It was started by two wives of Canadian soldiers serving in Afghanistan. I live within 100 Kms of base Petawawa. Quite a number of soldiers killed in Afghanistan were serving at that base.
Some information here.
It’s been ongoing for over a year now. Some people wear red: most don’t. I sometimes do. I’m proud of the job the Canadians are doing in Afghanistan. They’re punching well above their heads.
[QUOTE=Leaffan]
It was started by two wives of Canadian soldiers serving in Afghanistan. I live within 100 Kms of base Petawawa. Quite a number of soldiers killed in Afghanistan were serving at that base.
Some information here.
It’s been ongoing for over a year now. Some people wear red: most don’t. I sometimes do. I’m proud of the job the Canadians are doing in Afghanistan. They’re punching well above their heads.
[/QUOTE]
OK. Maybe it was a U.S. thing to begin with after all. :smack:
My kid came home with a sticker on his shirt saying that they should wear red tomorrow. Not sure what Red on Tuesdays is about - I didn’t notice anything explaining it on the sticker.
[QUOTE=elucidator]
Sgt. Preston, now there was a husky fucker!
[/QUOTE]
Husky fucker? We got them Canucks beat. We gotta coupla pig fuckers in the White House.
[QUOTE=ShibbOleth]
My kid came home with a sticker on his shirt saying that they should wear red tomorrow. Not sure what Red on Tuesdays is about - I didn’t notice anything explaining it on the sticker.
[/QUOTE]
They might be doing a Red Ribbon Week at his school.
Red Shirt Friday?
I don’t own a red shirt. I don’t wear red since it makes me look like a tomato and red goes horribly with my complexion.
So I can’t participate even it I decided I wanted to (which I don’t)
[QUOTE=Cartooniverse]
They might be doing a Red Ribbon Week at his school.
[/QUOTE]
Yeah, I just walked The Boy up to school and almost everyone was wearing Red. He’d forgotten, and I didn’t really care, so he was wearing a camoflauge shirt. It’s his Math Bowl final (to make the team), so that was his focus. Turns out it has something to do with “Say No to Drugs”. I guess he’s saying yes. Nancy Reagan must be spinning in her crypt.
[QUOTE=ShibbOleth]
Nancy Reagan must be spinning in her crypt.
[/QUOTE]
That’s tough, her still being alive and all.
Nonsense, gigi, she’s just undead.
[QUOTE=gigi]
That’s tough, her still being alive and all.
[/QUOTE]
I just meant the place she sleeps during the day, before she goes out to visit her astrologer and feast on the flesh of the living.
[QUOTE=Der Trihs]
He’s a character from the sci-fi webcomic Schlock Mercenary. He wears red, and tends to end up getting body parts blown off; more than once being reduced to a head on life support. And of course it’s a play on the expendability of Star Trek redshirts.
As for wearing a shirt to “support the troops”, just wear a shirt with a photo of some dead Middle Easterners and the logo “SUPPORT THE TROOPS AND KILL SOME IRAQIS”. It would be more honest; if you do one, you are doing the other.
[/QUOTE]
Excellent use of the excluded middle, you fucking misanthropic douchebag.
(this is, after all, the Pit.)
[QUOTE=Tristan]
Excellent use of the excluded middle, you fucking misanthropic douchebag.
[/QUOTE]
There IS no middle. You support the troops, you ARE supporting the war, and you ARE supporting the killing of Iraqis and the devastation of their country. No matter how much you want to have it both ways.
[QUOTE=Der Trihs]
There IS no middle. You support the troops, you ARE supporting the war, and you ARE supporting the killing of Iraqis and the devastation of their country. No matter how much you want to have it both ways.
[/QUOTE]
One more time, if every US and allied troop pulled out today, would the violence stop? Or would it get worse?
Maybe the troops are the only things preventing genocide at this point. Do you acknowledge the possibility.
Jim
If I suddenly saw an outbreak of people wearing red, I would come up with roughly a million other possible causes, including some rare form of zombie-ism or a massive shortage of non-red colored clothing dye, before arriving at “supporting the troops”.
[QUOTE=What Exit?]
One more time, if every US and allied troop pulled out today, would the violence stop? Or would it get worse?
[/quote]
Eventually, I expect it would stop, when a new stable government takes over. It will NEVER stop as long as we are there, because no stable government can exist while we are there. Nor can they rebuild their economy or do anything else to recover while we are there.
[QUOTE=What Exit?]
Maybe the troops are the only things preventing genocide at this point. Do you acknowledge the possibility.
[/QUOTE]
No. We don’t seem to be preventing much violence at all, just slowing some down while provoking some more, and making an end to the violence impossible.
[QUOTE=Der Trihs]
There IS no middle. You support the troops, you ARE supporting the war, and you ARE supporting the killing of Iraqis and the devastation of their country. No matter how much you want to have it both ways.
[/QUOTE]
That’s like saying that anyone who doesn’t love the police wants the streets to be ruled by gangs.
How does this sound: I support the troops. They have been put into a pretty bad situation, in some respects, and their job is difficult. I would rather they were home, but that’s not going to happen right now.
So, in the meantime, if I do what I can do support them. Sending care packages and donating to causes that help the families, things of that sort.
So it’s entirely possible to support the troops, without supporting the war, no matter how much you want to have it only your way.
[QUOTE=Der Trihs]
Eventually, I expect it would stop, when a new stable government takes over. It will NEVER stop as long as we are there, because no stable government can exist while we are there. Nor can they rebuild their economy or do anything else to recover while we are there.
[/QUOTE]
The current power output of the Iraqi infrastructure now exceeds pre-war output. This would indicate that work is getting done, and things ARE getting better. And once we are gone, that will drop again, as the Sunni’s and the Shia ignore their government (like they are doing now) and ramp up killing each other.
[QUOTE=Der Trihs]
No. We don’t seem to be preventing much violence at all, just slowing some down while provoking some more, and making an end to the violence impossible.
[/QUOTE]
There is some violence directed at US soldiers. Most of the violence is internal sectarian violence. When we pull out, the gloves will be off and we will see what is usually refered to as “ethnic cleansing” as the 2 main factions in central and southern Iraq realize nobody is there to stop them. The only way to prevent this is to get a well trained police and military set up that has some loyalty to the state of Iraq, rather than tribal/religous ties. Of course, that can only happen if we stick around. If we leave without that, Iraq is going to be like Afghanistan was after the Soviets left (at least until Iran sends in “advisors”)
[QUOTE=Tristan]
That’s like saying that anyone who doesn’t love the police wants the streets to be ruled by gangs.
[/quote]
No, that’s the same as saying that anyone who doesn’t support the police doing their job supports the streets being ruled by gangs. Which they do. The difference is, the job of the police is not fundamentally evil; the job of the military in Iraq is.
[QUOTE=Tristan]
How does this sound: I support the troops. They have been put into a pretty bad situation, in some respects, and their job is difficult. I would rather they were home, but that’s not going to happen right now.
So, in the meantime, if I do what I can do support them. Sending care packages and donating to causes that help the families, things of that sort.
So it’s entirely possible to support the troops, without supporting the war, no matter how much you want to have it only your way.
[/QUOTE]
And by supporting them in any way, you support the war. Their job is to grind down Iraq, to terrorize or kill Iraqis who do not submit, and to grind them down into deprivation and chaos. You might as well express sympathy for the terrible burden of being a hit man and send him various goodies, then claim you don’t support organized crime.
And their job is not difficult; they are bullies. Thugs. Scum. They are preying upon the weak. They are the victimizers, not the victims.
[QUOTE=Tristan]
The current power output of the Iraqi infrastructure now exceeds pre-war output. This would indicate that work is getting done, and things ARE getting better.
[/quote]
Cite ? And a cite that much of that power is actually getting to people ? A non-American cite, since an American one can safely be assumed to be a lie.
[QUOTE=Tristan]
There is some violence directed at US soldiers. Most of the violence is internal sectarian violence.
[/quote]
Because US soldiers are heavily armed and spend much of their time in fortifications.
[QUOTE=Tristan]
When we pull out, the gloves will be off and we will see what is usually refered to as “ethnic cleansing” as the 2 main factions in central and southern Iraq realize nobody is there to stop them.
[/quote]
We already are seeing that; we certainly aren’t stopping it. In places like Baghdad, it’s already done; the people you say we are stopping not only have not been stopped, but they’ve won. Everyone is in their own fortified enclave.
[QUOTE=Tristan]
The only way to prevent this is to get a well trained police and military set up that has some loyalty to the state of Iraq, rather than tribal/religous ties. Of course, that can only happen if we stick around.
[/quote]
It CANNOT happen until we leave, if it can happen at all. Anyone with actual loyalty to Iraq is going to be one of the people shooting at us.
[QUOTE=Der Trihs]
No, that’s the same as saying that anyone who doesn’t support the police doing their job supports the streets being ruled by gangs.
[/QUOTE]
Sorry, but by your own logic if you “support the police” in any way whatsoever you are supporting the herding enemies of the regime into “free speech zones” to be ignored.
[QUOTE=Steve MB]
Sorry, but by your own logic if you “support the police” in any way whatsoever you are supporting the herding enemies of the regime into “free speech zones” to be ignored.
[/QUOTE]
No, because that is not the primary job of the police. If there was a special unit whose job was that and similar tasks, it would be the same for that unit.