Originally Posted by 03USMC

Or it could have something to do with the fact that they are prime targets and targets of choice for the terrorists. Look who's getting hit. Police Stations.
The terrorists are attempting to destroy what little infrastructure does exist. In the beginning recruitment was going well. But now.

I wass going to say something about that; but I wasn't too sure on the details. I had heard of lines getting hit with mortars and the like; sounds like their recruiting is almost as bad as ours :P. Police stations are a good terrorist targets, you can justify it ideologically(tools of the infadel) and stratigicly it makes good sense.

Ideologically and strategically. The aim is to weaken any attempt to create or stabilize the infrastructure. The Goal is to make the fight so costly to both the Iraqi's and the US that popular opinion forces a draw down of Coalition Forces.

If they can get any stabilizing force out of the country before the rebuilding can be started and a strong Iraqi run goverment implaced then it's ripe for another Fundamentalist Cleric governed Islamic state ala Iran.

coalition? what coalition?

the US, UK and Japan? there was a reason that the mighty coalition of the first gulf war isn't here this time. because this invasion should never have happened. end of story.

Originally Posted by chewie_nz

coalition? what coalition?

the US, UK and Japan? there was a reason that the mighty coalition of the first gulf war isn't here this time. because this invasion should never have happened. end of story.

Nice rhetoric, looks good on ya.

Now, how about we all stay on topic from now on. Okay? Great!

fair enough;


the US should not be torturing people no matter what the reason/excuse is. when all is said and done torture is barbaric and can only add to the already bad reputation the US has in the middle east. and it reflects on all of us.

Originally Posted by chewie_nz

fair enough;


the US should not be torturing people no matter what the reason/excuse is. when all is said and done torture is barbaric and can only add to the already bad reputation the US has in the middle east. and it reflects on all of us.

Okay just for giggles Kiwi. Give me one solid incident that supports your assertions that wholesale torture is being committed by the US Military and or US Intelligence Agencies. Outside of the " Ghost Aircraft" or the Prison Scandal.

Originally Posted by 03USMC

Okay just for giggles Kiwi. Give me one solid incident that supports your assertions that wholesale torture is being committed by the US Military and or US Intelligence Agencies. Outside of the " Ghost Aircraft" or the Prison Scandal.

apart from the prison scandal (gee, that was a BIG SCANDAL!) i don't have any firm stories. but there is more than enough "bits" of info flying around that doesn't exactly disproove my point. what about the guy tried in afghanistan for running his own illegal prison and always asserted that he was under orders. and numerous stories of civilian contractors that seem to be under no ones juristiction.

but that is by the by;

torture wrong.

Your Honor. The Defense rests.

*cough*

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6007807/

KABUL - Three Americans have been sentenced to up to 10 years in jail after being found guilty by an Afghan court on charges including torture, running a private prison and illegal detention.

Jonathan “Jack” Idema, a former U.S. Green Beret, was arrested in July along with another ex-serviceman, Brent Bennett, and documentary film-maker Edward Caraballo.

They had denied the charges and insisted they were in Afghanistan with U.S. and Afghan government sanction to help track down al-Qaida and Taliban extremists.

http://207.44.245.159/article7409.htm

One's first response to the report by the International Red Cross about torture at our prison at Guantanamo is denial. "I don't want to think about it; I don't want to hear about it; we're the good guys, they're the bad guys; shut up. And besides, they attacked us first."

But our country has opposed torture since its founding. One of our founding principles is that cruel and unusual punishment is both illegal and wrong. Every year, our State Department issues a report grading other countries on their support for or violations of human rights.

The first requirement here is that we look at what we are doing - and not blink, not use euphemisms. Despite the Red Cross' polite language, this is not "tantamount to torture." It's torture. It is not "detainee abuse." It's torture.

If they were doing it to you, you would know it was torture. It must be hidden away, because it's happening in Cuba or elsewhere abroad.

Yes, it's true, we did sort of know this already. It was clear when the Abu Ghraib scandal broke in Iraq that the infection had come from Guantanamo.


and ; http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2003/s962052.htm

LINDA MOTTRAM: New claims have emerged that prisoners at Guantanamo Bay are being tortured by their American captors, and the claims say that Australians David Hicks and Mamdouh Habib are among the victims.

US-based Australian lawyer, Richard Bourke, has made the allegations after working for almost two years on the cases of Camp X-Ray detainees. He says that he and his colleagues have been receiving reports of horrendous abuse of prisoners in Cuba, and in Afghanistan.

They've made slow progress through the American court system. Mr Bourke says he's now prepared to take the cases to international tribunals, including the UN Standing Committee on Torture.


and that was the work of five minutes worth of googling

An American who may or may not have been under contract to a Govermental Agency. Or in all likelihood is probably trying to get a bounty. Yeah I'd have a Conspiracy Theory too