Crimes against humanity.

[kerryg]

This is one of my favourite pics regarding the war..

Priceless!

Introducing Osama Bin Laden as The Phantom Menace

[Biff]

Some of those facts are just definitely erroneous Lou. For example, according to the UN, depleted Uranium tipped weapons are not classed as chemical weapons. And cluster bombs certainly aren't chemical weapons, although I'll agree that they could be considered as weapons of mass destruction. Nasty, evil, indiscriminate things that they are. As are/were daisy cutters, they should also be banned IMO. Petroleum vapour bombs? Again these are neither 'officially' classified as either chemical weapons nor weapons of mass destructions. But these are also evil things. Similar to the horrific napalm weapons used predominantly in Vietnam.

The US is famous for its double standards on their use of weapons. Let's not forget that they still advocate the use of landmines. Evil devices that main and kill thousands of innocent people every year.

However Lou, on the whole - I'm with you. The US administration only recognises international law and courts when they're used to pursue alleged injustices against other nations/individuals. Other than that the US has refused to recognise international law and the judicial processes attached to it. Just ever so slightly hypocritical.

The bottom line is that the US administration (and naturally the US as a whole) will continue to be seen in a bad light by the majority of the world until such a time as it falls in line with the views, actions, laws and morals of the majority of the world’s developed countries. Until then, it will continue to be seen as a lying, hypocritical, nation. Sure they’ll continue to gain the support of some nations for pretty much any military action they choose to undertake anywhere (Iran next?), but in all honest, how much of this is really due to having the free will to ‘collaborate’ with the US and how much is due to under the table pressure, with threats surrounding trade ties (which the US refuses to sign with NZ) and such like.

[Indiana_Jones]

"Hitler says he's got no weapons of mass destruction, and if he did he wouldn't use them in agression..........Well I'm convinced"

-Indy

[Matt Bleck]

America FUCK YEAH!!

And for any who don't know what I'm on about, you have to watch team america, I think it's a doco with puppets!!!!

[Lou Girardin]

White phosphorous is classified by some agencies as a chemical weapon owing to the effect it's gasses have on humans. (Aside from burning holes through people)

[ManDownUnder]

Small point... I agree with Lou on the issue of some less than desirable US policy - but that's not to be confused with an "Anti Amercian" slant on things.

Some of my best friends are... aaa you get the idea

[Marmoot]

American democracy is like tax.

Everyone hates it, but you know you can't live without it.

[kerryg]

Small point... I agree with Lou on the issue of some less than desirable US policy - but that's not to be confused with an "Anti Amercian" slant on things.

Some of my best friends are... aaa you get the idea

It's hard to avoid supporting the view that the current military American presence in Iraq is about oil, about securing supplies. It's almost certainly not ONLY about that but I suspect it is mainly about it. On the surface it seems a poor excuse for a war, and I do not condone it AT ALL (let me be absolutely clear about that) but, just to be the devil's advocate for a moment, I wonder what our lives would be like if our oil supplies were cut off. Oil is the absolute foundation of the world industrial economy. Without it our lives would be extraordinarily different. There is scarcely an aspect of Western 21st century life that is not oil-dependent. To permit the world's oil supplies to be controlled by powers opposed to the West has the potential to be apocalyptic, to send us back centuries in terms of living standards. Don't think of oil per se. Think of food, of medicine, of heating, of shelter. Without oil all those things would be profoundly threatened.
The USA is not by any means the first and only Western state to recognise the importance of oil. The rmodern history of the middle east shows that. The Poms, the Dutch etc have been influencing middle Eastern politics for generations for their own self-interest. We in NZ depend largely on imported oil.
If we were forced to make such a choice (feeding our families vs. waging a war of questionable morality)...what would we do?

[oldrider]

Simplistic analysis.

Reduced to common denominator there is only "Them and us" where "them" is the enemy and "us" is the USA.

If George Bush is the USA then I'm with bloody George like it or lump it.

Take the USA out of the equation and "them" is going to get ya sooner or later. IMHO.

The enemy is not Islam it's self but a section of Islam and the rest of the Islamic world are really part of "us" the sooner they realise it the better.

New Zealand is not safe from "them" it's just not strategically important at present.

The current NZ government stance is completely irrelevant in this matter.

As for weapons, for me dead is dead how it occurs is irrelevant after that event. Sharing my thoughts, John.

[Swoop]

I can categorically state that America does NOT have weapons of mass destruction AND that New Zealand HAS weapons of mass destruction!!!

He works at Colemans...

[spudchucka]

10 charachters

[outlawtorn]

Bush is a prick, end of story, anyone who waves at Stevie Wonder should be fucked and burned IMO........

[Swoop]

Food for thought...

[Brian d marge]

Was watching internet TV the other nite, some great viewing, They had a documentry on about the wafen? SS the history where and how it came to be , They were a bunch of tree hugging lets go nakid , and commune with nature hippys ...and from there became what we read about.
The programe followed the style of thinking that ordinary fella was into ...and at that time Eugenics was real popular , in England , America , and Germany ...
So one thing led to another small changes ,,,not big changes ,,,and before you knew it ,,,whamm bamm thank you mama ...

Not a whole lot different than whats happening now ...cept its had a name change , from Eugenics to terrorism ....

Stephen
Who watches far to much TV ,,,,,

[Motu]

Oil is the absolute foundation of the world industrial economy. Without it our lives would be extraordinarily different.

I think we are far more dependant on electicity,and that is not oil dependant.If someone found a way to selectively disable electricity our civilisation would crumble with far more devistating effect than the removal of oil.