bastard yanks

[TAE]

... the contractors ...

Also known as death squads. Ever wonder what made those people so insanely angry?

 

[Idris2002]

No, I didn't.

What your last sentence does, is make the post in its totality, somewhat schizophrenic.

Oh dear. You're not one of those people who ignorantly use 'schizophrenic' as a synonym for 'split personality' are you?

 

[pk]

Actually from what I know from people who have worked and served in Iraq and Yugoslavia among other places - mercenaries ARE fair game...

 

[Idris2002]

Mercenaries, not 'contractors'. The Geneva convention doesn't apply to mercs. Which is not to say that the killing you refer to was justified.

To clarify: the anodyne phrase 'contractor' is one of those pieces of contemporary newspeak, like 'collateral damage' or 'friendly fire' which is intended to put a soothing gloss on a very ugly reality.

Another ugly reality is the one depicted in the photograph in JC2's post. No one deserves to have that done to them. But things like that will happen in a situation that has become as degraded as Iraq since 2003. And while nothing can justify that, no amount of soothing phrases can change the fact that barbarities like those depicted in JC2's photo do not happen for no reason.

 

[david dissadent]

Great getting a swarm attack to defend someone's druken godwin breaking post demanding of all things..... facts. ROFLMAO, p0wned, you teh sux and all that jazz.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

Oh dear. You're not one of those people who ignorantly use 'schizophrenic' as a synonym for 'split personality' are you?

Oh dear, yes I am. The term 'schizophrenic' no longer has any value in the medical/psychological sphere, but it retains the old 'split personality' connotation when used in everyday, nontechnical conversation. It's part of the vernacular, as it were.

But you already knew that, didn't you?

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

To clarify: the anodyne phrase 'contractor' is one of those pieces of contemporary newspeak, like 'collateral damage' or 'friendly fire' which is intended to put a soothing gloss on a very ugly reality..

Yes and no. The unarmed drivers of the KBR transport trucks are 'contractors', but not mercenaries.

 

[8ball]

Yes, it's a shame that commercial killers, truck drivers and miscellaneous economic parasites all get called the same thing by the media.

 

[ViolentPanda]

Great getting a swarm attack to defend someone's druken godwin breaking post demanding of all things..... facts. ROFLMAO, p0wned, you teh sux and all that jazz.

Well done. A nice attempt at painting yourself as a victim.

And yet you reacted with such belligerence earlier that surely you must have had some kind of factual basis for that reaction?

Or perhaps you're a gobshite.

 

[TAE]

Yes and no. The unarmed drivers of the KBR transport trucks are 'contractors', but not mercenaries.

Those killed in Fallujah were drivers of the KBR transport trucks ?

Where they not employees of Blackwater Security Consulting?
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/02/08/iraq.contractors/

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

Those killed in Fallujah were drivers of the KBR transport trucks ?

Where they not employees of Blackwater Security Consulting?
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/02/08/iraq.contractors/

Yes, they were blackwater employees. But the discussion now encompassed the meaning of 'contractor'.

 

[8ball]

Oh dear, yes I am. The term 'schizophrenic' no longer has any value in the medical/psychological sphere, but it retains the old 'split personality' connotation when used in everyday, nontechnical conversation. It's part of the vernacular, as it were.

But you already knew that, didn't you?

When attempting to patronise someone it's good to check first that you're not talking utter shit.

And while we're on the subject:

Great getting a swarm attack to defend someone's druken godwin breaking post demanding of all things..... facts. ROFLMAO, p0wned, you teh sux and all that jazz.

Is this what passes for communication among the youngsters these days?

 

[TAE]

Yes, they were blackwater employees.

Just want to be clear on this.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

From your article:

Ballard told the committee in the hearing that ESS -- itself a subcontractor for Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg, Brown and Root Services -- had subcontracted security work to Blackwater.



So maybe they were KBR drivers...

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

When attempting to patronise someone it's good to check first that you're not talking utter shit.

And you, in turn, should avoid talking gobbledygook, or is it patronizing to say that?

 

[8ball]

The term 'schizophrenic' no longer has any value in the medical/psychological sphere . . .

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

I suppose I can't really speak for the british medical system, can I?

 

[8ball]

I'm amazed you can speak at all.

You might want to make some calls so your compatriots can stop wasting their time:

http://members.aol.com/leonardjk/Canada.htm

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

I'm amazed you can speak at all.

You might want to make some calls so your compatriots can stop wasting their time:

http://members.aol.com/leonardjk/Canada.htm

Why not take this up with the original culprit?

..............

12-02-2007, 12:16 PM
Idris2002
too silent to be real Join Date: May 2002
Location: drove a diesel van
Posts: 8,684

Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny Canuck2
No, I didn't.

What your last sentence does, is make the post in its totality, somewhat schizophrenic.


Oh dear. You're not one of those people who ignorantly use 'schizophrenic' as a synonym for 'split personality' are you?

................................................

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

btw, do you have anything to say about the thread topic, or do you want to quibble endlessly about one word in one post?

You aren't a bookkeeper by trade, by any chance?

 

[TAE]

From your article:

Ballard told the committee in the hearing that ESS -- itself a subcontractor for Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg, Brown and Root Services -- had subcontracted security work to Blackwater.

So maybe they were KBR drivers...

No Johnny, it says "subcontracted security work", not truck driving. Stop obfuscating.

 

[8ball]

I was taking issue with your trivialising of schizophrenia and the seemingly meaningles assertion that it no longer exists as a discrete diagnostic category in your enlightened country due to your advanced state of medical knowledge.

As for that video, I said earlier that i thought the video wasn't too damning in itself, so I'm in partial agreement with you there. There are, however, plenty of examples of atrocious coalition behaviour, and I agree with those posters on this thread who contend that these abuses are in no way excused by equally appalling behaviour on the part of insurgents.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

No Johnny, it says "subcontracted security work", not truck driving. Stop obfuscating.

You're obfuscating.

The issue is, should those men have been dragged from their trucks, killed by a mob, torn to pieces, burned, then hung from lampposts?

Whatever their job description, they weren't shooting anyone as they drove through town. They were killed by a mob, pure and simple.

 

[david dissadent]

Well done. A nice attempt at painting yourself as a victim.

And yet you reacted with such belligerence earlier that surely you must have had some kind of factual basis for that reaction?

Or perhaps you're a gobshite.

 

[TAE]

You're obfuscating.

I'm clarifying who they were and what they were doing in Iraq.

The issue is, should those men have been dragged from their trucks, killed by a mob, torn to pieces, burned, then hung from lampposts?

Is that the issue? Then stop pretending that they were simple innocent truck drivers. Rather ask WHY were they dragged from their vehicles, killed by a mob, torn to pieces, burned, then hung from lampposts. I don't know, but it makes me wonder what kind of reputation these 'security firms' have over there.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

I'm clarifying who they were and what they were doing in Iraq.


Is that the issue? Then stop pretending that they were simple innocent truck drivers. Rather ask WHY were they dragged from their trucks, killed by a mob, torn to pieces, burned, then hung from lampposts. I don't know, but it makes me wonder what kind of reputation these 'security firms' have over there.

Whatever the reason, seems to have stopped since the US flattened Fallujah.

 

[TAE]

 

[8ball]

Whatever the reason, seems to have stopped since the US flattened Fallujah.

This is a pretty depressing summary of the kind of moral reasoning that led to this mess.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

This is a pretty depressing summary of the kind of moral reasoning that led to this mess.

I suppose you're right. What sort of moral reasoning allows one to believe that it's ok to tear people limb from limb, then hang their bodies from poles. And not only that, but then to laugh into the cameras, and not expect any retribution.

Bad reasoning, no doubt.