# trigger happy kiddie soldiers? Rashak Mani **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 7, 2005, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trigger-happy-kiddie-soldiers-rashak-mani/293382 "2005-03-07T16:35:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Well](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/df788c/32.png) [@Well](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Well)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trigger-happy-kiddie-soldiers-rashak-mani/293382/61 "2005-03-08T07:55:03Z")
> [@RedFury](#): > > Again, a mess to be sure, but one of your own making and one that some of you continue to support. Meanwhile, your nervous and trigger happy kids continue to mow down literally countless innocents. Just as the object of this worthless pitting originally stated. > > Want the criticism to stop? Simple really. Quit invading sovereign countries under false pretenses and outright lies. Surely you must know that war is hell…so why start a needless one? Specially one for whose aftermath you were so manifestly unprepared for. > > Each and everyone of you that supported this madness has, at the very least, some metaphorical blood in his hands. > > OTOH, as it´s more than likely, you´ll just sit there, mouth agape…just waiting for the next sugar-coated turd Jesus H Bush wants to plop into it. > > Enjoy. Its afetr 1 am. I already gave my response to your “criticism” of US troop tactics in my previous post. Ill answer your other assenine assumptions tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trigger-happy-kiddie-soldiers-rashak-mani/293382/62 "2005-03-08T07:55:50Z")
> [@RedFury](#): > > As I’ve often said – twice in this very thread – you lot are so predictable in your zeal to dismiss any wrongdoings by your nation and your Murderous Misleader & ruling cabal as to qualify\*\* for non-prescriptive sleeping aids\*\*: 1. In America we call them “homeopathic” or “dietary” supplements. Just an FYI. Most US residents think of them as bullshit as well. 2. I don’t think the US is infallable. We have the Constitutional right to protest what we think is unjust. With heavy debate also available to us. Let’s carry this a little further with regards to our “Murderous Misleader and ruling cabal.” Seeing as you believe Bush is Satan-incarnate and everyone in power in D.C. is out to end everyone’s rights and quash dissent it would naturally follow that “they” would closely follow a well-known message board with a few other satellite ventures that are also not only well-known, but regulated. By government entities. And taxed (that’s how you know the US government knows you exist). Seeing you’re a Charter Member outside the US, you can bet your ass the FTC, at least, has your personal info on file. Should you worry about it? Not unless you make serious threats (worse than bannable ones on the SDMB) against anyone. Now then. Give me some sites run from countries that have been up as long as the SDMB, with a fraction of posts denigrating the host government’s policies/leaders, and how they want to stifle free speech, that haven’t been shut down. Bush wants to crush the opinion of anyone that disagrees with him? OK, I’ll make it easier on you and just ask for sites in the US shut down because Bush didn’t like what was said in political discourse. Bonus question: Link to any server in China, Russia, Spain, Germany, Iran, Syria, _et al_ with a message board as popular as this, with as many members of the host country being free to criticize thier own government without being shot. See, freedom in America works so well that we can slam our own government without fear of being thrown into “rehabilitation” camps. Of course, Lenin and Stalin were leaders of the **Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.** But history revisionism isn’t your main concern, is it? ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trigger-happy-kiddie-soldiers-rashak-mani/293382/63 "2005-03-08T08:27:37Z")
> [@RedFury](#): > > Again, a mess to be sure, but one of your own making and one that some of you continue to support. Meanwhile, your nervous and trigger happy kids continue to mow down literally countless innocents. Just as the object of this worthless pitting originally stated. Well, if they’re countless I guess you don’t have a number to back it up, right? :smack: One of our own making? Are you suggesting that Iraq and the US are the only countries suffering losses? I guess it’s down to us, America and Iraq. Forget that Bush has France and Germany finally climbing aboard tentatively (thanks to the cash). If you’re counting every life lost, why not count the 3+ dozen countries signing on to the Iraq war? I don’t have a cite and would welcome one, but it seems at least one of these countries would have to have had a casuality. Oh, yeah, it wasn’t convenient to your America-bashing. Some of the American lives lost were due to training accidents. Every week we hear of troops dying in training accidents in places such as North Carolina, Georgia, California, Texas. Fucking military complex! Their lives are just as important to me, but you need to focus on those who have died in combat to try to evoke sympathy in us Evil Conservatives[sup]TM[/sup]. See, we don’t differentiate lives lost, it’s you “socialists” that compartmentalize life lost based on why it happened. Or should I say “anti-Americanists”? Post a pit thread about lives lost from Coalition forces and you may have a leg to stand on. Let me ask you this. Would the US be justified in invading Sudan? There are a shitload of lives being wiped out everyday thanks to the warlords in control. Or would that be Bush trying to force his New World Order philosophy on the populace of unsuspecting future minions? ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trigger-happy-kiddie-soldiers-rashak-mani/293382/64 "2005-03-08T08:49:39Z")
> [@Well](#): > > Well, I do put you of that ilk if you automatically assume the worst from the US soldiers by taking the word of someone who has “spent two months at the point of a gun, only to be released then wounded in an ironic twist of fate, and is probably pumped up on pain killers” and also who thanked her kidnappers for the way they treated her (I think she forgot how they made her beg for her life on camera). …thanks, I think?! > [@](#): > > I get your point that you also are trying to use past “twists of fate” to support your idea that US soldiers shoot first and ask questions later. “Twists of fate?” The very point of my post is that these situations “aren’t” twists of fate. All of the incidents I cited were very preventable. They were NOT fated to happen. > [@](#): > > I don’t think that is anywhere near true considering the amount of US soldiers that died from attacks where they didn’t shoot first. …so how many civilians have been killed at checkpoints by US troops then? Feel free to either quote official US figures, or the Iraqi government figures, I’m sure they won’t be hard to find… :rolleyes: > [@](#): > > You also have to take into account the abundant example of carbomb attacks that would make the soldeirs “triggerhappy”. Remember, they don’t have anyone to protect themselves from harm except their own actions. Unfortunately the civilians who get shot in those confusing instances have to pay for it. …and so in your enlightened world, its alright for the civilians who get shot in those confusing situations to **pay for it?** How about the sons and daugters of those killed? Fathers and mothers? They should have to pay because they turned into a darkened road, didn’t know a checkpoint was set up there, and got blasted to buggery because of it? Do you not think that incidents like these contribute to the insurgency? If a friend or family member were killed in a situation like this, would you not want revenge? > [@](#): > > I will tell you right now that if I was a soldier in Iraq pulling duty at a checkpoint and had a suspicious car headed towards me that wasn’t obeying our signals and I had an order to shoot from my CO, I would most likely shoot and then ask questions. Call me triggerhappy, but I want to live and see my family. If you wouldn’t I highly doubt you would be lucky enough to make it home to yours. …and few would argue with you. Maybe it would be a better idea to set up better checkpoints then, wouldn’t it? How about putting signs in a language everybody can understand in lights up ahead? Put roadblocks down to slow cars down? Station your soldiers off to the side of the road, with a solitary soldier in the firing line, like the British do in British controlled Iraq? How about trying to win that battle for hearts and minds, for a start? You seem to ignore the overwhelming evidence that has been posted that the US checkpoints are inneffective, confusing, and dangerous. People don’t obey the signals because they usually don’t see them. When warning shots get fired out of the blue, people react in unpredictable ways. Some slow down, some speed up, some stop, some don’t. The solution isn’t to say "Well I would have done it too… " , the solution is to analyse the problem and then fix it. > [@](#): > > And about the remark about the waterbottles. In your selective perceptive mode I guess you missed the fact that throwing the bottles or whatever was near was meant to get the attention of the driver, not to hit them with. You know, kind of like how the most advanced military in the world waves their arms to get attention. :smack: …no, you missed my point. According to the cite-the rules of engagement at the briefings attended by the media go: 1 Raise a clenched fist 2 Wave arms 3 Throw waterbottles 4 Shoot in front of car 5 Shoot engine block Tell me: how efficent do you think this is? How often do you think its implemented? Would you rather shoot a car coming at you, or throw a waterbottle at it? If a car with a suicide bomber in it is close enough for you to throw a waterbottle at it, its a bit too late, isn’t it? The waterbottles first came to my attention in this thread: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=296817&highlight=iraq](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=296817&highlight=iraq) > **[Fear and voting in Baghdad](https://www.seattlepi.com/local/opinion/article/Fear-and-voting-in-Baghdad-1164104.php)** > > The latest Zarqawi video shows the execution of six Iraqi policemen. > [@](#): > > But the two Humvees drive into a massive traffic jam, the gunners now screaming at us to move back. When a taxi that does not notice the U.S. troops blocks their path, the American in the lead vehicle hurls a full plastic bottle of water onto its roof and the driver mounts the grass traffic circle. A truck receives the same treatment from the lead Humvee. “Go back,” shouts the rear gunner, staring at us through shades. We try desperately to turn into the jam. …if you can’t see the absurdity in the fact that US forces have to resort to throwing waterbottles for traffic control, well, I don’t know what to say, really… ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trigger-happy-kiddie-soldiers-rashak-mani/293382/65 "2005-03-08T08:59:25Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > 1. In America we call them “homeopathic” or “dietary” supplements. Just an FYI. Most US residents think of them as bullshit as well. Thanks for the English lesson, but having read quite a few of your posts and having studied and lived Stateside for close to 15 years, I daresay you might need them more that I. “Non-prescriptive” simply means “over the counter,” but not necessarily of the homeopathic or GMC supplement type. Tylenol-PM comes quickly to mind. > [@](#): > > 1. I don’t think the US is infallable. We have the Constitutional right to protest what we think is unjust. With heavy debate also available to us. Let’s carry this a little further with regards to our “Murderous Misleader and ruling cabal.” “Heavy debate” which was clearly lacking in the run-up to the Iraq invasion. Many/most of the highest ranking Democrats placed their political interests in front of their moral duties. Here, I clearly blame both sides. > [@](#): > > Seeing as you believe Bush is Satan-incarnate and everyone in power in D.C. is out to end everyone’s rights and quash dissent it would naturally follow that “they” would closely follow a well-known message board with a few other satellite ventures that are also not only well-known, but regulated. By government entities. And taxed (that’s how you know the US government knows you exist). Seeing you’re a Charter Member outside the US, you can bet your ass the FTC, at least, has your personal info on file. Should you worry about it? Not unless you make serious threats (worse than bannable ones on the SDMB) against anyone. I’m not religious but Bushco would make a piss-poor Satan. The Satan I learned about in my Catholic school years could run rings around all these transparent morons. As for the FTC, the IRS, CIA, FBI or any other American alphabet-soup you care to come up with having my info:::shrug:::: Wish they’d haul me in, lot’s I’d like to tell them F2F. No need for threats when you have facts on your side. > [@](#): > > Now then. Give me some sites run from countries that have been up as long as the SDMB, with a fraction of posts denigrating the host government’s policies/leaders, and how they want to stifle free speech, that haven’t been shut down. > > Bush wants to crush the opinion of anyone that disagrees with him? OK, I’ll make it easier on you and just ask for sites in the US shut down because Bush didn’t like what was said in political discourse. > > Bonus question: Link to any server in China, Russia, Spain, Germany, Iran, Syria, _et al_ with a message board as popular as this, with as many members of the host country being free to criticize thier own government without being shot. If there were any remaining doubts, the fact that you’ve included Spain and Germany in your list as places where you “might get shot” for criticizing their own governments shows how fuckin’ ignorant you really are. I have a shitload of links to right and left wing boards in Spain, where people go stark raving mad, ranting against the Administration d’jour. Here’s a couple to get you started – though I doubt you speak anything other than Murrikan judging from the sheer folly of your query. Mind like a steel trap; nothing ever gets in. [**Los Genoveses**](http://www.losgenoveses.net/) – mostly a PSOE forum. Great place to get breaking news following the 3/11 attacks. [Periodista Digital](http://www.periodistadigital.com/boletin/) – publishes articles and Oped’s from all major Spanish papers as well as their own opinion pieces. All articles are open to posters comments. Very rightwing leaning – full of Aznar groupies. You should learn Spanish just to post there. > [@](#): > > See, freedom in America works so well that we can slam our own government without fear of being thrown into “rehabilitation” camps. Ah, reminiscing about the good old days I see. Pre-Patriot Act and all the rest of the bullshit coming down the pike. Can retinal scans be far behind? And just for you I won’t mention the fact that the US has the highest incancerated percentage of its population of any First World nation. Ooops! Guess I did – truly the Land Of the Free, huh? > [@](#): > > Of course, Lenin and Stalin were leaders of the **Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.** Yep. And the German\* Democratic\* Republic was the name of the old Soviet satellite. Your point? That I´m a commie? Beyond being a relic from your MCarthy witch-hunt days, the pinko commie crap is just plain lame. Again, I´m an independent with socialist leanings – education, health care, housing come to mind, you know basic human needs – a la´ the Scandinavian countries. Were I a Communist, I´d have no shame is saying as much. Except I am not. Trust we´re clear, you warmogering wingnut 😉 PS-You´ll have to pardon some of the bizarre punctuation, but my laptop´s keyboard seems to be possesed by Sata…er, Herr Bush at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trigger-happy-kiddie-soldiers-rashak-mani/293382/66 "2005-03-08T09:05:59Z")
> [@Well](#): > > Its afetr 1 am. I already gave my response to your “criticism” of US troop tactics in my previous post. Ill answer your other assenine assumptions tomorrow. You did no such thing. You simply pointed out the dangers inherent in guarding roadblocks and provided a bunch of links by way of justification for the trigger-happy attitude of those guarding same. Doesn´t change the original contention – lot´s of innocent Iraqis getting killed. As for the rest of your promised response, don´t bother. You´re yet another mindless apologist drone. Hear one, heard them all. TTFN ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trigger-happy-kiddie-soldiers-rashak-mani/293382/67 "2005-03-08T09:48:04Z")
> [@RedFury](#): > > Thanks for the English lesson, but having read quite a few of your posts and having studied and lived Stateside for close to 15 years, I daresay you might need them more that I. “Non-prescriptive” simply means “over the counter,” but not necessarily of the homeopathic or GMC supplement type. Tylenol-PM comes quickly to mind. Wow. Before even reading the rest of your guaranteed hilarious post I’ll stop here. Further responses are to follow I’m sure. Almost 15 years and you have an equivalent grasp of English? Not bad. Impressive even, since I’ve lived here since birth for almost 32 years now. Kudos. You’ve shown me up. Doh! I know, through amazing logical discerning, what “non-prescriptive” would mean. It would mean anything that involves a substance not requiring a, um…wait… shit, what is it…uh…prescription? [sub]_ding **ding** ding_ Prescription is the answer![/sub] Here in the States you so cleverly :rolleyes: cite as knowing, we call anything not approved by, or even studied by, the FDA “homeopathic”. Other than that, we have the phrase “dietary supplement.” Tylenol is regulated, whereas gingko biloba isn’t. Nor is ginseng. I’d go further, but your time in the States obviously wasn’t spent learning, just looking for reasons to hate the country. ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trigger-happy-kiddie-soldiers-rashak-mani/293382/68 "2005-03-08T10:12:27Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > Wow. Before even reading the rest of your guaranteed hilarious post I’ll stop here. Further responses are to follow I’m sure. You probably should’ve stopped earlier, but whatever. > [@duffer](#): > > Almost 15 years and you have an equivalent grasp of English? Not bad. Impressive even, since I’ve lived here since birth for almost 32 years now. Kudos. > You’ve shown me up. Doh! > > I know, through amazing logical discerning, what “non-prescriptive” would mean. It would mean anything that involves a substance not requiring a, um…wait… shit, what is it…uh…prescription? > > [sub]_ding **ding** ding_ Prescription is the answer![/sub] Pretty good so far. A better answer would have been to point out the actual minor error, which is that the term is “non-prescription”, not “non-prescriptive”. > [@duffer](#): > > Here in the States you so cleverly :rolleyes: cite as knowing, we call anything not approved by, or even studied by, the FDA “homeopathic”. Other than that, we have the phrase “dietary supplement.” **RedFury** really does seem to know more about your precious United States than you do. For example, he is aware that there actually are non-prescription sleeping pills available in the US, which contain actual drugs, e.g. antihistamines. > [@](#): > > [Sleep Disorders](http://www.searchforcare.com/library/articles/medical/me0025.html) > > Seniors first should try nonprescription sleeping aids, but they need to beware of potential side effects. Though these medications aren’t physically addictive, they can lead to psychological dependence. > > Antihistamines, the active ingredient in most sleep aids, can cause dizziness, dry mouth and blurred vision. They also can worsen high blood pressure, heart arrhythmias, glaucoma and prostate and urinary problems. Also popular recently has been melatonin, a hormone whose production by the body declines with age, but some studies now challenge its effectiveness. > > If nonprescription drugs don’t help, prescription drugs are an option. > [@duffer](#): > > Tylenol is regulated, whereas gingko biloba isn’t. Nor is ginseng. I’d go further, but your time in the States obviously wasn’t spent learning, just looking for reasons to hate the country. Blah blah blah blah. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trigger-happy-kiddie-soldiers-rashak-mani/293382/69 "2005-03-08T10:32:01Z")
And a bit more on-topic: > [@](#): > > [Fear, confusion plague checkpoints > By Annia Ciezadlo > The Christian Science Monitor > Monday, March 7, 2005](http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002199231_checkpoint07.html) > > You’re driving along and you see a couple of soldiers standing by the side of the road. But that’s a pretty ubiquitous sight in Baghdad, so you don’t think anything of it. Next thing you know, soldiers are screaming at you, pointing their rifles and swiveling tank guns in your direction, and you didn’t even know it was a checkpoint. > > If it’s confusing for me — and I’m an American — what is it like for Iraqis who don’t speak English? > > In situations like this, I’ve often had Iraqi drivers who step on the gas. It’s a natural reaction: Angry soldiers are screaming at you in a language you don’t understand, and you think they’re saying “get out of here,” and you’re terrified to boot, so you try to drive your way out. > > \ > > Another problem is that the U.S. troops tend to have two-stage checkpoints. First there’s a knot of Iraqi security forces standing by a sign that says, in Arabic and English, “Stop or you will be shot.” Most of the time, the Iraqis will casually wave you through. > > Your driver, who slowed down for the checkpoint, will accelerate to resume his normal speed. What he doesn’t realize is that there’s another, American checkpoint several hundred yards past the Iraqi checkpoint, and he’s speeding toward it. > > Sometimes, he may even think that being waved through the first checkpoint means he’s exempt from the second one (especially if he’s not familiar with American checkpoint routines). > > I remember one terrifying day when my Iraqi driver did just that. We got to a checkpoint manned by Iraqi troops. Chatting and smoking, they waved us through without a glance. > > Relieved, he stomped down on the gas pedal, and we zoomed up to about 50 mph before I saw the second checkpoint up ahead. I screamed at him to stop, my translator screamed, and the American soldiers up ahead looked as if they were getting ready to start shooting. ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trigger-happy-kiddie-soldiers-rashak-mani/293382/70 "2005-03-08T11:13:46Z")
Thanx, **Demos**. It’s the rather tired wingnut routine – when being shown-up for the gullible imbecils that the majority of them are, attempt to re-direct the topic with some minor nitpick or any other diversionary tactic. But while we’re at it, I’ll note that although hardly as common as the “nonprescription” term, “[nonprescriptive](http://www.google.com/search?q=Nonprescriptive+drugs+&btnG=Search&hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&scoring=d)” is actually not in error as it carries the same OTC meaning as originally implied. In fact, I’m sure **Duffer** will be thrilled to find out that the very FDA has a “ **Nonprescriptive** Drugs Advisory Committee.” All else stands – including **Duffer’s** ignorance for all to read. And to get back on track here’s some more that I’d previously missed: > [@Duffer](#): > > Well, if they’re countless I guess you don’t have a number to back it up, right? Your Government “doesn’t do body count,” dipshit. That’s why we’ll never have an exact figure of all the Iraqi’s you’ve killed. Curious though, just how many would be “too many” for you? Or are you just concerned about American soldier’s deaths? > [@](#): > > One of our own making? Are you suggesting that Iraq and the US are the only countries suffering losses? I am saying exactly what I wrote, asshole. Had your country not launched this illegal and inmoral invasion, NO ONE would be dying on account of it. Seriously, are you naturally this dense or are you putting in some sort of Herculean effort into the task? Impressive either way I must admit. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trigger-happy-kiddie-soldiers-rashak-mani/293382/71 "2005-03-08T11:40:19Z")
> [@Desmostylus](#): > > You probably should’ve stopped earlier, but whatever.Pretty good so far. A better answer would have been to point out the actual minor error, which is that the term is “non-prescription”, not “non-prescriptive”. **RedFury** really does seem to know more about your precious United States than you do. For example, he is aware that there actually are non-prescription sleeping pills available in the US, which contain actual drugs, e.g. antihistamines.Blah blah blah blah. > :rolleyes: Oh, you are my favorite. I’ll take your antihistamine and raise you, oh, how about [this](http://www.umm.edu/altmed/ConsDrugs/DrugCats/Antihistamines.html)? Just ignore the OTC behind most. Few are for sleeping. They’re for allergy or cold symptoms. But I can’t let you go now. [This](http://www.sleepfoundation.org/publications/sleepaids.cfm#6) site offers up prescriptions (remember this word smartie) options. [This](http://www.drugstore.com/search/search.asp?searchtype=1&trx=28198&trxp1=60&srchtree=1&search=sleep+aid) is what you can expect for OTC/homeopathic/DesmoDoctoring solutions for sleep aids. If you’re used to this kind of quality, explore the rest of the miracle drugs from the home page. Now, let me prove you have a knee-jerk urge to try to get a response from me. > [@](#): > > A better answer would have been to point out the actual minor error, which is that the term is “non-prescription”, not "non-prescriptive. “Non-Prescriptive” is the word **RedFury** used in response to my post. In the same paragraph where he tried to give me a lesson in English. Know something **Desmo**? You’re not worth the energy to even prove you further as a hack. ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trigger-happy-kiddie-soldiers-rashak-mani/293382/72 "2005-03-08T11:40:53Z")
> [@RedFury](#): > > I’ll note that although hardly as common as the “nonprescription” term, “[nonprescriptive](http://www.google.com/search?q=Nonprescriptive+drugs+&btnG=Search&hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&scoring=d)” is actually not in error as it carries the same OTC meaning as originally implied. I stand corrected. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trigger-happy-kiddie-soldiers-rashak-mani/293382/73 "2005-03-08T11:44:05Z")
> [@RedFury](#): > > Your Government “doesn’t do body count,” dipshit. That’s why we’ll never have an exact figure of all the Iraqi’s you’ve killed. Curious though, just how many would be “too many” for you? Or are you just concerned about American soldier’s deaths? Actually, I’m more curious about how many Iraqis I’ve killed. I can’t recall one of them. Are you asking me how many _I’ve_ killed, or how many _Americans_ have kiled? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trigger-happy-kiddie-soldiers-rashak-mani/293382/74 "2005-03-08T11:47:32Z")
BTW, I’m also concerned with deaths suffered by soldiers of other countries fighting the war. Care to ever mention them? Granted, it may be hard to guilt America over it, but if you really care about loss of life… ---
**Author:** ![Nocturne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9fc348/32.png) [@Nocturne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nocturne)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trigger-happy-kiddie-soldiers-rashak-mani/293382/75 "2005-03-08T12:11:19Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > Of course, Lenin and Stalin were leaders of the **Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.** You do know there’s a big difference between: A. Leninist Communism B. Stalinist Communism C. The various flavors of Socialism If not, I can give you dozens of cites for each and every variety that Socialism and Communism have. It would benefit you to know that Democratic Socialism as it is practiced in Scandinavia and widely supported in Spain (and almost all other Western nations) is almost completely opposed to the Leninist, Stalinist, and even Trotskyist systems of government that were implemented into the USSR. Many of them, in fact, operate under a much purer form of democracy than the United States. Just because they called it a Socialist Republic doesn’t make it so. I could start a totalitarian regime and call it the Democratic Republic of Nocturnistan, but that wouldn’t make it a democracy. ---
**Author:** ![UnwrittenNocturne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/6de8d8/32.png) [@UnwrittenNocturne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UnwrittenNocturne)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trigger-happy-kiddie-soldiers-rashak-mani/293382/76 "2005-03-08T12:54:35Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > 1. I don’t think the US is infallable. We have the Constitutional right to protest what we think is unjust. With heavy debate also available to us. Let’s carry this a little further with regards to our “Murderous Misleader and ruling cabal.” > Seeing as you believe Bush is Satan-incarnate and everyone in power in D.C. is out to end everyone’s rights and quash dissent … Yes, one is able to protest. Yes one will be photographed and videotaped by law enforcement agencies. Yes it is quite possible that one will be pulled up on trunped up charges (and it has happened many times). See, the real thing here is that you still believe this is a free country. Those Europeans you were knocking earlier? They have much freer rights to protest their governments without fear. Many of them also have a much more democratic form of government - one in which minority parties can actually have a a real voice, based on the votes they get in elections. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trigger-happy-kiddie-soldiers-rashak-mani/293382/77 "2005-03-08T14:23:34Z")
From this article: [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002199231\_checkpoint07.html](http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002199231_checkpoint07.html) > [@](#): > > “Stop or you will be shot” > Another problem is that the U.S. troops tend to have two-stage checkpoints. First there’s a knot of Iraqi security forces standing by a sign that says, in Arabic and English, “Stop or you will be shot.” Most of the time, the Iraqis will casually wave you through. > > Your driver, who slowed down for the checkpoint, will accelerate to resume his normal speed. What he doesn’t realize is that there’s another, American checkpoint several hundred yards past the Iraqi checkpoint, and he’s speeding toward it. > > Sometimes, he may even think that being waved through the first checkpoint means he’s exempt from the second one (especially if he’s not familiar with American checkpoint routines). > > I remember one terrifying day when my Iraqi driver did just that. We got to a checkpoint manned by Iraqi troops. Chatting and smoking, they waved us through without a glance. > Relieved, he stomped down on the gas pedal, and we zoomed up to about 50 mph before I saw the second checkpoint up ahead. I screamed at him to stop, my translator screamed, and the American soldiers up ahead looked as if they were getting ready to start shooting. Am I missing something here, or can this incredibly dangerous situation be greatly improved by simply putting up a second goddamn sign? Something like “YOU MUST STOP FOR THE SECOND AMERICAN CHECKPOINT TOO, OR YOU WILL BE SHOT”, placed after the first checkpoint? Please, somebody tell me I’m missing something obvious here, and lives haven’t been lost simply because nobody thought to make 2 signs instead of 1. Is literacy an issue? I have no clue what percentages of Iraqis can and cannot read. ---
**Author:** ![Rashak\_Mani](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@Rashak\_Mani](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rashak_Mani)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trigger-happy-kiddie-soldiers-rashak-mani/293382/78 "2005-03-08T14:56:41Z")
Banquet Bear… thanks for a very complete list of info… As for **Literacy** : (source CIA world fact book) Total population: 40.4% Male: 55.9% Female: 24.4% (2003 est.) So I guess roughly 40% to 50% the drivers can’t read… ? FUBAR ---
**Author:** ![Well](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/df788c/32.png) [@Well](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Well)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trigger-happy-kiddie-soldiers-rashak-mani/293382/79 "2005-03-08T16:59:37Z")
Oh for fucks sake people! It don’t make a flying fuck what you think about the Iraq war. It also not about your attempts to armchair quarterback US military proceedures at checkpoints. This pitting is because many of you pathetic assholes want to automatically blame the “triggerhappy kiddies”. The war has happened. Get over it. Those soldiers are stuck there for a while longer and there is nothing that the simpleminded can do about that either. And when try to dissect their military proceedure it seems to only emphasise that those guys are in a fucked up, highly dangerous situation, not of their own making. The only thing that makes sense is many of you think those soldiers should put themselves at unnecessary risk and not defend themselves because a). you dont approve of the war, b) you want them to pull out, and c) because you don’t like Bush. All of this fits your idiotic world veiw despite the hundreds, if not thousands, of civilians, military, police that has been slaughtered and continue to die pretty much daily at checkpoints because of your freedom fighters. No matter hw you look at it that is hostile intent towards US troops. This is beyond pitworthy, I don’t care if you are from the US or not. ---
**Author:** ![Avenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de0a6/32.png) [@Avenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avenger)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trigger-happy-kiddie-soldiers-rashak-mani/293382/80 "2005-03-08T18:39:02Z")
**Well** , you really are an ignorant twat. I was going to come up with a reasoned answer pointing out the foolishness of your position, but I decided to settle for that instead. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trigger-happy-kiddie-soldiers-rashak-mani/293382.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trigger-happy-kiddie-soldiers-rashak-mani/293382.md?page=5)