Are they trying to be this stupid, or does it just come naturally?
Nathan Newman has now updated his post about the Falluja murders, and he has included some pretty graphic war porn. The picture is a pretty graphic screen shot from Al Jazeera, and shows a dead Iraqi boy- a civilian casualty. Nate concludes:
Folks outraged by the pictures of the well-paid security guards have the right to their outrage only if they were equally outraged by the deaths of these victims of US attacks on Iraq.
Do I really need to explain the difference, or are Nate and his ilk too stupid to comprehend even if I take the time?
Steverino
John, my money’s on “they’re too stupid.” I’ll even lay odds.
Sav
I’d feel a lot better if it truly was stupidity, but it isn’t.
Nathan is Scum
Nathan Newman is a shill for the National Lawyers Guild, an organization that spends all its time apologizing for, when not helping, dictators around the world while running down democracies. So it’s no wonder he has no problem with the Daily TossOff’s comments re “mercenaries.”
Hal
FWIW, this gruesome scene simultaneously pissed me off even more re: Bush’s foreign policy (specifically Iraq) and strengthened my resolve to resist the Bush Administration’s plan to “cut n’ run”.
But showing the pictures. . .
War is hell. Now it’s on the internet.
You were expecting less?
Al Maviva
Ahh yes – the moral equivalence of the U.S. and the Fedayeen Saddam. A wonderful premise for an argument, Hal.
And John, in case you were wondering, the NLG isn’t just about dictator hugging. They are historically the litigation arm of the communist party and its progeny in the U.S. They are, what the ACLU is often unfairly accused of being.
burnplant
“Do I really need to explain the difference, or are Nate and his ilk too stupid to comprehend even if I take the time?”
I would like to raise my hand for the “too stupid” party.
Please explain the difference to me, John, rather than hide behind a rhetorical generalization. Or is your question so stupid that I shouldn’t have bothered with this follow up?
Kos Sums It Up Well
“I was angry that five soldiers — the real heroes in my mind — were killed the same day and got far lower billing in the newscasts. I was angry that 51 American soldiers paid the ultimate price for Bush’s folly in Iraq in March alone. I was angry that these mercenaries make more in a day than our brave men and women in uniform make in an entire month. I was angry that the US is funding private armies, paying them $30,000 per soldier, per month, while the Bush administration tries to cut our soldiers’ hazard pay. I was angry that these mercenaries would leave their wives and children behind to enter a war zone on their own violition.
So I struck back.
Unlike the vast majority of people in this country, I actually grew up in a war zone. I witnessed communist guerillas execute students accused of being government collaborators. I was 8 years old, and I remember stepping over a dead body, warm blood flowing from a fresh wound…”
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/4/2/175739/8203
Try and understand that you don’t know every damn thing, John Cole.
a
yea,yea, don’t feed the trolls. burnplant: can we agree that it was bad for both 1) the child and 2) the contractors to die? if not, there’s not point in going further.
secondly, can we agree that collateral damage (horrible euphemism) applies to the child, while not applying to the contractors? if not, there’s no point in going further.
lastly, can we agree that there is a huge discrepancy between a child being caught in the crossfire, and an angry mob burning, dismembering, hanging, beating, desecrating, etc the bodies of individuals securing food shipments to iraqi citizens? if not, no point in going any further, easily demonstrated by your initial response – “i would like to raise my hand for the ‘too stupid’ party”
Jeff G
I think it has something to do with intent, burnplant.
Christ, when’s the last time you ejaculated anyway? God gave you hands — go blow off some steam, hardcharger.
a
kossumsitupwell:
please explain how that non-apology, which takes another swipe at contractors, helps his case? it’s quite obvious he still harbors disdain for those individuals providing security, and in fact, he harbors disdain for the military as well since those individuals are getting paid.
shark
“Unlike the vast majority of people in this country, I actually grew up in a war zone. I witnessed communist guerillas execute students accused of being government collaborators. I was 8 years old, and I remember stepping over a dead body, warm blood flowing from a fresh wound…”
You’d think he’d know better in that case. If he can honestly draw an equivalance between communist gureillas and contractors protecting a food shipment for civilians, he’s been too long in this secure and safe country and needs to go back to his warzone. He ought to be ashamed of himself.
sun zoo
Whether it’s a highly-paid Mercenary or a uniformed grunt getting his hazard pay cut, the death of any American citizen in a foreign conflict touches us all. We should agree on this.
And we should remember the fallen – all of the fallen, be they Soldier or Soldier of Fortune.
But I ask only this:
Please remember that some of the fallen first took a solemn vow to defend our Constitution and our nation against all enemies, foreign and domestic. They sacrificed their lives and their sacred honor for us. Think of that when you’re tying a yellow ribbon around the tree.
For all the rest, use a green ribbon.
Senior Administration Official
Let’s see John.
4 Americans get ambushed and then mutilated by a truly barbaric crowd of Iraqis. And you.. really seem to have nothing to say except how it affects YOUR political rivals: namely 3 posts about Kos, and 1 about “other people.” I’d say your reaction is easily as predictable and almost as craven as Mr. Zuniga’s.
Of course we wouldn’t want to consider why the fuck the people of Fulluja feel it necessary to lynch dead Americans.
Emperor Misha I
They’re socialists.
They’re not “stupid”, they’re evil. Subhuman. Scum. Worthless.
Nathan Newman: Castro's Mercenary
Just wanted to point out that Nathan Newman is now deleting posts that take him to task. He claims he is doing it only for posts that use “the F— word,” but I know for a fact he’s lying about that. (He banned me for saying he’s having a little self-pity party.) Such a puritan. We should all learn to be as reasonable as Ramsey Clark, eh?
Terry
I noticed this morning that atrios put up a post that consists of nothing but some extensive quotes from a FOX program. The substance of the quotes is to seriously question the judgement of driving an American SUV into a dangerous part of Falluja as the four Americans did. I interpret this almost “blame the victim” line of discussion as an attempt by atrios to align himself with Kos, but in not so obvious a way as to draw down the wrath of the blogosphere on him, not to mention that of a number of responsible Democrats.
Another interpretation might be that atrios is suggesting that FOX was somehow just as disrespectful of these four murdered Americans as was Kos. I personally don’t think any of it washes. Kos stands out there as a complete piece of slime; at the very worst, the FOX commentary could be considered insensitive in that it occurred shortly after the tragedy. Deep in his heart and soul, I rather suspect that atrios is in complete agreement with the initial diary entry by Kos…but he doesn’t have thhe guts to say so.
Jon Henke
“Do I really need to explain the difference”
– – -Yes. But it won’t help.
Hope that clears things up for you.
Smith
Terry (re your theories): I believe that, deep down, Atrios IS in complete agreement with that idiot Kos. But I suspect that by posting the FOX comment, he was engaging in the old, “See, you guys are just as bad; so why the fuss?” ploy. That’s an old trick of Philadelphia’s finest substitute PE coach.
Jay
Smith is right. Atrios is forever saying, “Well what about…?” and “This is bad but conservatives blah blah blah.”
He does it ALL THE TIME. This is no different.
Remember. It’s people like Atrios, Kos and Kevin Drum who want us to believe they are moderates.
Jeff G
I saw the FOXNews report in question. John Gibson did indeed intimate that you’d have to be crazy to drive around Fallujah in an SUV without security, but then his guest pointed out that these WERE security people.
And anyway, questioning their judgment is NOT the same as saying “screw ’em, the only good mercenary is a dead mercenary.”
To conflate the two is indicative of a mind so revved up on partisan zeal that it overheats and stalls from time to time.
Brian
Regarding military pay. As someone who grew up in a military family I am all in favor of increasing salaries for the military. That said, our family did all right. Military gave my family free medical and dental care, subsidized housing, subsidized prices for groceries, free use of a nice gym, and very low fees for a country-club quality pool & golf course.
Nathan Newman
The ignorance of folks posting on this site (and others) never ceases to amaze me. I was in a knock-down fight within the Guild on issues of the war, cited in Horowitz’s Frontpage magazine, because I harshly critized the ANSWER leadership of the antiwar movement.
But you guys can’t recognize dissent, either within the left or against the Bush administration. Frankly, the sectarian left and the warhawk right are both of the same mindset– either agree with us, or you are a traitor.
Read the FrontPage profile, since you can’t actually read my blog itself, and maybe you’ll get a clue.
Robin Roberts
Gee, it didn’t take long for the “dissent is being called treason” lie to pop up.
In addition to its obvious dishonesty, it is a failed attempt to change the subject, Nathan.
Slartibartfast
Ok, now being highly paid makes it perfectly ok for them to have been so barbarically murdered. Ok, well I guess we can now publicly disembowel Bill Gates without fear of reprisal, eh?
Tongue Boy
“Of course we wouldn’t want to consider why the fuck the people of Fulluja feel it necessary to lynch dead Americans.”
Of course we wouldn’t want to besmirch the character and reputations of the overwhelming majority of Fallujah’s citizens who did not take part in this barbarity?
Would we?