Feeling Secure

Here's a look at some of the blessed security the new Iraq war could be earning us.

Comments

[Lazarus Long]

Ahhh yes, the unsubstantiaed "blow back" theory...do nothing and the terror will just fade away and everthing will be peachy. Not very realistic Brian.

[Jaws]

Translation: "Lazarus Long" has no clue what the blowback theory is.

[Joe]

Who cares about California anyway? I'm much more concerned about what happens in the U.S.

[Lazarus Long]

Jaws:
Explain it then. And cutting and pasting links to Gore Vidal and Noam Chomsky do not count.

[David F]

hey LL:

i can't contribute to the discussion of "blowback" (i had understood it to mean that there's a tit-for-tat reaction when operations aren't fully successful), but citing Noam and GV would be more something like "choke back" of our own bile in reading their annoying words.

maybe reverse peristalsis is the answer???

but, not seeing through the consequences, not fulfilling the obligations to make iraq secure (maybe ten years?), or getting attention span problems a few months after the shooting stops are problems i have with the impending operation. and i am suspicious of how suddenly iraq became a major issue, seemingly overnight.

but as it seems as though the shooting will begin shortly:

for every american (and brit!) over there: i want you to do your job to the best of your ability! i will be cheering for you the whole time. i have a lot of respect and admiration for you. THANK YOU!!!!! kick ass and come home safely as soon as you can!!!!! and then let the whole nation thank you in person!!!

We all should be proud of those individuals brave enough to protect us, fight for us, put their lives on the line for us. MUCH RESPECT AND ADMIRATION to our brave forces.

even though there are disagreements on the necessity of this action, we should all remember that the brave men and women over there are doing their job, regardless of their opinions. they don't make the policy. they make sure that it gets executed successfully. and they deserve our thanks. for or against, the fact that they're putting their lives on the line so we can disagree and bicker here is an amazing thing.

sometimes through the name-calling, the bickering, the talking on by each other, remembering how cool it is to live here where we can disagree and slap it out here. that's a great thing. even though it's upsetting to see a naive college kid turn his/her back on the flag, it's important that those actions are legal. you can't do that in france. for st. pat's day here in chicago, the irish flag (no, not the italian, ha ha) was flying highly here. in denmark, for example, it's forbidden to fly another country's flag on yer flagpole. so we have some wonderful things here. stuff for which all of us can be proud, despite and because of our disagreements.

cheers and some flag waving
drf

[Steve]

Right on the money, drf. The die is cast and there is little chance of turning back. Now is the time to come together and support those who are doing OUR dirty work.

[Brian]

DRF-

Right on. I've spent hours debating the merits of this war on this forum and others...now that it appears the shooting will begin in a matter of hours, I hope nothing less for our armed forces (and those of our friends) than a quick, decisive victory.

[Gary Gunnels]

Lazarus Long,

Did Chomsky or Vidal even coin the phrase? Its nice to see you try to poison the well.
The first time I ever saw the term in use was on the cover of Christopher Stimson's book "Blowback: America's Recruitment of Nazis and Its Effects on the Cold War," which was published in 1998. Chalmers Johnson's book (published in 2000) also uses the same term in its title. Johnson claims in his book that the term "blowback" refers to the unintended consequences of American foreign policy and actions based on that policy. The term, according to him, was coined by the CIA. Hope that is helpful.

[Lazarus Long]

Not really. All you have done is just quote the orgin of term.

[Gary Gunnels]

Lazarus Long,

As opposed to your blatant use of logical fallacies? *chuckle*

And what about this? "Johnson claims in his book that the term 'blowback' refers to the unintended consequences of American foreign policy and actions based on that policy." That is a definition. It may not be a definition that you like, but it is a definition nonetheless. Also, there was no cutting and pasting from Vidal or Chomsky involved, BTW.

[joe]

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=blowback

There's a theory out there that the earth is flat. If you disagree then you must not know very much about the theory...

[Gary Gunnels]

joe,

Danke. Does this mean that Johnson is using it in a new way, or that the dictionary hasn't caught up with the with term's added meaning?

[tony blair]

About Hit & Run:

How has this forum come to be dominated by Freepers? Don't you people have jobs? Whenever you're not amusing each other at FreeRepublic with redundant commentary, you're over here pissing in the Reason pot. Reason should consider becoming as totalitarian as FreeRepublic is. ZOT!

[Gary Gunnels]

Nah,

Freepers tend to show themselves for what they are, and then we can ignore them. 🙂

[Lazarus Long]

Gary,
A definition is not an argument. FYI - I do own a dictionary, thanks.

[David F]

hey Tony Blair!

heh heh heh. actually, i come to the hit and run section because i was kicked out of Bushwood country club for playing go fish in the locker room. the judge didn't like it! (but he worked on the gore campaign, so we could ignore him, too)

🙂

drf

[Other Joe]

Laz- You might at least acknowledge that the definition isn't what you said it was.

[Tsao Sandy]

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DATE: 01/22/2004 01:31:02
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