# (Ex-)Major Stefan Cook.....Bwahahaha! You cowardly nutjob! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 16, 2009, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-major-stefan-cook-bwahahaha-you-cowardly-nutjob/503237 "2009-07-16T17:28:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-major-stefan-cook-bwahahaha-you-cowardly-nutjob/503237/141 "2009-07-21T17:20:13Z")
> [@Olentzero](#): > > You ever heard of a country’s populace thinking military occupation by a foreign army is a swell idea?That’s the attitude that makes more mujahediin out of the general populace.What, they can’t be upset about both? Either one is a case of another country coming in and trying to push things in the direction _they_ want, with no real concern for what the folks who live there actually want.Attacks which resulted from previous dealings in which the US worked to assert its domination over the region at the expense of the local population.I suspect the folks in Kandahar feel the same way about the bunch of military fanatics living in Washington. So what you are saying essentially is that we shouldn’t do anything when attacked because the people there might end up not liking us? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-major-stefan-cook-bwahahaha-you-cowardly-nutjob/503237/142 "2009-07-21T17:23:17Z")
Can we get back to bashing this lying birther fuck, please? ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-major-stefan-cook-bwahahaha-you-cowardly-nutjob/503237/143 "2009-07-21T18:09:16Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > So what you are saying essentially is that we shouldn’t do anything when attacked because the people there might end up not liking us? :rolleyes:Only if you’re not really paying attention. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-major-stefan-cook-bwahahaha-you-cowardly-nutjob/503237/144 "2009-07-21T18:11:28Z")
> [@Fuji](#): > > Do you have any evidence to the contrary? Anything at all? > > According to you, what happened? I didn’t make the assertion, you did. Simply questioning an assertion does not obligate me to provide an alternative assertion, which might be equally wrong. Its entirely kosher to say “I don’t know, but I don’t think you do either”. Your case depends on, in your own words, “OBL was being sheltered by the Taliban”. If you can’t back that up, why is it _my_ problem? ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-major-stefan-cook-bwahahaha-you-cowardly-nutjob/503237/145 "2009-07-21T18:36:07Z")
> [@Olentzero](#): > > :rolleyes:Only if you’re not really paying attention. How about you pick one point and stick with it before moving on to the next then? Make one goal and then move the goalposts. ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-major-stefan-cook-bwahahaha-you-cowardly-nutjob/503237/146 "2009-07-21T18:37:30Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Can we get back to bashing this lying birther fuck, please? I guess not… ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-major-stefan-cook-bwahahaha-you-cowardly-nutjob/503237/147 "2009-07-21T21:12:16Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > How about you pick one point and stick with it before moving on to the next then? Make one goal and then move the goalposts. Ain’t movin’ the goalposts at all; Iran and Iraq and Afghanistan are all illustrative of the point I’m trying to make. Which is: The US is responding to the attacks by Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda and dealing with the Taliban _using the same methods that pissed them off and caused them to attack the US in the first place_. (I include the “No, fuck you, you’re too late, we’re gonna bomb you anyway” response to the Taliban’s offer of surrendering bin Laden in this). The history of the past 350 years is an object lesson - this shit the US is pulling doesn’t work. Britain had the revolts in the American colonies, India, Ireland, and Africa; France had Algeria and Vietnam; the US has had Cuba, Vietnam, and now the Middle East. It doesn’t matter if you cloak it in rhetoric about liberation, freedom, and democracy - you use imperialist methods, you’re never gonna see the end of the people on the business end fighting back. Sometimes with terrible results. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-major-stefan-cook-bwahahaha-you-cowardly-nutjob/503237/148 "2009-07-21T21:16:57Z")
> [@Olentzero](#): > > Ain’t movin’ the goalposts at all; Iran and Iraq and Afghanistan are all illustrative of the point I’m trying to make. Which is: > > The US is responding to the attacks by Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda and dealing with the Taliban _using the same methods that pissed them off and caused them to attack us in the first place_. (I include the “No, fuck you, you’re too late, we’re gonna bomb you anyway” response to the Taliban’s offer of surrendering bin Laden in this). But this is not correct. The people who are attacking us are the people we supported against the Soviets, and not the Afghani Marxists. They are the radical Islamists that we armed. So the problem with your idea is that it’s simply incorrect. > [@](#): > > The history of the past 350 years is an object lesson - this shit the US is pulling doesn’t work. Britain had the revolts in the American colonies, India, Ireland, and Africa; France had Algeria and Vietnam; the US has had Cuba, Vietnam, and now the Middle East. It doesn’t matter if you cloak it in rhetoric about liberation, freedom, and democracy - you use imperialist methods, you’re never gonna see the end of the people on the business end fighting back. Sometimes with terrible results. What do you mean doesn’t work? What’s your criteria for working? America, Britain and France are some of the wealthiest and most powerful nations on Earth, in history even. Former British colonies have civil bureaucracies that allow a modern state that they wouldn’t have had Britain not been there. The Indian Government is a product that was provided by the British East India Company. Cuba is slowly ratcheting back their anti-American rhetoric as we are ratcheting back our anti-Cuban rhetoric. America and Vietnam are on ok terms, and France still gets resources from Algeria. Ireland and England are at peace, and Ireland has benefitted from a significant economic boom that has elevated the entire nation. So what the Hel are you talking about? What doesn’t work? ---
**Author:** ![Fuji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@Fuji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuji)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-major-stefan-cook-bwahahaha-you-cowardly-nutjob/503237/149 "2009-07-21T21:30:44Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > I didn’t make the assertion, you did. Simply questioning an assertion does not obligate me to provide an alternative assertion, which might be equally wrong. > > Its entirely kosher to say “I don’t know, but I don’t think you do either”. Your case depends on, in your own words, “OBL was being sheltered by the Taliban”. If you can’t back that up, why is it _my_ problem? It’s not that I can’t back it up - it’s that I can’t believe that you feel it’s necessary to do so. [This article](http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2001/sep/15/september11.afghanistan1) from The Guardian supports my assertion. As does [this one](http://e-ariana.com/ariana/eariana.nsf/allPrintDocs/675b7763549e9d2587256efb0040a1ec!OpenDocument&Click=), sourced from AFP. And [this one](http://former.president.ir/khatami/eng/cronicnews/1380/8007/800702/800702.htm), from Iran. And [these](http://www.j-n-v.org/AW_briefings/ARROW_briefing004.htm) [two](http://www.j-n-v.org/AW_briefings/ARROW_briefing005.htm), from the website of Justice Not Vengeance (from their site: “JNV opposes the US-UK ‘war on terrorism’, and campaigns for a peaceful resolution of international conflicts, based on justice and equality.”). So - where’s your evidence that the Taliban _wasn’t_ sheltering OBL? How much longer are you going to keep fighting this? ---
**Author:** ![Fuji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@Fuji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuji)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-major-stefan-cook-bwahahaha-you-cowardly-nutjob/503237/150 "2009-07-21T21:40:42Z")
> [@Olentzero](#): > > The US is responding to the attacks by Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda and dealing with the Taliban _using the same methods that pissed them off and caused them to attack the US in the first place_. I disagree. There’s a _huge_ difference between fighting by proxy and doing the dirty work yourself. > [@](#): > > It doesn’t matter if you cloak it in rhetoric about liberation, freedom, and democracy - you use imperialist methods, you’re never gonna see the end of the people on the business end fighting back. Sometimes with terrible results. I gotta disagree with this, too. Sometimes, imperialism works permanently - if the methods used are sufficiently brutal. Take Vercengetorix and the Gauls, for instance. Much more recently, Britain, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands - all both _de facto_ and _de jure_ imperial powers with extensive overseas holdings - were on the winning side in WW2. I don’t think any of these nations have had to deal with the Germans, Italians, or Japanese coming after them since… ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-major-stefan-cook-bwahahaha-you-cowardly-nutjob/503237/151 "2009-07-21T21:51:08Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > The people who are attacking us are the people we supported against the Soviets, and not the Afghani Marxists. They are the radical Islamists that we armed. And they are the ones who got pissed because the US stationed its military in Saudi Arabia during the first Gulf War. A war against a country whose dictator was tolerated and supported by the US up until he bit the hand that fed him. > [@](#): > > _America, Britain and France are some of the wealthiest and most powerful nations on Earth, in history even._ And they got that way by actively interfering in the domestic affairs of other countries for their own profit. > [@](#): > > _Former British colonies have civil bureaucracies that allow a modern state that they wouldn’t have had Britain not been there._ Paternalistic bullshit. > [@](#): > > _The Indian Government is a product that was provided by the British East India Company._ And which ran the country for the profit of Mother England, not India, while India was a colony. > [@](#): > > _Cuba is slowly ratcheting back their anti-American rhetoric as we are ratcheting back our anti-Cuban rhetoric. America and Vietnam are on ok terms, and France still gets resources from Algeria. Ireland and England are at peace, and Ireland has benefitted from a significant economic boom that has elevated the entire nation._ But none of this is the result of decades of peaceful interaction, is it? Each and every example you’ve cited has a violent revolt of the colonized country against the colonizing power in its history. > [@](#): > > _So what the Hel are you talking about? What doesn’t work?_ Imperialism. ---
**Author:** ![Fuji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@Fuji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuji)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-major-stefan-cook-bwahahaha-you-cowardly-nutjob/503237/152 "2009-07-21T21:56:33Z")
> [@Olentzero](#): > > Paternalistic bullshit. Perhaps. But having the English language thrust upon them is paying major dividends now, what with all the high tech and service jobs being “out-sourced” to Bangalore… ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-major-stefan-cook-bwahahaha-you-cowardly-nutjob/503237/153 "2009-07-21T21:57:09Z")
> [@Fuji](#): > > I gotta disagree with this, too. Sometimes, imperialism works permanently - if the methods used are sufficiently brutal. Take Vercengetorix and the Gauls, for instance. Much more recently, Britain, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands - all both _de facto_ and _de jure_ imperial powers with extensive overseas holdings - were on the winning side in WW2. I don’t think any of these nations have had to deal with the Germans, Italians, or Japanese coming after them since… Dunno much about V-man and the Asterix crew, but the Germans, Italians, and Japanese weren’t colonies of the Allies. They wanted a cut of the action the Allies had worldwide, but they weren’t colonies themselves. My point is, however, that the colonies the Allies _did_ hold have all in one form or another thrown off the yoke. Sometimes violently. No imperialism has worked permanently. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-major-stefan-cook-bwahahaha-you-cowardly-nutjob/503237/154 "2009-07-21T21:58:54Z")
> [@Fuji](#): > > Perhaps. But having the English language thrust upon them is paying major dividends now, what with all the high tech and service jobs being “out-sourced” to Bangalore… You should see some of the translations I have to proofread. I have no firm evidence they come out of India or South Asia, but they sure as hell weren’t done by native English speakers. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-major-stefan-cook-bwahahaha-you-cowardly-nutjob/503237/155 "2009-07-21T22:04:39Z")
“Oh, my goodness gracious yes! My name is Chuck, and how am I to be helping you with your technical problem todays, and that is a hardware issue, please to be calling your vendor!” ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-major-stefan-cook-bwahahaha-you-cowardly-nutjob/503237/156 "2009-07-21T22:08:56Z")
Not necessary, dude. Really. ---
**Author:** ![Fuji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@Fuji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuji)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-major-stefan-cook-bwahahaha-you-cowardly-nutjob/503237/157 "2009-07-21T22:22:48Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > “Oh, my goodness gracious yes! My name is Chuck, and how am I to be helping you with your technical problem todays, and that is a hardware issue, please to be calling your vendor!” :dubious: WTF are you getting at here, dude? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-major-stefan-cook-bwahahaha-you-cowardly-nutjob/503237/158 "2009-07-21T22:27:32Z")
Take a deep breath, and try to calm down. You don’t relate, you don’t relate, thats cool, but I’ve made a bunch of tech support calls that _obviously_ were sourced elsewhere, with persons on the other end who spoke most definitely with a Indian English inflection, but insisted that their name was Chuck, or Heather, or some other vanilla American name, but most likely weren’t. Oh, and it was always a hardware problem, and I should call my vendor. Is this a Big Hairy Ass Deal? Advise. Otherwise, may I recommend a nice cup chamomile tea? ---
**Author:** ![Fuji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@Fuji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuji)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-major-stefan-cook-bwahahaha-you-cowardly-nutjob/503237/159 "2009-07-21T22:30:12Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Take a deep breath, and try to calm down. You don’t relate, you don’t relate, thats cool, but I’ve made a bunch of tech support calls that _obviously_ were sourced elsewhere, with persons on the other end who spoke most definitely with a Indian English inflection, but insisted that their name was Chuck, or Heather, or some other vanilla American name, but most likely weren’t. Oh, and it was always a hardware problem, and I should call my vendor. > > Is this a Big Hairy Ass Deal? Advise. Otherwise, may I recommend a nice cup chamomile tea? Alright - it’s cool. I just thought you were thinking I was like one of those screaming rednecks on South Park - “They’re takin’ ourrr jeeeeoooooobs!” ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-major-stefan-cook-bwahahaha-you-cowardly-nutjob/503237/160 "2009-07-21T22:37:29Z")
> [@Olentzero](#): > > And they are the ones who got pissed because the US stationed its military in Saudi Arabia during the first Gulf War. A war against a country whose dictator was tolerated and supported by the US up until he bit the hand that fed him. Wait a minute here…Iraq under Saddam Hussein in the early 1990’s invaded Kuwait, an American-friendly nation, correct? Maybe not technically an ally, but a nation friendly to us, etc, yes? Saudi Arabia felt threatened, and both nations presumably asked for our help, or at least acquiesced to us to allow for our military intervention. So, Al-Qaeda gets pissed because of the presence of infidels in the holiest of lands in Islam, Saudi Arabia, even though the Saudi govt allowed us to be there (and under tight restrictions of adherence with regards to women off base, alcohol, and whatnot, I might add). Fuck Al-Qaeda, fuck OBL, fuck the Taliban, fuck them all. What a bullshit reason to get pissed. We were defending their holy land from a possible invasion from a secular dictator with invading troops at their doorstep! After we helped the mujahadeen defeat the USSR! Gratitude for ya, I swear! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-major-stefan-cook-bwahahaha-you-cowardly-nutjob/503237.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-major-stefan-cook-bwahahaha-you-cowardly-nutjob/503237.md?page=9)