Osama Bin Laden is Dead

[Fragony]

Oh yeah that. It really stands out doesn't it

[Hax]

More civilians were killed by Muslim extremists in two hours on September 11th than in the 36 years of sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland.....

Ah, and how many civilians killed due to retaliatory action in Iraq (which, incidentally, had nothing to do with Osama bin Laden)?

[Tellos Athenaios]

More civilians were killed in the USA in 2001 in car accidents than by terrorist attacks, too. Number of people killed when someone started sending Anthrax by mail in 2001 was about zero but it still ended up being significant 'cause you know it made people go hysteric faced with the prospect of flour or washing powder.

It's not how many people died in 9/11 that made the attack significant: it is that the USA/world felt it so keenly. By contrast the 7-7 bombers had much less lasting effect.

[Louis VI the Fat]

Ah, and how many civilians killed due to retaliatory action in Iraq (which, incidentally, had nothing to do with Osama bin Laden)?

Zero. There was no retaliatory attack to kill Muslims in Iraq.

(Save for some individuals, for example that guy from Wasilla who has just been sentenced by an American court to 24 years imprisonment for the murder of three Afghanis)


Iaqi deaths since 2003 are better compared to how many would've died under the brutal Saddam regime.

[Hax]

Zero. There was no retaliatory attack to kill Muslims in Iraq.

No? Weren't Iraq's supposed ties with al-Qaeda used to justify the invasion at least partially?

Iaqi deaths since 2003 are better compared to how many would've died under the brutal Saddam regime.

Right, the same "brutal Saddam regime" that we thought was totally cool with murdering Kurds and Armenians and Iranians as long as they were at war with Iran, right? Right?

[Louis VI the Fat]

Right, the same "brutal Saddam regime" that we thought was totally cool with murdering Kurds and Armenians and Iranians as long as they were at war with Iran, right? Right?

Now therein lies the rub.

When 'we' did business with Saddam, we were accused of supporting him. When we boycotted him, we were accused of starving a million Iraqi children to death.
When we did not attack Saddam, we were accused of not aiding the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi victims of Saddam. When we did attack him, we were accused of killing hundreds of thousands of Iraqi's in a retaliatory attack.

Can't win this. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

A majority of republican voters thought 911 was linked to Iraq even years after all facts were out. Eventhough it was clear the US were there to get those weapons of mass destruction.

So, two thumbs up.

They also believed that toppling a dictator was the right thing, the 'American' thing, to do. Silly Americans and their willingness to shed their blood to spread democracy.

Sadly many noble intentions were mobilised to a cause which was never free from more cynical motives.

Still, however that may be, Iraq was not a retaliatory attack. The retaliatory attack was last week in Abbottabad.

[Shibumi]

Now therein lies the rub.

When 'we' did business with Saddam, we were accused of supporting him. When we boycotted him, we were accused of starving a million Iraqi children to death.
When we did not attack Saddam, we were accused of not aiding the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi victims of Saddam. When we did attack him, we were accused of killing hundreds of thousands of Iraqi's in a retaliatory attack.

Can't win this. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

You could have stopped selling him weapons and advanced technical hard/software - while letting food and medicine fly freely.

Then you could have supported the populations uprising á la Egypt.

I guess a country is only as intelligent as its president.

[Hax]

You could have stopped selling him weapons and advanced technical hard/software - while letting food and medicine fly freely.

We. We're in this together, people!

Now let's all sit in a circle and sing kumbaya.

[Strike For The South]

You could have stopped selling him weapons and advanced technical hard/software - while letting food and medicine fly freely.

Then you could have supported the populations uprising á la Egypt.

I guess a country is only as intelligent as its president.

MY GOD

SOMEONE TELL THE PRESS WE HAVE AN IDEA!

[Louis VI the Fat]

You could have stopped selling him weapons and advanced technical hard/software - while letting food and medicine fly freely.

Then you could have supported the populations uprising á la Egypt.

I guess a country is only as intelligent as its president.

America is not the only country on the planet. What's Europe ever done for the people of Iraq? Arms deals and oil contracts accompanied by hypocrite talk about the yanks, that's European policy.

Swedish prosecutor Nils-Erik Schultz has told Swedish Television that this week he will finish his investigation of accusations that Scania, the Swedish truck manufacturer, paid bribes to Iraqi officials during the Saddam Hussein era – despite UN sanctions.


Asked to comment on reports that Scania’s CEO Leif Östling could face corruption charges, the head of communications at Scania, Per-Åke Danielsson says he will wait until charges are officially made or completely dropped. He adds that Scania is looking forward to the results of the investigation.


It is previously known that many companies did pay bribes to Iraqi officials back in early 2000 when the country was still subject to UN sanctions. Some estimates made show that as much as 1.6 billion dollars have been paid to officials in Saddam Hussein’s government.
So far two Swedish companies have been implicated and two executives at Volvo have already been charged with violating the sanctions and paying bribes. The investigation into Scania’s actions has dragged on for more than three years.

Sweden does not grant the rest of the world the same treatment as it gives Swedes. Godwin's second law says that wherever there is a brutal dictatorship, there is a Swedish firm selling him whatever he requires:

Sweden is usually in the top five of the world's least corrupt nations when rated by Transparency International in its corruption perception index, but but Swedish companies do not receive the same positive rating.

The Swedish government has also been criticized by Transparency International for not doing enough to monitor Swedish companies abroad to make sure they follow both Swedish and international law.
http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel...rtikel=4150383

[Shibumi]

Zero. There was no retaliatory attack to kill Muslims in Iraq.

(Save for some individuals, for example that guy from Wasilla who has just been sentenced by an American court to 24 years imprisonment for the murder of three Afghanis)


Iaqi deaths since 2003 are better compared to how many would've died under the brutal Saddam regime.

A majority of republican voters thought 911 was linked to Iraq even years after all facts were out. Eventhough it was clear the US were there to get those weapons of mass destruction.

So, two thumbs up.