Why the pessimism?

[Imran Siddiqui]

I wonder how much pessimistic news was coming from the republic of vietnam in 1967? After all, we had won the war then

WHAT?!

Did you live a different timeline than the rest of us? We had felt like we 'won' Vietnam in '67? Who?

[Urban Ranger]

Re: Re: Why the pessimism?

Originally posted by Harry Tuttle
Nice to see someone say it for once. The vast majority of threads in the OT are, to quote DinoDoc "a circle jerk".

This examplifies how conservatives demonise their opponents. Excellent job.

[Tingkai]

What an individual soldier sees is usually quite different from the entire picture looks like.

The soldier who spends his nights inside the highly protected Green Zone may be completely oblivious to the routine gunfights occurring in the city.

Besides which, isn't Oerdin in psychops, the propagande side of the US military. Isn't it his job is to convince people that the US is great and will do wonders for the Iraqi people. Isn't it his job to say everything is beautiful.

[Harovan]

Originally posted by Tingkai
Besides which, isn't Oerdin in psychops, the propagande side of the US military. Isn't it his job is to convince people that the US is great and will do wonders for the Iraqi people. Isn't it his job to say everything is beautiful.

Yea, that's his job on Apolyton.

[FrustratedPoet]

Re: Re: Re: Why the pessimism?

Originally posted by Urban Ranger


This examplifies how conservatives demonise their opponents. Excellent job.

Thank God that liberals never brand their rightist opponents as facists then!

[Tingkai]

Come on Ralph. Did I say it is his job on Apolyton? No.

I asked whether Oerdin works on the propaganda side of the military. Maybe I got him mixed up with someone else.

But he is a soldier in a war zone. If there were major problems happening there, do you think his superiors would let him talk about it? The military isn't a democracy with freedom of speech.

In past wars, letters written by soldiers would be censored by the military, particularly for comments that might affect morale on the home front. Of course technology is changing things. Guess there's no need for the military to check on whether a soldier is releasing information that should be kept secret.

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by GePap
Oh, sorry for breaking up the conservative circle jerk- you guys can get back to your regular programing.

Care to try again, moron?

Let's see... Oerdin posts the thread. CheKittie immidiately replies. oggie and Dan reply, and then EST shreds his reasons for why people should not be pessimistic. Oerdin replies with more information from someone who is actually there.

Kontiki goes, then EST rebuts. Cruddy says that pessimism is good. Oerdin says something mildly interesting, then bipolarbear, that paragon of Wall Street says that the world is a crappy place. He's most likely correct on that.

Then you enter into the thread like the crap blanket that you are so good at being. Oh, and Aggy pipes up too.

That's quite a good conservative circle jerk you have going there, in your mind. Now, would you care to sample reality?

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by Tingkai
Come on Ralph. Did I say it is his job on Apolyton? I asked whether Oerdin works on the propaganda side of the military. Maybe I got him mixed up with someone else.

But he is a soldier in a war zone. If there were major problems happening there, do you think his superiors would let him talk about it? The military isn't a democracy with freedom of speech.

In past wars, letters written by soldiers would be censored by the military, particularly for comments that might affect morale on the home front. Of course technology is changing things. Guess there's no need for the military to check on whether a soldier is releasing information that should be kept secret.

You're a Canadian writer living in the PRC. Should we suspect everything you say? Why would an educated, skilled person want to live there when they could live in Toranna, anyway?

[Harovan]

Originally posted by Tingkai
Come on Ralph. Did I say it is his job on Apolyton? No.

I asked whether Oerdin works on the propaganda side of the military. Maybe I got him mixed up with someone else.

I deemed you to be able to interpret, what winking smileys mean.

But he is a soldier in a war zone. If there were major problems happening there, do you think his superiors would let him talk about it? The military isn't a democracy with freedom of speech. In past wars, letters written by soldiers would be censored by the military, particularly for comments that might affect morale on the home front.

I happened to serve 14 years in the army, albeit not in a hot war (thank God), but at least during the cold one. At times, not even my family knew where I am and when I will return, and I didn't even serve in a combat unit. So no need to tell me about armies being quite anal what concerns the release of informations.

Of course technology is changing things. Guess there's no need for the military to check on whether a soldier is releasing information that should be kept secret.

I am pretty impressed with the amount of informations Oerdin provides here. I sincerely hope, that they won't cause him to get in troubles.

[Ned]

Clearly a lot of the pessimism is linked to the recent events in Spain.

[Tingkai]

Originally posted by notyoueither
You're a Canadian writer living in the PRC. Should we suspect everything you say? Why would an educated, skilled person want to live there when they could live in Toranna, anyway?

NYE, you disappoint me. Your trolls are usually better than that.

[notyoueither]

Hmmm, one might say the same about yours. Unless of course you were not trolling and you were simply being a jerk.

[Harovan]

The recent events in Iraq itself aren't a bit better. In fact, they were worse. The events in Spain were horrible, but seem to be over now. The violence in Iraq is an ongoing process. News about blow-ups come on a daily basis, a fact which is dangerous and disturbing. I think, the occupation of Iraq is in a critical, make-or-break situation now.

[notyoueither]

I agree SirRalph, but I have a problem aligning the reports I am inundated with and the apparent optimism of the Iraqi people themselves. Something does not add up, and I suspect it is not the Iraqi people who are mistaken.

[Ned]

Originally posted by Sir Ralph
The recent events in Iraq itself aren't a bit better. In fact, they were worse. The events in Spain were horrible, but seem to be over now. The violence in Iraq is an ongoing process. News about blow-ups come on a daily basis, a fact which is dangerous and disturbing. I think, the occupation of Iraq is in a critical, make-or-break situation now.

Actually, Iraq seems to be going quite well, which is why Oerdin made this thread.