Thursday 27 March, 2003 at 3:26PM (Nereus)  ::  permalink  ::  comments (8)

Ok I'm going to have a rant now, so brace yourself.

More anti-war protests in Manhattan today - pretty much all students and they're going around in groups of 100 or so and laying down in the middle of the road at busy intersections causing huge traffic gridlock in Manhattan. One of their spokespersons was just on the news saying that this is to increase awareness and make New Yorkers think about their own lives and how wrong this war is and how wrong the US government is, and laying on the ground is to symbolize the hundreds of dead bodies caused by this war.

Oh really. Yes, think about your own lives, think about what happens if the Iraqi regime is left to continue on its course. Try this on for awareness: how about symbolizing the bodies of nearly half a million Iraqi citizens murdered by the Iraqi regime over the last 25 years? Yeah just think.

As IceQueen was just saying to me on the phone, most of these people have absolutely no idea what life outside of the US is like, they can't seem to comprehend that some countries don't have it anywhere near as good as they do here in the US. There was a 'Christian' lady on tv quietly protesting on her own on a street corner. When asked why, she said that it was disgusting that the US is attacking an impoverished nation. Impoverished nation? Hello? Iraq is one of the most oil rich countries on the planet! The reason the citizens of Iraq are impoverished is because Saddam Hussein uses all the wealth to build huge extravagant palaces for himself. Have you seen the satellite photos on tv? There's a massive palace every couple of kilometers in Baghdad alone, let alone over the rest of Iraq, and they are all exclusively for Saddam and his immediate family.

It's as if many of these people protesting are just against war regardless of the reason, they just say 'I'm against war' and then seem to have blindfolded themselves to any of the circumstances related to this conflict, apparent by the fact that their only justification is 'war is wrong'. In some cases I think they're only against it because they think it's cool to be anti-establishment. Yes, essentially war is wrong, but that just doesn't wash when you look at the alternatives of leaving Saddam in power, and the fact that all other avenues have been exhausted. It's, I guess, the better of two evils. I wish some of these people would get themselves a bit better informed before they start disrupting the lives of the rest of New York and subjecting their views on others by force (which is one of the things they claim to be against, strangely enough).

If these same people are so against this war and think that what is happening in Iraq is so wrong, then they should show the strength of their convictions and move to Iraq. Just like the group that did go over to volunteer as human shields before the war started. I respect the fact that they believed in their convictions strongly enough to do that. The same group has now returned and are all pro-war now. Think about the implications of that for a moment.

I have stated already I am against war itself, because I believe in the basic goodness in human nature to be capable of resolution without conflict, but I also realize that regardless of this sentiment of mine, there are some cavemen walking this planet that are incapable of reason or the ability to be just. Saddam is one of these cavemen - apparent fuck-ups in human evolution and the development of 'humanity' as a peaceful and harmonious species. He's a terminator without a conscience. There is no reasoning that can be effective, this has become apparent over the last 12 years in particular.

The eldest son of Saddam runs a paramilitary wing of the Iraqi regime which has the sole purpose of intimidation of the Iraqi people, publicly executing anyone who speaks against the regime - the acorn doesn't fall far from the tree, as the saying goes. This is the same group that just looked at a woman and decided she was a prostitute, and beheaded her on the spot. An Iraqi man in Baghdad was just recently singled out for speaking out against the Iraqi regime - he was staked out spread-eagled in the middle of a public square and his tongue was cut out as an example to the citizens of Baghdad. He bled to death where he lay. This group is nothing less than a death squad, plain and simple.

A correction to my previous post, the primary school that was being used to hide weapons was in Umm Qasr, not Basra. There's more news that I was going to mention, but I think I've pretty much exhausted myself, I don't believe I need to justify my current feelings about this war any further. If this ain't enough for you, then it would seem you've got your head stuck firmly up your arse, and I'm not gonna go there.

On a lighter side, did anyone see Larry King Live on CNN last night? There was a retired military guy on by the name of Col. David Hackworth giving his views on the Iraqi conflict. Did that guy sound exactly like Officer Barbrady from SouthPark or what?

Happy birthday to The Cat! *meow*

british troops find weapons cache

      Wednesday 26 March, 2003 at 3:24PM (Nereus)  ::  permalink  ::  comments (3)

Found by British troops in Basra: A huge cache of weapons, approx 3000 gas masks and chem / bio protective suits, large supply of antidote for chemical weapons, approximately 170 Iraqi soldiers (captured) and one tank, all at a hospital. And no, there were no actual patients in this 'hospital'. All this stuff and Iraq says it has no WMD? Yeah right.

Rocket launched grenades, uniforms and other weapons were found hidden at a freaking primary school in Basra. Yesterday brave Iraqi citizens staging some sort of uprising and protesting against Saddam Hussein, and Iraqi troops are firing mortars into the crowd. In Baghdad, apparent confirmation that Iraqi citizens are being forcibly used as human shields on probable military targets.

Unconfirmed reports that the dead soldiers shown with the POWs were executed after they surrendered. Iraqi troops surrendering, then opening fire as coalition troops approach in the open. Iraqi troops posing as non-military citizens to evade detection, then shooting unsuspecting coalition troops.

Just now on CNN supposed confirmation that Iraq has a substantial number of uniforms resembling US and British uniforms with the intention of posing as coalition troops while committing the massacre of innocent Iraqi citizens and other war crimes on video.

The list goes on. Not doing themselves any favors are they.

If all this is true, I don't give a toss what the motives are for the US-led war, I am rapidly reaching the point where I will be supporting this action.

No Iraqi air force planes have been launched at any time since this started a week ago, and yet it is known as fact that they have at least 70 military aircraft available. I'm wondering if they're saving them for a major confrontation near Baghdad to drop WMD. That would explain all the elite Iraqi troops around Baghdad having gas masks etc, whereas many of the Iraqi troops further south did not.

A marketplace in Baghdad has been hit by a bomb with a lot of civilian lives lost as a result. Of course the Iraqi regime is making all sorts of noises about this ..if that ain't the pot calling the kettle black I don't know what is. According to the US hierarchy, coalition bombs have not targetted anything nearby this market, although it may be a guided missile that was either shot down or thrown off course thanks to the Russian supplied jamming apparatus that the Iraqi regime has been using, or it may be one of Iraq's own missiles as well. Considering what Iraqi troops have been up to so far, it would not surprise me in the least if it was done by Iraqi troops on purpose.

It's hard to discern which is fact and which is fiction with some of the reports, but many of the above cases are backed with live video as it happened. Pretty hard to refute.

another day and war rages on

      Tuesday 25 March, 2003 at 12:01PM (Nereus)  ::  permalink  ::  comments (9)

Another day and war rages on. I haven't been making a large amount of comments so far on this weblog about what's going on in Iraq (or at least not as much as I would have expected) as I've been discussing it elsewhere and don't feel like repeating it all again here.

I regularly play on a MUD where most of the players are either Russian or American, with a smaller number of Malaysian players, and of course me, a lone NZ / US citizen. There is an associated website which has a discussion board called 'the town crier'. The discussion there has been getting pretty heated recently, and that's where I've been doing my talking.

If you feel like a long read, you can check out the thread [since removed]. It reads from bottom to top and I have been posting under the name of Weasel. What has been interesting is the amount of anti-war comments that appear (for some at least) to be based purely on pre-existing anti-US sentiment, rather than the relevant facts and the current situation.

I elected yesterday to refrain from making any further comments on that thread because of the way things were heading, which is basically a large amount of US bashing by a few of the Russian players, much of it based on things totally unrelated to the current conflict in Iraq.

What many people are forgetting is that there are currently 46+ other countries supporting the coalition action in Iraq, it's not just the US. The US-bashing, combined with the fact that nobody there who is strongly opposing the war has been able to give any viable alternatives, has kept my opinion leaning towards pro-US, even though I am against war itself where it can be avoided.

The alleged actions of the Iraqi troops in breaking all sorts of international war conventions hasn't helped make me any more anti-war either.

The biggest worry now is the recent discovery that all the Iraqi elite troops based in and around Baghdad are equipt with gas masks. Knowing very well that coalition forces would never use WMD, one has to wonder why these Iraqi troops have these gas masks ..think about it. It does not bode well, although if Iraq do start using bio / chem weapons, it's going to make France Germany and Russia look pretty stupid.

Enough for now, I hope it's all over very soon.

baghdad getting bombed

      Friday 21 March, 2003 at 3:48PM (Nereus)  ::  permalink  ::  comments (7)

Baghdad has been getting the crap bombed out of it over the last few hours. I've been watching it on CNN and it's made me feel almost sick. The people living there must be absolutely terrified - it was bad enough watching it from here in NYC.

I dont really know what to say. I'm still really sitting on the fence as far as my opinion about it all. Saddam Hussein most definitely has to go, and after 12 years of attempted diplomatic resolution I do agree with Bush that continuing along those lines is futile, but seeing the destruction as the bombs detonate in Baghdad has shaken my resolve a bit. What's the alternative though?

I cannot fathom the past actions of Saddam Hussein and those like him, it just goes beyond my realm of understanding that anyone could be so ..well, evil, for lack of a better word. The fact that Iraqi troops have torched their own oil wells (and orders to do so would come from Saddam himself), and that (allegedly) Iraq have been firing missiles they said they didn't have kinda shits all over any chance that Saddam really was telling the truth before this action started.

Even with all these facts, people around the world continue to protest this military action, which to me seems a little pointless now that it's already underway. Regardless of what the ulterior motives of the US government may be (check this article out - thanks to Putty Girl for the link), I do believe the goal of removing Saddam Hussein from power is neccessary. Not so sure about the method though..

...update at 6:10pm EST...

Thanks Matt for your comment on this post. I'll be following that weblog closely, it's good to see a view from 'the other side' that hasn't been corrupted by media or government reinterpretation. Hope that dude comes through this ok. For anyone interested, have a look at Where is Raed?, the weblog of an Iraqi blogger living in Baghdad through what must be hell. There has not been an update since just before the bombing of Baghdad earlier today.

One thing I noticed from his weblog was that "people are being turned back at the borders of Baghdad city. There is a checkpoint and they will not let you pass it." ..and he's talking about citizens wanting to leave Baghdad so they don't get killed by the bombs. WTF? Good old Saddam and his human shield huh ..that's just sick.

emergency signs

      Thursday 20 March, 2003 at 3:15AM (Nereus)  ::  permalink  ::  comments (0)

This is some funny shit. A thread on the Internet Infidels discussion forum referenced a government site which was giving advice about what to do in differing emergency situations, often using illustration. These illustrations gave rise to the thread, which consists entirely of people taking the piss out of the illustrations via a kind of caption contest, and some of them are absolutely hilarious. Here's a couple of examples:

If you are sprayed with an unknown substance, stand around and think about it for a while instead of seeking medical assistance.

On second thought, casually stroll away and go grab a pint of beer at the local pub.

Update April 2007 - although the thread and captions are still there, unfortunately the images are not - presumably the government has since taken the site down where the images were being hotlinked from.

terror alert status raised

      Tuesday 18 March, 2003 at 1:11PM (Nereus)  ::  permalink  ::  comments (0)

The terrorism alert status has again been raised to orange, one level below the maximum high alert status. Some of Hussein's statements infer possible attacks on US interests outside of Iraq, which is obviously not good - NYC always seems to be at the top of the list of likely targets.

I was just reading on AOL news about Iraq and what's going on there at the moment - one thing caught my attention in particular:

At a suburban school, 14-year-old boys were ordered to dig a series of trenches about 10 feet long and 5 feet deep, while chanting, "This may look like trench, but it's not, it's George W. Bush's grave."

How messed up is that? These are only 14 year olds ...then again, this is coming via AOL so you can't believe everything you read. I had to laugh a little at Saddam Hussein's response to Bush demanding he leave Iraq within 48 hours though. He allegedly said, "No. I demand you resign within 48 hours". hehe, nice comeback. I'd like to think that was his sense of humor, but I don't think so.

Interesting how attitudes have apparently changed in the last day or so. The latest AOL Polls show 76% of people polled (35,000 AOL members) now support a war against Iraq, and of that 76%, the bulk of them have indicated 'strongly support' as opposed to just 'support'. A few weeks back it was a totally different story.

happy birthday alt

      Saturday 1 March, 2003 at 8:24PM (Nereus)  ::  permalink  ::  comments (0)

*glub* Happy Birthday Altie! *glub*

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