Waldo Jaquith (JAKE-with) is an open government technologist who lives near Charlottesville, VA, USA. more »
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22 replies on “Let justice flow down as waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Fascinating. Your point is what? How about posting some pictures of (or at least mentioning) Saddam’s well-documented pastimes of torture, disfigurement, nerve-gassing and other various and sundry intentional acts against his own citizens?
Sympathetic fellow, aren’t you?
I’m not suprised, but you’re changing the subject. Anyone with a heart grieves for this poor girl. So, as long as you seem to be putting words in my mouth, I’ll just assume you feel Iraq is better off with Saddam in charge. I guess that’s sympathy in your book!
Waldo, do you believe that this girl was intentionally hurt?
I’ve said only that she’s liberated, and, through sarcasm, indicated that this must be cold comfort for the death of her parents.
The ends, after all, justify the means.
But…what about the despotic rule of Saddam? What have you to say about that? Would Jews and other untermenschen be better off, too, if we’d ignored Adolf Hitler? Just wonderin’….
The girl is sad because her parents have been killed. I am sad for her.
Let’s also keep this in mind… this little girl’s parents are dead because her parents were trying to kill other people. Most likely, they were suicide bombers (the article says the car was approaching a checkpoint and would not stop – troops then opened fire). This six children in the vehicle would have died as well. In essence, our troops saved the lives of six children. Considering her parents were suicide bombers, I’d say she’s better off without them.
Good link. I read into the original article too much. With the outbreak of suicide bombers, you can’t blame the troops for firing on the car when it wouldn’t stop. Warning shots were fired, they used hand signals. It’s a shame, that’s for sure. Catch 22.
Absolutely — I don’t ascribe any individual malice to anybody here — it’s simply a Bad Thing. It’s just what happens when a nation is occupied militarily.
What’s really a “Bad Thing” is the moral relativism at the core of your original and follow-up posts. It’d be real tough to figure out who the bad guys are if this kind of disinformation were your only source of reporting.
I am a worthless human being, wretched and rotten to the core.
If I were you, I wouldn’t spend one more minute on this blog.
In my opinion, the real bad thing is the defensive response that some folks have to that picture, and how they try to redirect to avoid the horror of the tragedy that was inflicted upon that poor child by US soldiers – “Ill just assume you feel Iraq is better off with Saddam in charge.”
At the end of the day, it makes no difference to that little girl whether her parents’ deathblood was spattered all over her intentionally or not. One is left wondering if her parents would still be alive today were Saddam Hussein still in power.
We are supposed to be saving these people, but it seems to me that most wish we had never butted in.
I am not going to try and turn this discussion into one about the validity of the war. However, I think its fairly common knowledge and everyone agrees that the world is a better place without Saddam or Hitler.
To assume otherwise is just obtuse. The real tragedy here is what the children have been through. Any discussion of how it would have been different if Saddam was still in power is changing the subject.
If a secondary concern exists (or rather, one can get past the primary one – the children) it is how these children, their family, friends, and anyone they associate with will forever perceive America from this day forward.
Waldo, it’s a pity that you don’t wish to make any accomodation for dissenting opinion. By your choice you’d rather be ignored…?
No, John K. You’re trying to hold a discussion that I don’t want to have. I posted about a sad girl, and now you’re accusing me of treason, or something. I don’t care. I’m not obliged to converse with you about any topic that you see fit. Go find a party where you can accost the host about her position on abortion or something, would you?
While it may be true to say that the world is better off without Saddam Hussein, I think the majority of Iraqis would not agree that their world is better now. That little girl certainly does not agree that her life is better now that the US military is occupying her country.
I think that most people in Iraq were happier when Hussein was in power than they are now. Most were able to make some kind of living, had adequate utlities available, access to water and some small necessities of life that most do not have today. It was not perfect, and many suffered, but no where near the scale of suffering that is seen in Iraq today.
There is no question that Hussein did many terrible things, yet most folks were still able to live somewhat normal lives when he was in power. That is simply not true today, and there is no end in sight to the chaos that now reigns.
My opinion: It’s rather unseemly to use this girl’s misery in order to score some cheap and snarky political points. But this is Waldo’s blog, and his political leanings are well known. You take the good with the bad.
I think it is neither “cheap” nor “snarky” for Waldo to “use” this girl to “score” political points. Waldo is remembering that political decisions don’t merely affect the players in the international state system, but that they impact individual people’s lives. Isn’t that what ultimately matters?
I “suppose” you’re “entitled” to your “opinion.” ;)
Chuckle. I suppose I overdid it with the quotes :). Sometimes I can’t help but laugh at myself.
Fascinating. Your point is what? How about posting some pictures of (or at least mentioning) Saddam’s well-documented pastimes of torture, disfigurement, nerve-gassing and other various and sundry intentional acts against his own citizens?
Sympathetic fellow, aren’t you?
I’m not suprised, but you’re changing the subject.Anyone with a heart grieves for this poor girl. So, as long as you seem to be putting words in my mouth, I’ll just assume you feel Iraq is better off with Saddam in charge. I guess that’s sympathy in your book!
Waldo, do you believe that this girl was intentionally hurt?
I’ve said only that she’s liberated, and, through sarcasm, indicated that this must be cold comfort for the death of her parents.
The ends, after all, justify the means.
But…what about the despotic rule of Saddam? What have you to say about that? Would Jews and other untermenschen be better off, too, if we’d ignored Adolf Hitler? Just wonderin’….
The girl is sad because her parents have been killed. I am sad for her.
Let’s also keep this in mind… this little girl’s parents are dead because her parents were trying to kill other people. Most likely, they were suicide bombers (the article says the car was approaching a checkpoint and would not stop – troops then opened fire). This six children in the vehicle would have died as well. In essence, our troops saved the lives of six children. Considering her parents were suicide bombers, I’d say she’s better off without them.
They weren’t suicide bombers. Here’s the firsthand account by Chris Hondros, the photographer who took the picture. Coverage of this is extensive.
Good link. I read into the original article too much. With the outbreak of suicide bombers, you can’t blame the troops for firing on the car when it wouldn’t stop. Warning shots were fired, they used hand signals. It’s a shame, that’s for sure. Catch 22.
Absolutely — I don’t ascribe any individual malice to anybody here — it’s simply a Bad Thing. It’s just what happens when a nation is occupied militarily.
What’s really a “Bad Thing” is the moral relativism at the core of your original and follow-up posts. It’d be real tough to figure out who the bad guys are if this kind of disinformation were your only source of reporting.
I am a worthless human being, wretched and rotten to the core.
If I were you, I wouldn’t spend one more minute on this blog.
In my opinion, the real bad thing is the defensive response that some folks have to that picture, and how they try to redirect to avoid the horror of the tragedy that was inflicted upon that poor child by US soldiers – “Ill just assume you feel Iraq is better off with Saddam in charge.”
At the end of the day, it makes no difference to that little girl whether her parents’ deathblood was spattered all over her intentionally or not. One is left wondering if her parents would still be alive today were Saddam Hussein still in power.
We are supposed to be saving these people, but it seems to me that most wish we had never butted in.
I am not going to try and turn this discussion into one about the validity of the war. However, I think its fairly common knowledge and everyone agrees that the world is a better place without Saddam or Hitler.
To assume otherwise is just obtuse. The real tragedy here is what the children have been through. Any discussion of how it would have been different if Saddam was still in power is changing the subject.
If a secondary concern exists (or rather, one can get past the primary one – the children) it is how these children, their family, friends, and anyone they associate with will forever perceive America from this day forward.
Waldo, it’s a pity that you don’t wish to make any accomodation for dissenting opinion. By your choice you’d rather be ignored…?
No, John K. You’re trying to hold a discussion that I don’t want to have. I posted about a sad girl, and now you’re accusing me of treason, or something. I don’t care. I’m not obliged to converse with you about any topic that you see fit. Go find a party where you can accost the host about her position on abortion or something, would you?
While it may be true to say that the world is better off without Saddam Hussein, I think the majority of Iraqis would not agree that their world is better now. That little girl certainly does not agree that her life is better now that the US military is occupying her country.
I think that most people in Iraq were happier when Hussein was in power than they are now. Most were able to make some kind of living, had adequate utlities available, access to water and some small necessities of life that most do not have today. It was not perfect, and many suffered, but no where near the scale of suffering that is seen in Iraq today.
There is no question that Hussein did many terrible things, yet most folks were still able to live somewhat normal lives when he was in power. That is simply not true today, and there is no end in sight to the chaos that now reigns.
My opinion: It’s rather unseemly to use this girl’s misery in order to score some cheap and snarky political points. But this is Waldo’s blog, and his political leanings are well known. You take the good with the bad.
I think it is neither “cheap” nor “snarky” for Waldo to “use” this girl to “score” political points. Waldo is remembering that political decisions don’t merely affect the players in the international state system, but that they impact individual people’s lives. Isn’t that what ultimately matters?
I “suppose” you’re “entitled” to your “opinion.” ;)
Chuckle. I suppose I overdid it with the quotes :). Sometimes I can’t help but laugh at myself.