# A Schoolmate Buys It In Iraq **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 18, 2006, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-schoolmate-buys-it-in-iraq/384586 "2006-12-18T04:12:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-schoolmate-buys-it-in-iraq/384586/21 "2006-12-19T05:06:18Z")
[QUOTE=lolatoo] Wow. Way to exploit a person’s death. [/QUOTE] The guy who exploited Shawn English’s death was George W. Bush, his puppet master Dick Cheney, and their accomplices. His death is their fault; they’re the ones who sent him there to die for no good reason. The guy had three little kids. Jesus fucking Christ. What’s wrong with being angry about this and blaming the murderers who did it? ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-schoolmate-buys-it-in-iraq/384586/22 "2006-12-19T08:10:36Z")
[QUOTE=CrankyAsAnOldMan] We’re not growing “victory gardens” or buying war bonds; most of us may never hear from someone personally who has been there. Wars seem like something for another time, another era. I find that troubling (even though I suffer from the same delusion). [/quote] And _right there_ you’ve hit one of the things that **really** says to me that Shrub & Co. care fuck all about the mess they’ve created. We’re at _war_, and yet, and yet, unlike in wars past, we’re _not_ on a “wartime footing.” Funding for the sciences has been cut (Uh, _hello!_ Science is how we _won_ WWII! Not just the atomic bombs, but cracking the Engima code and Purple, as well as improvements in aircraft, publishing, packaging, etc., etc., etc.), conservation _isn’t_ being pushed, and the list just goes on and on. > [@](#): > > I mean, holy shit, we’re at war–we’re actually sending young people off to die in ways you wouldn’t think still happened in this day and age, and much of the time the public is almost blase about it. I wouldn’t wish more deaths on our troops, nor to have more families, friends, and acquaintances suffer such terrible news. But sometimes I do wish we’d all wake up a little more to the reality of it–so I tend to take messages such as Tuckerfans with some sincerity. Yes, let us **all** wake up and realize what’s happened to our country, before too many more of our best and brightest pay the ultimate price. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-schoolmate-buys-it-in-iraq/384586/23 "2006-12-19T08:40:42Z")
[QUOTE=Zoe] (And thank you from this English teacher for understanding that we are like the characters of great literature regardless of the time. You have made my day!) [/QUOTE] You’re welcome. Some of my most influential teachers were English teachers (even if they _were_ battleaxes! ;)). ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-schoolmate-buys-it-in-iraq/384586/24 "2006-12-20T04:16:36Z")
Sorry for you lot I couln’t agree more with your OP./ We (as in the rest if the world) need a rational US as opposed to an emotive and religiously-driven hyper power. Nukes aside, you’ve been shown in a Third Wold country, that your military might cannot an will resolve intercine violence dating back centuries However, if drmocracy is your banner, you should leave quite quick, because outside the Kurds – for their own selfich model of course) the gerat majority if Itraqis simply din’t want you there. Democracy American Stylr = rule of those already in power. Exceptions, few and far between. Good luck to all invulved. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-schoolmate-buys-it-in-iraq/384586/25 "2006-12-20T08:09:44Z")
Thanks, **Red**. You didn’t happen to find anything out while you were in Spain, did you? ---
**Author:** ![Sevastopol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@Sevastopol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sevastopol)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-schoolmate-buys-it-in-iraq/384586/26 "2006-12-20T08:29:50Z")
Some interesting uses for vowels, that’s for sure. ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-schoolmate-buys-it-in-iraq/384586/27 "2006-12-20T15:36:39Z")
[QUOTE=Tuckerfan] Thanks, **Red**. You didn’t happen to find anything out while you were in Spain, did you? [/QUOTE] Nope. No luck, **Tucker** , even had a couple of friends of mine there help me. We all came up empty. Sorry * * * Pardon all the typos in prior post. Not a good idea to try to type in semi-darkness from my laptop in bed. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-schoolmate-buys-it-in-iraq/384586/28 "2006-12-20T16:33:06Z")
[QUOTE=lolatoo] Never said you were a bad person, only that you were exploiting the death of a person you don’t know to make a post on a message board. [/QUOTE] I guy I knew in high school was a fire chief who died at the World Trade Center on 9/11. I hadn’t seen him seen high school, but his death made that tragedy more personal for me. I suppose by your lights I am cheapening his death by mentioning this. Asshole. I understand where **Tuckefan** is coming from on this, and agree completely. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-schoolmate-buys-it-in-iraq/384586/29 "2006-12-20T19:54:45Z")
[QUOTE=RedFury] Nope. No luck, **Tucker** , even had a couple of friends of mine there help me. We all came up empty. Sorry [/QUOTE] Thanks for the effort. I have a sneaking suspicion that the car’s not in Spain, but until I can get to Brazil (or find someone in Brazil) to verify that the car’s actually gone, or it turns up someplace, I’ve got to keep all options open, as it were. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-schoolmate-buys-it-in-iraq/384586/30 "2006-12-20T20:11:05Z")
[QUOTE=Sevastopol] The best time for outrage was the moment it was cogently argued that the rationale for war was a lie. The best moment being past, better late than never. Each and every death is a crime. [/QUOTE] Including those killed by the United States. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-schoolmate-buys-it-in-iraq/384586/31 "2006-12-20T20:27:26Z")
All deaths are tragic. Tell me, **Tuckerfan** , how does the probability of an American soldier dieing in Iraq compare with an American dieing in America? How many [Americans have died in Iraq in 2005](http://icasualties.org/oif/)? How many Americans have died on America’s roads in 2006 [(2004 stat)](http://www.driveandstayalive.com/info%20section/statistics/stats-usa.htm)? Sorry mate, but this time you’re being a jackass: you’re fulminating over the death of someone you barely - really only indirectly - knew. If you’re in the military, death is an occupational hazard. I know people who’ve been there. I know people who have friends over there. I even know a guy or two who’s over there right now. As for being senseless, it makes sense to your President, freely elected by Americans. I too disagree with our continuing occupation of Iraq, but I see why he’s doing it. I also believe I see why he’s failing. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2006, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-schoolmate-buys-it-in-iraq/384586/32 "2006-12-21T07:49:14Z")
Actually, **Quartz** , the _real_ question is: How stupid are _you?_ Do you actually believe the bilge you posted? Or, and I think that this is far more likely, did you post this trollery in some kind of misguided attempt to get me to fly in a rage and post something which would get me banned? Sorry, “mate,” but I ain’t playing your game. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2006, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-schoolmate-buys-it-in-iraq/384586/33 "2006-12-21T07:55:48Z")
Umm… you do know that I work with a lot of ex-military people and some current, including reservists, dont you? You do realise that they’ve actually been there? If you think it’s bilge, I suggest you pay less attention to ther media who have a vested interest in highlighting the bad and do some digging. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2006, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-schoolmate-buys-it-in-iraq/384586/34 "2006-12-21T08:07:07Z")
[QUOTE=Quartz] Umm.. you do know that I work with a lot of ex-military people and some current, including reservists, dont you? You do realise that they’ve actually been there? If you think it’s bilge, I suggest you pay less attention to ther media who have a vested interest in highlighting the bad and do some digging. [/QUOTE] You do realize that I know some _current_ military folks, you did read where I posted that, didn’t you? It’s a couple of posts up, but it’s there. The word that one of them used to describe things while he was in Iraq most often was “clusterfuck.” And did you bother to read Shawn’s obit that I linked to in the OP? 'Cause he said that it was his _last_ tour before he left. Can’t say for certain about Shawn, but my friend who just got back, I _can_ say that if he’s bailing out on the Marines because “it’s just not worth it,” then the media’s probably a bit too _positive_ about what’s going on in Iraq. Oh, and my primary news source is the BBC, _not_ exactly the most biased news source in the world, if memory serves. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2006, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-schoolmate-buys-it-in-iraq/384586/35 "2006-12-21T20:54:03Z")
Oh dear, someone who’s shut their mind. And if you think that the BBC doesn’t have its own biases, I’ve got a bridge in which you might be interested. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2006, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-schoolmate-buys-it-in-iraq/384586/36 "2006-12-21T21:13:35Z")
[QUOTE=Quartz] Oh dear, someone who’s shut their mind. And if you think that the BBC doesn’t have its own biases, I’ve got a bridge in which you might be interested. [/QUOTE] Indeed, only a current dweller can tell were the problems and advantages of that location are. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2006, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-schoolmate-buys-it-in-iraq/384586/37 "2006-12-21T22:21:13Z")
[QUOTE=Quartz] Oh dear, someone who’s shut their mind. [/QUOTE] Actually, this was unfair and incorrect of me: I’ve read too many of your other posts. I apologise. I do, however believe that you’re suffering from something like tunnel vision, and maintain that you would do well to consider the biases of your sources and look at other sources. As an example, [I recently realised that I as in danger of this myself](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=394902&highlight=blog), and I’m enjoying the results. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2006, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-schoolmate-buys-it-in-iraq/384586/38 "2006-12-22T07:30:02Z")
[QUOTE=Quartz] Oh dear, someone who’s shut their mind. And if you think that the BBC doesn’t have its own biases, I’ve got a bridge in which you might be interested. [/QUOTE] The Beeb is far _less_ biased than Fox News. Lots of people say that things in Iraq are “better than what the media says,” but so far _none_ of them have been able to produce anything approaching a decent cite (as in a mainstream media source) and given that the POTUS _himself_ admits “We’re not winning in Iraq.” I have to believe that the folks who say _all_ the media sources are lying are talking out of their rectal orifices. If you can provide decent evidence that things in Iraq are better than they’re commonly portrayed, I’m willing to believe it, but _you_ have to be able to provide the cites. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2006, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-schoolmate-buys-it-in-iraq/384586/39 "2006-12-22T15:05:35Z")
[QUOTE=Quartz] Umm.. you do know that I work with a lot of ex-military people and some current, including reservists, dont you? You do realise that they’ve actually been there? If you think it’s bilge, I suggest you pay less attention to ther media who have a vested interest in highlighting the bad and do some digging. [/QUOTE] Like, say, looking into those rosy claims about all those new and refurbished schools as a success story? [Might want to rethink that.](http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2006/12/21/caught_in_wars_crossfire_iraqs_schools_are_struggling/) > [@](#): > > President Bush has routinely talked about the refurbishment and construction of schools as a neglected story of progress in Iraq. The US Agency for International Development has spent about $100 million on Iraq’s education system and cites the rehabilitation of 2,962 school buildings as a signal accomplishment. > > But today, across the country, campuses are being shuttered, students and teachers driven from their classrooms, and parents left to worry that a generation of traumatized children will not be educated. > > Teachers tell of students kidnapped on their way to school, mortar rounds landing on or near campuses, and educators shot in front of children. > > This month insurgents distributed pamphlets at campuses, some sealed inside an envelope with an AK-47 bullet. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-schoolmate-buys-it-in-iraq/384586.md?page=1)