# Um, there was also a disaster in Iraq **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 31, 2005, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-there-was-also-a-disaster-in-iraq/319501 "2005-08-31T23:15:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-there-was-also-a-disaster-in-iraq/319501/21 "2005-09-01T16:40:38Z")
> [@TellMeI'mNotCrazy](#): > > This might be easier to accept if the thread’s title was “There was a deadly stampede in Iraq” rather than “Um, there was also a disaster in Iraq”, which implies that Americans have been to self-centered to notice. Especially given this last line of your OP: > > which implies that it IS a zero-sum game, that we can’t be worried about both at the same time.\ It was intended to be a gentle nudge, that yes, you are having an un-precedented catastrophe in the U.S., but the world hasn’t stopped as a result. Note - a GENTLE nudge. It is obviously not being taken that way, and I regret that. I probably should have had the foresight to realize that any criticism (gentle or otherwise) of Americans at this point would not have been taken well. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-there-was-also-a-disaster-in-iraq/319501/22 "2005-09-01T16:50:41Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > It was intended to be a gentle nudge, that yes, you are having an un-precedented catastrophe in the U.S., but the world hasn’t stopped as a result. Note - a GENTLE nudge. It is obviously not being taken that way, and I regret that. I probably should have had the foresight to realize that any criticism (gentle or otherwise) of Americans at this point would not have been taken well. I’m pretty sure if Victoria or Ottawa had been washed away Canadians might be focused on domestic death and destruction instead of the +800 people stampeding off a bridge thousands of miles away. You’re being petty. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-there-was-also-a-disaster-in-iraq/319501/23 "2005-09-01T16:54:15Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > It was intended to be a gentle nudge, that yes, you are having an un-precedented catastrophe in the U.S., but the world hasn’t stopped as a result. Most of us did assume that the world had stopped due to what happened on the Gulf Coast (it has been daytime here for three days). Newspapers are carrying nothing but Katrina coverage from front to back and all TV and radio stations have been comandeered to focus on nothing but what is happening in New Orleans. I notice that a virus has changed my default web page to WWL New Orleans and I assume that it has for everyone else. If it weren’t for foreigners on this message board I would have no idea what to care about anymore. ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-there-was-also-a-disaster-in-iraq/319501/24 "2005-09-01T17:14:36Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > It was intended to be a gentle nudge, that yes, you are having an un-precedented catastrophe in the U.S., but the world hasn’t stopped as a result. Note - a GENTLE nudge. It is obviously not being taken that way, and I regret that. I probably should have had the foresight to realize that any criticism (gentle or otherwise) of Americans at this point would not have been taken well. My point is, the criticism, and the nudge, are unwarranted. It’s not a case of thin-skinned Americans not being able to handle criticism - hell I’m the one criticizing Americans half the time. Seriously, if you can step back, imagine that a catastrophe had hit both Canada and America at the same time, and someone opened a thread and said “Uh, there was a tornado in the US,” and tell me that you would not be in the least insulted, then fine. And while this comment isn’t directed at you personally, I would bet there would be a pit thread lambasting those selfish Americans for only thinking of themselves so quickly, my head would spin. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-there-was-also-a-disaster-in-iraq/319501/25 "2005-09-02T01:26:55Z")
> [@JillGat](#): > > What specifically are you and featherlou suggesting we _do_ about the stampede deaths in Iraq? I’m not suggesting anyone do anything about anything. I’m making a comment about how the phenomenon of Americans in general being more concerned about American lives and deaths than non-American lives and deaths is hardly a new trend in American thinking. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-there-was-also-a-disaster-in-iraq/319501/26 "2005-09-02T01:35:33Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > May I ask who elected **featherlou** Queen of Grief? Do we have to check in with you and get your okay before we know who and what we are obligated to publicly feel bad about, and exactly _how_ bad? I realize this isn’t the Pit, so I’ll attempt to keep this as civil as possible, but who or what shoved the stick up _your_ ass? **Featherlou** ’s post said absolutely nothing about obligatory grief–it was merely, in my reading, a plea for compassion for victims of another disaster in danger of being overshadowed by the enormity of our own domestic catastrophe. What, may I ask, is wrong with _that_? ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-there-was-also-a-disaster-in-iraq/319501/27 "2005-09-02T01:48:14Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > Errrr George, we’ve got one of your bots here, he’s stuck about eighteen months in the past I have to admit, this is freakin’ hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-there-was-also-a-disaster-in-iraq/319501/28 "2005-09-02T01:57:58Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > I’m not suggesting anyone do anything about anything. I’m making a comment about how the phenomenon of Americans in general being more concerned about American lives and deaths than non-American lives and deaths is hardly a new trend in American thinking. Or, indeed, in basic human nature. You’re not honestly suggesting that this is somehow uniquly American, are you? Anyway, I’ve been feeling sorry for Iraqis for the past four years or so. But I’m afraid I’m going to have to cut them off, at least for the next couple of weeks. I’ve got bigger things to worry about right now. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-there-was-also-a-disaster-in-iraq/319501/29 "2005-09-02T02:07:49Z")
> [@Q.E.D.](#): > > What, may I ask, is wrong with _that_? 'Twas the not quite gentle nudging part. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-there-was-also-a-disaster-in-iraq/319501/30 "2005-09-02T02:17:38Z")
> [@Queen Tonya](#): > > 'Twas the not quite gentle nudging part. Seemed gentle enough to me: > [@featherlou](#): > > Can we spare a moment from feeling bad about people in Louisiana and Mississippi and feel bad about people in Iraq? Could the title have been phrased a bit better? Sure. But, I try not to judge the content of a post by its title alone. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-there-was-also-a-disaster-in-iraq/319501/31 "2005-09-02T02:20:53Z")
> [@](#): > > Can we spare a moment from feeling bad about people in Louisiana and Mississippi and feel bad about people in Iraq? Absolutely not. I don’t have to “spare a moment.” I, and everybody else, am quite capable of doing both at the same time. Now, if you’ll pardon me, I’m off to find out if one of my best friends is a dead, bloated corpse floating down the street. You’ll pardon me, I hope, if I’m a teensy bit more concerned about that than the situation in Iraq. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-there-was-also-a-disaster-in-iraq/319501/32 "2005-09-02T03:41:56Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Or, indeed, in basic human nature. You’re not honestly suggesting that this is somehow uniquly American, are you? I have no idea. I’ve never seen Not Necessarily the News from any other country. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-there-was-also-a-disaster-in-iraq/319501/33 "2005-09-02T03:56:12Z")
I’m going to ask a Mod to close this thread - I had absolutely no intention of creating hard feelings, and it obviously has done that. I mis-judged the situation, and mis-judged the level of response. I am sorry if this thread has made anything worse for anybody. ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-there-was-also-a-disaster-in-iraq/319501/34 "2005-09-02T04:02:20Z")
Closed at the request of the OP. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-there-was-also-a-disaster-in-iraq/319501.md?page=1)