From: Mike Lorrey (mlorrey@yahoo.com)
Date: Fri Mar 28 2003 - 18:45:20 MST
--- Lee Corbin <lcorbin@tsoft.com> wrote:
> What is the emotional reaction of those protesting the war
> to American setbacks in the field?
>
> In the last few days, there have been Coalition losses that
> have made headlines. Unexpected stratagems performed by the
> Iraqis have resulted in American and U.K. tactical setbacks
> (though not strategic ones so far as I can tell).
I wouldn't call a 300 mile advance in one week, the fastest advance in
hostile territory in military history, as a 'tactical setback'. I
wouldn't call a couple dozen allied casualties and a paltry few hundred
Iraqi civilian casualties, compared to thousands of Iraqi combatant
deaths and 4,000 Iraqi POWs, to be 'tactical setbacks'. I wouldn't call
the decimation of a command and control structure, the destruction of
all but three Republican Guard divisions (and those three one their way
to destruction), to be 'tactical setbacks'. Nor would I call the
wholesale takeover of multiple airbases within Iraq by allied forces
and the decision by the Iraqi Air Force to sit out the war to be
'tactical setbacks' for the allied forces.
I find it rather amusing that so many are panicking when they see Iraqi
media, Bahrain division (al Jazeera) rebroadcasting the same footage of
a downed Apache and claiming it is another downed chopper, that they
hear reports that a suicide bomber took out one Bradley vehicle with a
minibus packed with explosives (when it turns out the Bradley was
unharmed outside of a paint job). I find it amusing that some here
believe the Iraqi propaganda that claims an Iraqi SAM returning to
earth and wiping out a market is a "US missile attack".
How much european coverage has been devoted to the fact that Iraqi
military is firing on Iraqi civilians who are only searching for food?
How much european or arab coverage has been noting that Iraqi soldiers
in chemsuits are unloading 50 gallon drums at artillery sites?
I actually have been watching some al Jazeera coverage. C-SPAN has
devoted some of its time to providing both al Jazeera and Iraqi TV
coverage. I must say that if al Jazeera is the muslim worlds idea of a
'free press', I am mightily disappointed. If the rest of the media in
the muslim world is anything like Iraqi TV, I can completely understand
why the muslim world is so royally fucked up. Being generally more
devout than westerners, they are types who tend toward seeing what they
believe and not the reverse. Muslim media only seems to serve up that
which the muslim world already believes, and seriously contorts the
truth into outright BS to support their religious and cultural
delusions.
What the muslim world needs is a muslim equivalent of that Indian group
that is dedicated to debunking the fakirs and other religious scam
artists around India.
=====
Mike Lorrey
"Live Free or Die, Death is not the Worst of Evils."
- Gen. John Stark
"Pacifists are Objectively Pro-Fascist." - George Orwell
"Treason doth never Prosper. What is the Reason?
For if it Prosper, none Dare call it Treason..." - Ovid
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