Insurgent Video Targets Blackwater
"Insurgents have put together hundreds of propaganda videos ranting about how oh-so-terrible the American troops in Iraq are. But this is the first flick I've seen that directly and exclusively targets the private military contractors like Blackwater that have become a hallmark of the Iraq occupation...."
Danger Room
Don't know that either is necessarily true
Quote:
Originally Posted by
ODB
I think this is another perfect example of how we are losing the I/O battle. The question is how do we gain the upper hand and maintain it in today's I/O environment?
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Originally Posted by
SteveMetz
I don't think we can win away games.
Just depends on who we have workin with us.
Not sure I've seen anything from AQ or others which comes anywhere close to making Private Military Contractors look nearly as evil as these guys-
http://www.cbs.com/primetime/jericho/
Is it do to own bureaucracy?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
SteveMetz
I don't think we can win away games.
I wonder if we didn't have as much red tape could we have a fighting chance?
Agree and I'd add that even a lot on nominal allies
who might be able to help us have no real incentive to do so and several incentives to avoid helping us. Being the big kid on the block has its disadvantages -- nobody thinks you need help and most think you're a little too big for comfort.
I don't think most nations wish us harm but I do believe most have a vested interest, no matter how minor, in seeing us stub our toes. They may not throw a banana peel in front of us but they also won't waste effort telling us it's there or trying to pick it up.
Goes with the territory...
Heh. I suspect there's a great deal of that
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Originally Posted by
marct
...Another part, I suspect, is just sheer frustration of the "we've told them time and time again and they don't listen" type.
and the fascinating thing is 'they' don't realize that we refuse to listen because we can see their track record in most spheres is not only no better than ours but in many cases is not nearly as good...:wry:
The geo-political dynamics spell trouble...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
SteveMetz
IMO, wouldn't make much of a difference. No one can be consistently psychologically effective in a radically different culture.
Especially with the history of colonization in the region, the history of racism/slavery in Western countries, and the nature of today's globalized liberal market economy...
This is a good example of what I'm thinking...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Ron Humphrey
are a little slow. Could you elaborate on what exactly that means:confused:
Frantz Fanon's "Wretched of the Earth" is a perfect example of what I am talking about. However people feel about his evolutionary theory of violence, I don't think anybody can disagree that it is a powerful example of, what I will call, an insurgent perspective that integrates a particular anti-colonial, non-white view of history.
BTW, is this suggested or required reading in military training/schools?