this because I got in a conversation about these things earlier in the night… so take it with a grain of salt.
bless the assholes, fuck the usa
whoa, that’s crazy! good eye.
“let’s correct our intelligence before we lose credibility.”
oops, toooooooooooo late!!!!!!
Sweet stuff!
By the way, I used to have this theme on my blog. ^_^
Why does the Pentagon get “shutter control?” It’s a picture. Of what someone could easily obtain just by being there. Restricted access places seem to make some sense (Area 51 probably shouldn’t be there) but things like war? In city streets? With a bunch of Iraqis who saw it? Hell, one of them could just take a picture and show the world. “Shutter control” doesn’t make much sense there.
it does if you understand americans and their hypocrytical view of freedom of speach
#6 is a serious retard
Second in line for this prize is the blogger. This isn’t a “major battle” nor is it a showdown.
Educate yourself before you post blatantly incorrect statements.
You all need to follow Jesus Christ before you can be saved! As for this bullshit campaign against the troops you all should rot in hell!
http://www.xanga.com/Conservative_Kyle
Visit my website and say something else you towel heads!
@Chinese Chi .. say something constructive and I will respect you, I bet that others will as well. You can redeem yourself if you have a real message. Otherwise, you’re going to be buried in a whirlwind of propoganda.. and you don’t seem to have the intellect to keep pace.
lovely christian sentiments kyle. been reading from the good book lately…
WMDs were shipped to Syria before we entered the country. To think there were no WMDs is naive.
To think Sadam was good for the world and for people in Iraq is just plain ignorant.
Despite the scrafices made by our solidiers, this war has been very successful contrary to what the media would have you believe.
Iraq is slowly becoming a nation. Within 5 years, it will be a thriving democratic nation. Who would have thought a democracy could have been established in the middle east.
President Bush is not perfect, but eventually he will be remembered as one of the greatest Presidents the US has ever had because of his bold leadership in having the courage to reshape the political landscape in the middle east.
You may not like it. You might hate it, but this is the reality. Deal with it. If your passion is strong enough, run for office and work within the system to change it. If the people agree with you, you’ll succeed.
too true jparrish, i’m just whacking a few dopey americans, i mean no harm to someone with a brain…
[...] read more | digg story [...]
bush ran for office and lost but is still your pres, democracy americanb style
we suck
reality is “Danny S” that you are stuck in another vietnam that you will never win because you cant see the enemy. thay will never stop. their religion says that they cant. unless you run away like you did then you will all die
Hey, nice noticing that! I jus miss the details
wow……this stuff is great
Danny… I want to believe that the WMD were moved to Syria as well. The problem with this is that when comparing our ability to detect the threat of WMD within Iraq to what we took action with, we no longer used verifiable intelligence. Moving the WMD should have been easy to answer if it was worth going to war over. Sadly there was no answer to us… the citizens of the USA. If we can’t get verifiable intel from Iraq, yet go to war regardless… does that not signal a problem at this point?
We had and hopefully no longer have a serious problem with our intelligence. We never saw 9/11 coming. That was apparent. Nothing has happened since, which I will credit to the CIA, FBI, and possibly covert operations that are in process of our legal system.
Why?
americans have more WMDs than anyone and they are the only ones ever to have used them
which god do you kill for?
w even wants to drop a few on iran… he he…
will kill for food!
lots of retards here. when sand niggers die it’s a great thing.
I was attached to the 1st Regiment during that battle so all of you hippies pondering what the hell went on in that battle don’t know the truth… the truth is during this skirmish I ran a small school which you can clearly see in the third picture. On the NW corner of that street is obviously a blackened pile of rubble. That was all me baby, 47 confirmed kills, all kids. But since it was 47 children and not adults, I only technically got 2 and 7/20ths of a kill. Badtimes, I’ll try harder next time.
when americans die (especially racists) whats that? meigh
You do that Nukular Mulkshaker.
Americans have the best hit score for friendly fire, maybe you might get a few homeys too while your at it redneck…
you see that blackened rubble under the trade centre, that was osama. Lots of kids died there too NMshake, are you gonna celebrate that too like your iraqi buddies do?
i dont care if you are dumb american rednecks or arab rednecks or chinese rednecks, there is one common thread running through all your comments. You all love your mommas in that extra special way.
The majority of you people are naive, dickwads that have to make your point heard on the internet cause your weedy little fucks who would get their heads kicked in if they tried to tell a eal soldier who gets sent to Iraq (thats right sent not chose to go) all because they were doing service for what ever country you come from.
ever heard of conciencious objector, people that think for themselves.
why arent you dying trying to find the real culprit, Osama. Have you forgottem about the trade centre, oil to valuable to keep your eyes on the prize.
I am an idiot.
I am also a troll.
Please, feed me. I am hungry.
Wow. This thread is a prime example of American propaganda at its best, if nothing else. I can’t remember the last time I read something as ignorant as that post by Danny S. Before all you pro-Bush sheep begin the flamage, please finsih reading this. I am not by any means pro-terrorist. However I am rigidly anti-Bush. I am anti-Bush, not anti-american. And guess what: even if I was to say I’m pro-terrorist, those ’sand niggers’ aren’t terrorists. They’re soldiers being given orders, same as the American soldiers in there. They’re being used, albeit much less-so than the American soldiers. At least these guys are fighting to directly protect their families and country. Go terrorists.
It’s not a certainty that both satellite images were shot at the same time.
I am an american
I believe anything thay tell me.
Please feed me propaganda shite. Im hungry for fox
doh, i forgot about the satellite images…
arent americans funny how they believe all the crap the pres tells em even when they realise they have been lied to they deny it. I love americans. They are so funny.
Is Chinese Chi done posting? Have fun coming up with a reply to these facts. During the Korean War North Korean and Chinese troops reportedly tortured and executed prisoners on a number of occasions, including shooting wounded soldiers lying at their feet.
Communist forces rounded up and executed thousands of civilians in captured villages. It is claimed that more than 100,000 were killed in 1950 during the capture of Seoul alone. The US lost 54,246 in Korean War deaths. From official Chinese sources, PVA casualties during the Korean War were 390,000. This breaks down as follows: 110,400 KIA; 21,600 died of wounds; 13,000 died of sickness; 25,600 MIA/POW; and 260,000 more WIA. However various Western and Eastern sources estimate that about 500,000 to 1 million Chinese soldiers were either killed in action or died of disease, starvation, exposure, and accidents. Overall total Chinese killed, wounded and missing equal to about less than 1 million. Mao Zedong (毛澤東)’s only healthy son, Mao Anying (毛岸英), was also killed as a PVA during the war.After the war was over, 14,000 of the Chinese prisoners of war hostile to Communists of the People’s Republic of China defected to the Republic of China (in contrast, only 7,110 Chinese POWs opted to return to China). This is opposed to American POWs who are more than grateful to return to the US when they are captured. Do you know why? I have the answer living in China is horrible. Now you call the US religiously intolerant, go persecute Falun Dafa some more. Also, I want to point out that you took a forum about google maps and threw politics into it. And finally, your english grammer is horrible.
I didnt bring politics into it you nutcase and Im not chinese. I just dont like the stupid american crap that I read here. I hear it all the time in my job as american liason officer and i really laugh at you idiots defending the iraq war when you should be concentrating on getting Osama. He is laughing at you and so is Bush, Rummy and Chainy. They are the ones that you should be upset at. ask anyone that isnt american who is right, me or you. You will be surprised. Most of my posts are just having a go at dumb rednecks but you have to be a bit smarter than a dumb redneck to work that out.
PS. you got your ass kicked in korea too.
I don’t get these idiots saying we should be sending emails to google and notifying the governement about the breach in security…… THESE PHOTOS ARE OVER 2 YEARS OLD!
Unless the same division is still sitting in the exact same place and somehow has not been spotted by anyone I don’t think this will be a breach of security.
ALSO, the sats are owned by the government / military and google needs permission before obtaining any images to be used with google earth…
SO STOP BITCHING!!!
an american telling me how to spell in english. thats funny.
colour not color
centre not center
gaol not jail.
get it right before you try to teach the rest of the world.
Firstly, ‘I hate Chi’ good research m8. Commendable, but I’m sure the US and even Australia (sigh) have committed some crimes on prisoners - just look at Guantanamo, those recent stories on prisoner abuse and the photos. Our side’s not perfect either. Secondly, I don’t reckon Chi should be bagged out as much as he is, he actually made some good points. Thirdly, there there Danny S, Fox News has gotten 2 u m8,blame Murdoch.
I’d like to add surely even US citizens would acknowledge their government’s hypocritical and used intelligence on WMD as a cover to get oil.
Lastly, great job Wang, despite all these wackjob yanks givin u a hard time, you put together a great story.
I’m not so sure about a battle taking place. My assumption is that the images are more likely of a convoy. I scanned around Baghdad and saw at least three other signs of congestion, which are probably accidents. However, I’ll admit, it’s pretty convenient that the accident happened at the exit point of the road the convoy is on. If I were a guerilla, that would be the perfect place to stage an ambush.
Take a look:
Here is an image of the intersection (all images are thumbnailed)
At first glance, we see a number of armored vehicles moving up a street while a decent number of cars are congested at the end.
However, once we zoom in closer, we can see that the tanks don’t appear to be taking what could be considered an aggressive formation. It is almost reminiscent of the police escorts I used to see in D.C. as officials moved through an intersection. First we have what appears to be an APC in the top right of the image. Next we see three M1A1’s which could be viewed as taking defensive positioning. However, it’s also possible that the two outer tanks are taking defensive positions while the rest of the armor moves through in single file formation. Further down we see three more M1A1’s moving up the street. At first glance it’s obvious that the far right tank is taking a defensive position at the mouth of what could either be an alley or small side street. However, if one looks more carefully, the tank’s cannon isn’t aimed down the alley. If they were actually under attack, that tank would have his main gun pointed off to the right, aiming down the alley, in preperation of any possible attempts to flank.
Honestly though, who flanks a convoy of tanks? The most obvious sign that this isn’t a “battle” is the lack of obvious resistance. We’re talking about f’ing tanks here, not Humvees with foot soldiers. Some insurgents with RPG’s, who are supposedly hiding behind some cars, isn’t nearly enough firepower to compete with what’s coming down that road. A few shots from those lead tanks will undoubtedly clear the congestion, if in fact they didn’t want to just drive over the cars, and the .50 cal on the top of that parked APC would easily sweep the streets of any remaining hostiles.
In short, it’s an interesting sight to see. If I were in one of those cars, I would probably be crapping myself the second I saw half a dozen or more tanks barrelling down the street. But this is clearly not a battle in progress. This is a convoy probably crossing the street.
bloody good post mate.
at least one of you can read between my lines.
PS, i like americans and iraqis and chinese too.
Damnit, forgot they don’t thumbnail.
Image 1
Image 2
what the fuck man. Danny S, are you a member of some young republicans group at school? Or did you just get out from under bush’s desk? You sir, are anti-american. You sir are going against everything that is important in the united states.
hhahhaaaha true that!
at last, an american that understands what is great about your country.
not that… about 8 posts came in between the post i actually wanted to reply to
rummy says if you call torture abuse then its ok.
what dou you think?
lol @ the_dan
@Danny S.
Technically, Bush is just another post-Cold War president following the same path that his daddy and Clinton did–American superiority and maintenance of the US as a hegemonic power. The only difference is that 9/11 blinded people to reason, allowing Bush to take those principles to ridiculous extremes, namely, invading and slowly conquering the Middle East with weak infant democracies that cannot resist the overwhelming power of US economic interest. He’s trying to turn the Middle East into another Latin America, a world free in name but bound in the chains of the almighty American dollar. He will be seen as the most fortunate and insensitive president in history, as he had a chance to see the errors in post-cold War foreign policy and instead of moving our nation towards progress, he focused on scrambling to secure US hegemony in a world that is increasingly hostile to our power. So go ahead and idealize him, lulled into the comfort Americans have enjoyed for the last 20 years, but don’t delude yourself that it will last, or that history will smile on your complacency. People like Danny S. are going to be the historical whipping boy for all the societal and world ills being ignored for the next century.
so what did you actually want to say the_dan?
gotta go, the CIA are at my door.
“Or did you just get out from under bush’s desk?” LOL, brilliant m8.
it seems that I owe all Americans an apology.
You are not rednecks.
Mr Bush is a very smart man.
Zeig Hail.
“Or did you just get out from under bush’s desk?”
I cant take credit for that.
It was the well read MARK that coined that term.
Lets hear from more soldiers (like the one that killed 47 kids and was so proud to be an american). They are so funny. I like dumb people.
Srry dude didn’t mean credit u, shoulda said “from Mark”.
Ur still my hero though.
Funny how a web page about google maps turned in2 a political forum.
I’d just like 2 add that Johnny Howard & Blair are still under Bush’s desk.
The 47 kid killer was clearly taking the piss.
[...] GoogleMaps sind cool, keine Frage, aber darauf einen Haufen rollender Panzer und Humvees zu spotten ist schon mehr als nur cool [...]
I hope your family and you die in a horrorific fiery car crash.
worship the american dollar or enjoy eating your rice patty and inbreeding
Watch as bush and his morons nuke Iran – that will promote peace and respect across nations!
I wonder when wiil be the time that the USA will go down.
In any case, I hope this day will be soon enough that I see it.
[...] read more | digg story [...]
You guys are crazy, i am not chinese.
I am an Aussie.
Just because I dont eat Bush’s (Rumsfield and Chainy) shit doesnt mean that I am a communist terrorist.
In fact, if you know anything about American foreign policy you will realise that it is the USA that are the real terrorists and should be tried for war crimes.
You American sure is funny. I love you long time!
Which country comes after Iran? Guess… Winners get a US green card.. ROFL..
They would go for korea if they werent so piss weak.
Then again, they could be of good use in Africa at the moment. But there is no oil there for the yanks to pillage.
Keep the green card, not interested.
“Which country comes after Iran?”
I think they are actually using the dart board method.
USA stands for United States of Assho1es
I doubt wang is pro terrorist - how many iraqi’s are pro-terrosism? Most of the insurgents are from Pakistan, Jordan etc etc…
The dart board method. Lol. That cracks me up. I like it that Americans are so playful, they like to play with anything. They are very much like children. Anything Bush Pa tells most of them, they just suck it up. I wish life would be so simple for me when I have to bring up excuses for staying out late with friends.
On the other hand, the US is not that plain stupid afterall. It _prevails_ by creating weapons, selling weapons, creating weapons again and fighting the weapons they previously sold. Nice tactics, I must admit. However dreadful, it serves them well on the long run. Nobody gives a shit about individuals in that country, but the american dream crap and the false illusion of being one nation. The United States of America is a land of many nations, with many religions, beliefs, lots of great minds and probably even more blinded a$$holes.
Excuses excuses.. How hard is it to bring up excuses for anything? I’m good at it, but I marvel at the skills of your leaders. I shall take lessons.
Now, isnt it interesting that Saudi Arabia was never accused of being a pro-terrorist country? Why is that? Power. Newsflash. They are the sole superpower, not the US. Think about that.
[...] read more | digg story [...]
Nice one euro, all true.
They’ll never believe you though, cause they only get FOX.
UNITED STATES OF ASSHOLES
“God bless the usa. fuck the rest of you assholes”
The problem with the United States is that too many of their people hold this attitude. There are billions of people on this planet, and Americans tend to think they are the only ones that count. Some day, they will learn a hard lesson, I pray for them all.
Should you travel ANYWHERE outside your sad country, you would find few billion Chis who hate your guts because of the brainless oil industry puppet you call “mr. president”. In fact EVERYBODY else hates you. Feels goooooood, ha? You can nuke Iran, hell, nuke the whole planet while you’re at it, but it won’t bring you anything good. You think suicide bombers stop if you threaten to kill them? I’m from Europe where we have dick-heads in power as well, but at least we try to respect others and have learned something from our horrible past. You on the other hand are just creating your’s.
Oh, and one more thing. English is only my third language and yet it is easy to write better english than most of the twats on this thread do. But don’t worry. I noticed the same thing, when I went to university in Manchester (yes, the original one in U.K.). The natives couldn’t write. And which other nation is now in Iraq again with guns blazing…?
What was this war about? Terrorism? So and who is this terrorist? Look at this lovely piece of information _click link_
[...] Shii’s Rocky Middle Path » Showdown at Google Gulch [...]
“I hope a lot of US soldiers died in this battle. Fuck those murderers.”
WOW!! Shame on you for wishing dead those brave enough to risk thier lives while, and im only guessing here, you are far too chikenshit.
I hate Bush and I think the war is wrong, wrong,wrong but dude, dont ever blame the soldier, without whom we would be truely fucked. WIthout a strong military and soldiers prepared to die the freedom that allows you to be a weak little ignorant shit would dissapear.
The soldier does what he is told to by the administartion. If you have a problem take it up with them, I’m sure you’ve written to your senator/MP whatever to air your views in the appropraitate political areana.
If you havent then you are, quite simply, a dick who needs to grow up and contribute or kep quiet.
—-
There ae so many people on this that are messed up. Why anti american? I’ve met hundreds of americans who are anti war. Anti Bush administration i can understand, but anti american is simply racist.
Life isnt simple, unlike quite a few of you people.
Oh well, not that they’d believe Fox in case Fox would have said it. They filter.. filter to feel good, just, secure and powerful. Everyone likes to feel that way, but concious people would still choose the red pill. Unless Bush says it, I don’t think most of the mob believes anyone anything, except news that justifies them.
You know, I admire China for being straightforward about it all. They clearly tell you what they slap you for. Not that I think that the regime is right, but they don’t fck their own in the a$$ at least - unless they deserve it under their own conditions. Fair or not, that’s another story.
Now that takes me to the issue of freedom of speech. Freedom of speech.. Only who has a medium has that freedom. Do you own a press? You don’t. Nobody will hear you, except.. Let me tell people like Danny S, that the only reliable source of information is the internet. We own this medium. (For a little while more at least..) It’s independent of governments, companies, funds, etc.. Fox News is not. They lie down to anyone willing to aid them to be the #1 news channel. That’s a long way ahead, hopefully. You dont want to be told what to believe. Let me ask if you have ever watched Al Jazeera - just in case you wanted to take a look at the other side of the crap we’re living in. Not that it matters, but willing to take a look at the other side of things (meaning: without the american way of censuring and bending the truth) is a nice thing to do. It makes you sexy. It’s not such a hype though - as you can read some of the posts of a few ignorant “patriots”. But it does make you sexy, and slim, and healthy and intelligent.
Kudos to Chris, and the sane part of America! You’ve kept the nukes at bay.
As an American, I don’t care about politics, or Bush or any of that fluff. If you wish my brothers to die, plain and simple you shall die instead. You and your family.
The US is a great country and shall remain so for a long time. If the US ever does go down, there will be a great bloodbath across the entire globe, and all you anti-Americans will know what pain and agony means, and your own family will curse your existence because of the pain you’ve brought to them by wishing harm to Americans.
You wish harm to Americans? Ok, but you forget we still have the power to wipe out all life on earth, so remember that when you want to start some shit.
Perhaps it would be better for you and your family if you tried to make friends instead of enemies with the greatest country on earth.
You are right, to be anti-american is racist. To be anti-America is not. As a nation USA is what they do, as individuals maybe something else. Yet, majority (with some pervert way of counting, which propably is originated from the swamps of Florida) has voted fot Bush… twice. What should the rest of the world think of that?
Btw, China and the US are very much alike.. except in the US the Great Firewall is in the minds. Shame.
Let’s face it….all of you like Chinese Chi who are making all of these ridiculous comments are simply jealous. Americans on average have one of the highest standards of living in the world. We have the most powerful military (look at how quickly we over ran Saddam and his “powerful and elite” Republican Guard) in the world. We are the most generaous nation in the world. We provide more food, money and assistance to disaster areas than anyone else in the world (you cheap bastards). Why? Because we can…we have the capability. Enjoy using the internet? Thank the US…and thank the folks at MIT, UCLA, and ARPANET. (all US entities) Liike flying around the world? Granted there are many great non-US companies like Airbus, but look who started it all. Like that computer you’re using? Yes, most of the machines are now made in other countries, but who started it all and continues to run most of those companies? Intel….AMD….HP….Apple…Dell….etc. Why is it that so many of you come to the US to study, work, and so forth? Why do so many Indians, Saudis, Chinese, Koreans, and so forth come to the US to go to school? Why do so many end up staying once they do? Why is it that when Cuba comes to play in the World Baseball Classic that the Cuban government has to leave certain players behind for fear that they’ll defect? Why do so many Mexicans want to leave Mexico and come here? If we suck so bad….why does everyone want to move here….go to school here….vacation here….buy our products….use our inventions….ask for our help when disaster strikes…and ask for our protection when other countries threaten? What gives? Why do these third world screwballs continue to complain….do what we did….overthrow your tyrannical government….elect your own….buld your own country….make your own computer chips….your own jet planes….your own military…and so forth….quit depending on us! Oh and the next time a tsunami strikes or you want warning on a potential tsunami….do it yourself! How many of you actually showed up when Katrina hit the US? Granted we screwed it up, but even our screwup is better than most of the worlds best efforts!
Protester: “American is a racist country, built on the backs of poor immigrants”
Reporter: “And what do you hope to accomplish with this boycott and march?”
Protester: “We want full citizenship and voting rights, like everybody else who lives here.”
Reporter: “So we are racists and you want to be like us?”
Comment: Hmmmmmm.
Tim, don’t piss your pants, get yourself together man, you are a citizen of the greatest country on this planet.
Quit looking at it as right or wrong, black and white, etc..
Your enemy does not kill your soldiers, your administration does. I don’t think you really thought it over what you just said.
“You wish harm to Americans? Ok, but you forget we still have the power to wipe out all life on earth, so remember that when you want to start some shit.”
If you were not american, I’d think you are 18-.
Start some shit? A huge portion of the people on this planet hate your country because they have been harmed by the US troops one way or the other. Now, most people on this earth are just as stupid as you are - they blame the one that pokes them, not the administration that tells one so.
Wake the fck up! America is not great! Ask any European if they’d ever want to live in the US. No way! I’m sure it’s the same in Australia too. Wake up! Your country makes you believe surreal things about yourselves. (With great help from the lousy education system, I’m sure, so ignorant twats such as yourself are pretty convenient being so loud about nonsense.)
I’m dead serious. You are living in a dreamworld.
Have you ever seen your family die on the streets on a pretty calm afternoon? Needed to burry your son/brother in 3 pieces? Imagine your street. Imagine unknown tanks marching there, yelling ununderstandable commands at you. You hear the sounds of firefights from outside, and you cower in your own piss. Don’t tell me you know what war is on your own soil. It’s 9/11 for years, not one day. THINK, and realize how stupid you are. Your ignorance is exactly what causes your country to be so hated.
I love america
ZENG Qinghong
Everyone hates the USA, why? did we do anything that bad? nah, thousand were already dying every year in Iraq without any euros or aussie pitching a fit, so why the big fuss now?
People hate America, becuase we are rich, we are the most influencal (sp?) nation in the world, we are large enough to sustain ourselves without any help from anyone.
Could amercia live without oil, yeah…..we would have to adjust but we could do it alot better than most nations because of our resources. Think about the nations that depend on the export of oil for their economy.
The EU is just a bunch of spinless queers give me a break.
BTW the guy talking about killing 47 kids was probally being sarcastic …. DUH!
Personally I have been all over the world and most people dont care enough about whats going on in Iraq to hate us. Most like us, I really dont care what the “reason” for going into Iraq was, I have been there and can say from personal experience that the people of Iraq (most of them not all) are glad we came.
EU is queer?! bullshit giving your mates some love is not queer. In the united states everybody has to work and here in france we hardly do any work at all and get free health care, food, etc.
My mommy says I have to leave the computer now. She got mad because my butt still hurts from the last time I talked to strangers.
Someone list the best nations to live in from best to worst.
USA is the first.
Iraq is not the last.
and Australia is somewhere in the teens.
BTW do you realize that you are RANTING and RAVING like one of these anti-USA nuts…… I hear the same arguments over and over and over from you people (what do you mean you people?)
Point it you didnt get thanked every day while YOU were in Iraq “thank you for helping us!” “USA GOOD” etc. etc. You didnt do something that will change history, you sat at home on the “net” and complained and whined like a little kid about how bad we were……. Well sorry you missed out, I personally didnt go over there to kill anyone, I went over there cause I was told to, and I didnt join up because of 9/11 I joined up to help.
Thats the only thing any of us Dumb rednecks can really do, try to help. Either it is dropping tons and tons of food supplies in Afghanastan, or its releasing a race (kurds) from the lunatic of a ruler that is killing them off.
Whats so bad about working? I dont think I could sit on my ass all day if I tried, I need something to do, something productive.
The view on GoogleEarth isn’t live! The images that you can view with GoogleEarth aren’t updated daily. They can be years old, actually. GoogleEarth is of little value to Iraqi insurgents as a resource. To get up-to-date information, they use human observers on the ground, reporting information using mobile phones.
Those helicopters are too wide to be Apaches. They’re Blackhawks.
I’m getting tired of Europeans who think they are better than everyone else. Fuck them. They’re so hypocritical. Who was it that colonized and exploited the Americas, Africa, Middle East? Africa & the Middle East are so fucked up because of the Europeans. Who was it that started all the major wars? Look at the Balkans, the European community can’t even take care of their own backyard, much less put their noses in everyone elses business. Perhaps the world would have been a better place had the world let the Europeans fight it out amongst themselves.
For #124 here is a list of inventors that might wake you up so you know you’d still be carving that comment on a piece of rock if it want for these guys… I presume all americans know these people and what they invented, since you have been using their inventions for a while now.
Johannes Guttenberg, Heinrich Hertz, Werner von Siemens, Ferdinand von Zeppelin, Louis Braille, Rudolf Diesel, Jacques Cousteau, Henri Fabre, Jean Foucault, Blaise Pascal, Louis Sebastien, Leo Hendrik Baekeland, William Sturgeon, Michael Faraday, John Tyndall, Dennis Gábor, Lord William Thomson Kelvin, Richard Trevithick, Sir Frank Whittle, Peter Dunn, Albert Wood, Dr Nicholas Terrett, Tim Berners-Lee, János Neumann, and I’m getting a little tired of this.. they made your computer, your airplanes possible, and they even make your prick tick.
And.. just to name a few immigrants who have made your country what it is today:
Albert Einstein, Edward Teller, Arnold Swarzenegger, Andy Garcia, Vladimir Nabokov, Hakeem Olajuwon, An Wang, George Soros, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Gene Simmons, Carlos Santana, Arthur Rubinstein, Dr. David Ho, Albert Bierstadt, and the list is endless…
#124 and #125, your ignorance - thanks to your lack of education - owned you. Please, make a fool of yourselves again!
It’s been fun, but I have to scream now.
“PS. you got your ass kicked in korea too.”
Uhm, hello? IIRC, there’s still a N. & S. Korea. Had we got our asses kicked, there would be no S. Korea today.
Control of Oil? The US already had control of oil long before the war started. Most of the Oil Companies that handle all of the drilling and distribution are American owned. Why the hell do you think gas is as cheap as it is in the States than everywhere else.
How does one win? You play by your own rules. Your rules are the only ones that matter. This applies everywhere in every part of one’s life. There are people that you work with, that kiss ass, don’t do shit at all, and still manage to get promoted. That is just one example. Important discoveries in Science and virtually anything else are made by doing things that people said were impossible.
Everyone’s opinions are true. There is always more than one side to an argument.
My post may seem wrong to some people. Others it may make sense for them.
The point is that you cannot change someone’s mind that is already made up. That’s selling 101. You play the numbers in order to get your quota.
The one true fact about this whole discussion: It will never end. Someone always thinks they are right.
Myself, I know what I believe. I am open to other’s opinions, but If I don’t agree with them I let them know that I understand their point and go on about my day. No sense in arguing.
The Ramblings have stopped
EU may not be as efficient as it could I admit that. But think where Europe has come! History of continuous war and lessons learned has made EU the most democratic multinational organisation in the planet. So, we didn’t go and kick Saddam’s ass like US but we also didn’t put him in the power first place, like US. Oh, and funny thing is, that Osama used to get shit loads of US money too. Saddam is a problem US created and now has to deal with. Why the hell should we send our kids there to die for Americas cheap gas? Only when Saddam wanted to get some more oil, which happened to be in Kuwait, US suddenly woke up to see the horrible terrorist nation tortuing its minorities. Hell, US didn’t even care about the use of WMD before Iraq invated Kuwait and suddenly the existent of them is a big deal. Or the non-existent actually… The bs about US beeing generous should stop now. Once US start to pay its fees for UN, I’m ready to discuss the matter again. Until then, fuck off.
Wow, I mean WOW! Its a good thing people hate their native countrys so much they come to america…..
Or maybe its that amercia looks so appealing to them.
Whatever, point is that America has its own inventions that are kicking ass too.
HAHADHAHD AHAHA HAHAHA
THATS A GOOD ONE!!!!
USA PAY ITS FEES TO THE UN!!!!! HAHA HAHAH
ILL be laughing for hours on that one. WOW!
“HEY USA!”
“yeah?”
“The UN called, they want their fees, also they wanted to know if you have a spare pair of balls they can borrow.”
Another opinion: The last country standing when the endgame happens? Israel. Plain and Simple.
“americans have more WMDs than anyone and they are the only ones ever to have used them”
Actually, the Soviet Union had more. Combine that with all the chemical & biological weapons they had and it’s a no-brainer.
Yes, America is the only country to have ever used nuclear weapons against another country. For that, we’re forever going to hear criticism for it. However, if it wasn’t America, it was going to be someone — either Germany or Russia.
While people are quick to bring this up, let’s not forget that what the Nazis did to the Jews, the Japanese did to the Chinese (Nanking anyone?), and the Soviets (slavic races, purges, etc.) had done. Hiroshima & Nagasaki pale in comparison when compared to these.
A question for Syrius (#133): why are you not liberating the Kurds of Turkey? They are treated there like they where in Iraq. They also do suicide bomb attacks on civils. Who actually is the terrorist there? I think your biggest problem really is media. The propaganda smells awfully awfully like old german wine to me… In Europe there are not so big countries that we could forget about the rest of the world and do what we want. The problem in the new world is that neither can US anymore. Just better get used to the criticism, cause it ain’t stopping for a while.
n4ps
I just wish GWB would get a blow job every once in a while like his predecessor did. Maybe he wouldn’t be such a bitch then. That’s what they say about the talebans too - no pussy leads to bunch of angry blokes who want to take the fun from everybody. Unfortunately, gotta go.
Foreign Aid Numbers in Charts and Graphs
Top Contributors in 2005
USA
Japan
UK
France
Germany
To chris, the critisim will never stop, and I dont really expect it too. As long as the US is the best nation, #1 in the world, people will always second guess us. Its easy to second guess after the fact anyways. As for invading turkey, well the US had strong Political ties in turkey, so they probally wouldnt invade, just put some pressure on the goverment to stop. But the Turks arent doing anything near as bad as the Iraqis where.
OH BTW, the defenition of a soldier is as follows.
an enlisted man or woman who serves in an army; “the soldiers stood at attention”
serve as a soldier in the military
a wingless sterile ant or termite having a large head and powerful jaws adapted for defending the colony
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
A soldier is a person who has enlisted with, or has been conscripted into, the armed forces of a sovereign country and has undergone training and received equipment to defend that country or its interests. In most countries, the term soldier is limited to such people who serve in the land branch of the armed services (usually known as the army). Armies are strictly hierarchical societies, and within them, groups of soldiers are usually divided into military units of some kind.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soldier
Terrorist are not soldiers. They are lunatics, religious radicals that thing their one way to heaven is the death of innocent people as well as killing the infidels.
BTW I dont like GWB that much, but I do think we are doing alot of good in IRAQ, regardless of why we are there that is the reason I joined up. To Help.
[...] La Guerra de Iraq tambin en Google Maps: se pueden ver tanques, Humvees, incluso lo que parece ser una operacin militar del ejrcito estadounidense. Artculos relacionados :Google Maps ahora con imgenes de satliteCallejero Google MapsEl video de Google y Google Maps UKPaseando por los EE.UU.Encontrar piso con Google Maps Clasificado bajo:Google / Mapas / minipost Comentarios : [...]
Please forgive me to say this but anyone thinking that the US is almighty and the perfect country has to open his or her eyes and wonder what the reason for this war really is. Every day people die because the big shots want oil oil and more oil.
WAKE UP AMERICANOS!! Let peace be upon earth.
Clever to have found these images. But people who think you help the enemy is stupid. Hello.. these pictures are outdated!
Well I do, I think my country is the best. Ive been around the world enough to support my though process too. So what?
Oh an if you think america is getting Oil out of Iraq, then you are being stupid yourselves. I dont see to many tanker ships or trucks leaving the country. Fact is, other nations just want an excuse to blame america for everything, oil is that excuse.
As a true U.S. Patriot, I feel that the following speech from 1821 is sadly prophetic of the current state of affairs that my beloved U.S. has come to. Maybe if we all work together, we can get back to the vision of what we were originally.
John Quincy Adams on U.S. Foreign Policy
http://www.fff.org/freedom/1001e.asp
AND NOW, FRIENDS AND COUNTRYMEN, if the wise and learned philosophers of the elder world, the first observers of nutation and aberration, the discoverers of maddening ether and invisible planets, the inventors of Congreve rockets and Shrapnel shells, should find their hearts disposed to enquire what has America done for the benefit of mankind?
Let our answer be this: America, with the same voice which spoke herself into existence as a nation, proclaimed to mankind the inextinguishable rights of human nature, and the only lawful foundations of government. America, in the assembly of nations, since her admission among them, has invariably, though often fruitlessly, held forth to them the hand of honest friendship, of equal freedom, of generous reciprocity.
She has uniformly spoken among them, though often to heedless and often to disdainful ears, the language of equal liberty, of equal justice, and of equal rights.
She has, in the lapse of nearly half a century, without a single exception, respected the independence of other nations while asserting and maintaining her own.
She has abstained from interference in the concerns of others, even when conflict has been for principles to which she clings, as to the last vital drop that visits the heart.
She has seen that probably for centuries to come, all the contests of that Aceldama the European world, will be contests of inveterate power, and emerging right.
Wherever the standard of freedom and Independence has been or shall be unfurled, there will her heart, her benedictions and her prayers be.
But she goes not abroad, in search of monsters to destroy.
She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all.
She is the champion and vindicator only of her own.
She will commend the general cause by the countenance of her voice, and the benignant sympathy of her example.
She well knows that by once enlisting under other banners than her own, were they even the banners of foreign independence, she would involve herself beyond the power of extrication, in all the wars of interest and intrigue, of individual avarice, envy, and ambition, which assume the colors and usurp the standard of freedom.
The fundamental maxims of her policy would insensibly change from liberty to force….
She might become the dictatress of the world. She would be no longer the ruler of her own spirit….
America’s glory is not dominion, but liberty. Her march is the march of the mind. She has a spear and a shield: but the motto upon her shield is, Freedom, Independence, Peace. This has been her Declaration: this has been, as far as her necessary intercourse with the rest of mankind would permit, her practice.
When John Quincy Adams served as U.S. Secretary of State, he delivered this speech to the U.S. House of Representatives on July 4, 1821, in celebration of American Independence Day.
[...] La Guerra de Iraq también en Google Maps: se pueden ver tanques, Humvees, incluso lo que parece ser una operación militar del ejército estadounidense. [...]
Hey who is going to win the Superbowl this season?
i wipe my ass with the american flag
I raped a woman in a park in prague last night. i hope that doesn’t show up on google maps in 2 years.
hey
Thanks for the coverage I appluad you.
the next terrorist attack will be masterminded with the help of google maps
Andrew Wang can suck my wang, ignorant asshole.
wang talks big sh1t behind a keyboard
“the next terrorist attack will be masterminded with the help of google maps”
only they will be 2 yrs behind, just like google maps, retard
For all Chi’s and non-chi’s, checkout this link: Ha Ha Ha America!, an interesting independent movie for the Sundanace Festival, a must see for all in this thread.
Saddam = friend of Rumsfeld in the early 80’s while iraq was fighting Iran. The west supllied Iraq with weapons, specifically the administrations of Ronald Reagan and Bush I - right up to the beginning of the first gulf war. Throughout the 80’s we supplied components for making bioweapons - Anthrax, vx nerve gas etc…Because the one thing we like more than African on African war is…continuous war in the middle east, especially the kind that pits middle eastern people against other middle eastern people.
Call us the great equalizer…When the tiny country of Iraq was up angainst a much more powerful Iran. We were that helping hand to keep that conflict going as long as possible. Iraq ended up winning that conflict.
So every few years the people of this country grow weary of fiscal restraint and rising standards of living, so we get together and install a corrupt group of conservatives to loot the treasury and take us to war. The econony seems like it is working, that is until we realize the huge debt we are in and that what little economy we do have is dependent upon a perpetual state of war. Thanks for being afraid USA it makes it all too easy.
Are you guys done? Look, all this bandwidth wasted and you people are right back at the beginning again. GG
I know war as few other
men now living know it,
and nothing to me is more
revolting. I have long
advocated its complete
abolishment, as its very
destructiveness on both
friend and foe has
rendered it useless as a
method of settling
international disputes. Douglas MacArthur (That famous guy you may remember) In addition- the US is spending 421 billion dollars on its military a year. A fraction of this would solve all poverty issues and render war unneccessary. Not to mention the fact that it has always, and continues to spend about, as much as EVERYONE else combined on its military. Americans should be furious that this money goes towards causing more trouble, rather than for helping themselves- Imagine if you as an american didn’t have to pay half the taxes that you do, while having the best public services money can offer. Instead it is going towards helping to kill off yourselves and everyone else. AMERICA- Land of the Ignorant, not free.
INTERNET ARGUMENTS: SERIOUS BUSINESS.
That speech is unbelievable… why doesn’t the press, the office of the president, every area of the cabinet, and every American person have that as a mission statement….
The press is the most responsible in the brainwashing of the people that’s taking place. I just look around and wonder why every news source is slanted to the right; MSNBC, CNN, etc. They seem to have taken offense to someone’s ridiculous diatribe from a long time ago criticizing a “liberal, left-wing media”. Fox News became popular out of that single statement.
F*ck Newt Gingrich.
F*ck Sean Hannity.
F*ck Fox and Friends (an awful morning show, 6am eastern time, you should watch it some time; think Reggis and Kelly, but racist and overbearing)
F*ck the News in general for underreporting every one of George Bush’s faults for fear of being cut off from the inner circle.
Comedy Central is really the only place for balanced political commentary…
Go Stephen Colbert.
Go Jon Stewart.
Go Stan and Kyle.
Also, Go Air America and Randi Rhodes without whom I’d have no direction to be proud of whatsoever.
one other thing, none of us are really free.
BTW- The china video isnt wrong either. Damn shame its so hard to learn chinese.
[...] Shii’s Rocky Middle Path discovers a great link to Baghdad on Google Maps that includes several satellite images of a battle taking place. This is another step on the road of extended media coverage from Vietnam to the minute to minute coverage of the invasion of Iraq in 2003. [...]
@ Mark : Can’t be that hard, 1.300.000.000 people speak it fluently
Geez, no one bitched about America in World War 2…
GO MARINES http://WWW.USMC.MIL
@Chi: You hate Americans. You can’t get more prejudiced than hating an entire class of people based on their country of origin. Puhleeze. Take your 1 and a half brain cells and go home. Read. Read it again, because you probably didn’t understand it. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. It’s blind hatred mongers like you that make me proud to be an American. America has its faults, but it has fewer faults than most.
hi all…i am reading this thread from time to time…i will stop reading from now…
just wanted to say that USA stands for UNITED STATES OF ASSHOLES…really…
to USA citizens…keep farting…
There are way too many posts to respond to but 165. Paul did you forget that the Soviet Union was supporting Iran? It was just another battle in the Cold War. Also, for being a native English speaker Chinese Chi you have poor grammer. You claim to be from Australia, do you realize America saved your country. Japan would have conquered Australia with its military, America saved Australia and Europe. We spent billions of dollars rebuilding Europe, and guess what many nations have defaulted on thier loans. Talk about being grateful. I forgot who commented about colonialism, but almost every modern war is a result of colonialism because of where the boundries were drawn up. Which is Europe’s fault. The USA never became a colonial power, and don’t even bring up the Phillipines, that does not make the US a colonial power. As far as Australia goes, you also are involved in the Iraq war, and besides the UK one of the biggest allies of the US. In addition Chinese Chi you claim the US is full of rednecks, BTW I’m from Minnesota, look at your own country. “The 2005 Sydney race riots were a series of ethnically motivated mob confrontations which originated in and around the beachfront suburb of Cronulla in Southern Sydney, a coastal region within the Metropolitan Area of Sydney, Australia’s largest city. The violence soon spread to other regions around Greater Sydney….A number of the demonstrators wore clothing bearing slogans such as “We Grew Here, You Flew Here”, “Wog Free Zone”, “Aussie Pride”, “Fuck Allah - Save ‘Nulla”, and “Ethnic Cleansing Unit”. Chants of “Lebs out”, “Lebs go home” and other expressions were continuously shouted out by many of the demonstrators, including some families with young children. A banner reading “LOCALS ONLY” with a symbol for anarchism in place of the “A” was displayed (Daily Telegraph, December 12).” . Now, I’m going to go watch Mad Max the only good thing to come from Australia.
People, there are only 3 murderers here, bush, dick and rummy-henny-penny
why do most SANE ppl join the army?
1) in the mistaken presumption they are protecting their loved ones and their nation
2)financial reasons
3) they were brainwashed by the recruiters
Most of the time, they have no control over where they get deployed.
soldiers of WHATEVER NATIONALITY, the ones that get killed are most often THE ONES THAT HAVE NO CONTROL ON THE WAR WHATSOEVER.
we’ve been bushwhacked by bush.
CRAAAZZZINEESSSS!!!!
california, hawaii, and alaska should be in indepent nation.
cafaskaii ftw
People need some perspective:
First: Most Americans are against the war, so coloring all Americans with a broad brush is the same kind of ignorant thinking that you are accusing the Americans of. Recent polls indicate that about 70% of the yanks would prefer another leader right now. In two years they’ll get one. Democracy is a self-correcting form of mob rule.
Second: A lot of folks don’t get to “wait it out” for two years and get a leader. While this war has a number tangential outcomes, one distant hope is that it is sowing the seeds of a possible democracy. This, just as the yanks sowed the seeds of democracy in WWII in Europe and Asia, and also shielded the fragile nations of the UK and Austraila.
Third: Colouring soldiers as if they are all “misled” or (worse yet) “murderers” is, at best, a great disrespect to millions of soldiers world wide who’ve given their lives for good causes throughout history and continue to do so. It is at worst, the kind of thing that cowards do with their keyboards, while real citizens die in the streets for what they believe in.
Fourth: Lest we just turn our backs and forget it all, history shows again and again that the yanks always try to do right, even though they sometimes get it wrong. I suppose that they could learn a lot from those great nations that never act out in a bad way.
If only they were as perfect as, say, Britian (you know, killing off Catholics; oppressing the Irish; colonising India by force), or maybe Spaniards (you know, supporting fascists, creating inquisitions, murdering indigenous peoples across the Americas), or maybe as great as France (greeting the Nazis as “liberators”, selling nuclear secrets in the middle-east), or as wholesome as Russia (Chechnya anyone? Pogroms anyone? KGB/Statsi oppression, anyone?), or China (need I even mention them?! or is it all just implied), or Germany, Austria or Italy (We all know about the yanks spoiling your great summer vacation plans).
But there are those others. There are the “peaceful” countries that stand by, and are never accused of doing anything wrong. Surely they have room to lambaste the Americans for being improperly motivated! … Canada…Australia… and so forth. Often, however, their greatest crime is found in their inaction. Their lack of desire to leap to their feet when they see something wrong. It betrays a self interest far worse than an alleged motivation of “war for oil”.
No, I say the yanks more often than most, are motivated by a strong desire to do that which is right.
They stumble forward, as a great giant with good intentions, breaking things along the way, wishing to do better at every turn, and sometimes getting their wish. Their economy is strained, their future is mortgaged to get loans to keep this war going, their beloved kids are dying in a place which many of them can’t find on a map, and for what? They’re told that they’re securing peace. They’re told that they’re creating fertile ground for democracy and freedom. They themselves are as skeptical as you are. They smell a rat in Washington, but they (as do most of us) hope that it winds up right in the end somehow.
This is a strange war, in a strange time, and while the yanks are clearly making mistakes along the way, and their reasoning for this particular invasion is shaky, personally disparaging their citizens and their soldiers is uncalled for.
This is true especially when the Americans themselves so proudly question their own government. A right that most of them would like to gift to the world (just as they did for Europe, Australia and much of Asia during recent and troubling times)
Disagree with the reasoning and with the politicians. After all, Americans themselves disagree with their government as a matter of personal pride.
But calling their whole populations names, ridiculing them, and disparaging soldiers in general are all signs of being a zit-faced boy behind a monitor in his mom’s basement. It says a great deal about several of the authors found in this thread.
I hope a lot of US soldiers died in this battle. Fuck those murderers.
Come on. Do you honestly think all Americans are jerks. If I recall the US in WWII saved may of your people. I disagree with the Bush administration completely and I used to work for the US gov. Don’t even think all Americans feel as the gov shows. Look at Bush’s rating here. He is a lame duck second term president that is trying to save his ass. All I can say is wishing that regualr people like all of us would be killed is sick. Very sick!
Damn right (Perspective)! Americans are some of the most altruistic people on earth. Sometimes they are just blinded by politicians and by their own desire to rush out and do good things.
More than any country I can think of, they are activists who are always stumbling clumsily towards a good and true goal. More than I can say for many a finger-wagging nation out there.
I know THEY (Americans) are upset about this war and about their own leaders. Maybe their leaders have it wrong, but their citizens are always hoping for the best possible outcomes.
Also: As for this map being a “security risk”, what kinda lame-o thinks that? Its outdated, and furthermore, the insurgents in Iraq already kind of know that American tanks “line up a certain way”, and proceed down the street “a certain way”, and cluster “a certain way”…. they see this every week, first hand, in the streets. They even videotape it!
Insurgents would probably learn more from studying books on Alexander the Great, than studying this sattellite photo of something they see constantly.
Awesome satellite picture! Keep up the good work!
In respone to 178, I’ve heard all those reasons before. First of all American interests have been under attack for a long time. Long before bush was in office our embassies were bombed across Africa. Our destroyers attacked, resulting in the death of sailors. This was followed by no retaliation. Now, this next peice of information I read in a magazine about a year ago so I have no soursces to back it up, but basically a plane was hijacked in Europe everybody on the plane lived except one US Sailor (this took place in the ’80s). The sailor was savagely beaten and shot because he was in the military. In addition to all of this of course