Letters to the Editor
Xanthro
Published Letters: 522 Editor's Choice: 47
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KStone
[Read the article: Why we can't win the "war on terror"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"Bush’s problem wasn’t in attacking Iraq;"
Yes it was. Especially using 9/11 as a bogus pretext. The it was the "right move but executed poorly line" along with your previous pre-invasion stuff seems somewhat revisionist and a bit of hindsight bias. This has a very predictable disaster.
It’s intellectually dishonest to take snippets out of context in order to try and make a point.
Not only was the whole sentence I wrote; “Bush’s problem wasn’t in attacking Iraq; it was in having an administration that was as incompetent as humanely imaginable.”
There is nothing revisionist about my position, and predictably requires background information. Even assuming a wholesale level of incompetence, it was unpredictable that the Bush Administration would have less planning than a first date by an ADD teenager.
The “war” outcome in Iraq was a forgone conclusion, and all that mattered was the reconstruction effort. The vast majority of people critical of the Iraq conflict don’t even know where to correctly place that criticism. We squandered the window during which the only important battle for Iraq would be fought, that window is gone and is not coming back. There is no method to “win” in Iraq anymore.
We have a current administration that cannot admit mistakes, and thus cannot learn from them, and it’s not that we don’t have an exit strategy, it’s that they never even thought one would be necessary.
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It's counter productive
[Read the article: Virtually dead in Iraq]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I know, I game. Most of these games involve killing another player in some way or another, Battlefield2, Red Orchestra, World of Warcarft, etc. The reason gamers fight and kill each other online has nothing to do with wanting to actually kill a person or even fight a war, it's because the limits of artificial intelligence means the only really skilled opponents are other gamers.
Gamer is much like a sport is the sense of community, and those that upset this sense of community really piss off the players.
It's a game, against competitive people, if you die, you simply respawn again. It's not real.
Typing in names of those who actually died will not convince gamers about the War, and if anything will have the opposite affect. This protester is seen as nothing more than an idiot and gamers won't want to be associated with anything having to do with said idiot.
Also, far too many of those who don't game make assumption about us that do. We understand it's a game, and because gaming means you met a very large group of people, even if it's only online, we all know people who we only know online that have died in real life. Listing deaths will not be taken as a form of protest but an attack on gaming itself, and that won't lead to any sympathy to the person's agenda.
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Your understanding is not required
[Read the article: Virtually dead in Iraq]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I'll never understand how anyone can play at being a soldier while thousands of men and women are doing the real thing and being killed or maimed.
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Your understanding is meaningless because nobody is asking your opinion or permission. You don't like games, don't play them.
"I'm not against violent video games in themselves. Playing this one just seems distasteful at this time."
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It's no different than Battlefield2 or most First Person Shooters, expect it's done better than most.
Actually, I'd think the better draw for recruiting isn't the game per se, but how well the game is done.
Those who are against the game need to step back and examine your issues. In the game, your character can die, while this is temporary, it brings home the fact that you can die despite doing everything right. The players know that in real combat they could die, something that not all 17 or 18 year olds have come to understand.
We have a volunteer Army, it's best that they are as informed as possible.
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Mark Prokop
[Read the article: Virtually dead in Iraq]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Do you think he performs his art in 1337?
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GOP
[Read the article: Why we can't win the "war on terror"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]GOP?
Could somebody please explain what GOP means?
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Grand Old Party.
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Joseph DeLappe
[Read the article: Virtually dead in Iraq]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I think you are failing to understand the point.
I'm sympathetic to your protest. I think it's important that we are reminded that people are dying in Iraq, and I have friends and relatives at risk there.
We stations pull reports because someone is going to read off the names of those who died, that's worthy of protest, that's newsworthy.
It's important that such protests also be treated with respect and dignity, because you are talking about the death of someones child, brother, sister or parent. Many of these people do not support and kind of protest, much less one that is seen as undignified.
You are protesting in a game. Sure, it may have a connection to the actual US Army, but the fact is it is still a game, and posting anyone's personal information, including death notices in a game is in poor taste.
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Israel's internationally established borders.
[Read the article: Up against the wall]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]There's far too much miss information concerning Israel, and it gives rise to posts such as
"If Isreal built a wall that acknowledged internationally established borders or did not take Palastinian land, it would constitute a security wall."
Israel has no internationally recognized or established borders. It cease fire borders, such as the Green Line that used to divide Israel from Jordan when Jordan annexed the West Bank, and the Blue Line which separates Lebanon and Israel.
These are cease fire lines, the same as between North Korea and South Korea, and they are not real borders.
The closest real border Israel has is with Egypt, and that's because of mutual treaty.