More cynical thoughts on the war- What if the Iraqi regime bombed the market places inBaghdad?Possible?marketplaces

[Bobbins]

Just a question.....it is a propoganda war after all

Following on also from hmb's point on the "War- what does it mean thread"....The French also have big economic interests in Iraqi oil as well as the Russians(contracts on the line)....obviously so do the US (especially) & the UK... I really hope the Labour government..can ensure the aftermath involves the UN and true diplomacy...I don't trust Bush.

RAH....Keyboard...I hateyou!

Sorry...My keyboard is really playing up...and my patience wears thin when posting

Mypointis....what a propoganda coup for the Iraqi regime...if all sides see these brutal images of civillian casualties...babies also..andreally poor people.

Perhaps we won't know until this bloody combat is over.

I think a lot of people have the same paranoid thought. The Iraquis have found the US weakness: casualties. US doesn't want to risk soldiers dying. Hilarious if it wasn't so mind-bogglingly stupid to start WWIII if you dont' actually want anybody on your side to die...

Bobbins, we go thru mice & keyboards like you wouldn't believe (I'm a slob who snacks at the computer). Can't cost more than £7-£15 for a new keyboard, you must go get one for that price!

Haven't the US more-or-less admitted the stray missile on the residential area? And they would easily detect a missile launched from inside Iraq. Let's face it, if the US can attack their own side (and ours) how hard is it to imagine they can attack innocent civilians too?

There was a good quote from a US commander on the news yesterday, he said: "This war stinks, I'm sick of it already!" Kinda reflects the feelings of a nation I think!

Rhubarb...do you see so called 'friendly fire' as an attack?

Bobbins, ask the British soldiers who got fired at today by an American plane if it was "friendly fire" or not. The pilot has been called a cowboy who had no respect for human life. One soldier lost his life in this "attack", not much comfort to his family to call it friendly fire I don't think.

I think the whole(Bush,Saddam,Blair)lot of them stink.I do not know what to believe any more. It is a propaganda and MEDIA war.To think in 2003 people are clambering for food and water is disgraceful through Saddams regime or sanctions imposed who knows? What struck me the other day was when they found the chemical suits in the hospital they were boxed and the instructions were in bloody ENGLISH.All I want to see is the WMD found and that is if there is any?? Coz I do not know. Anyone else got any thoughts on this?

And what about the Russian kit they have found? And don't forget that the Iraqi Air Force fly Mirages, kindly sold to them by the French. Or that the Russian government has asked that it's 3 Billion dollar oil contract is honoured at the end of the war. It is not just the west that have supplied him in the past. And the germans helped him to build his bunkers and set up his fibre optic comms system. What are your views on all of that? It stinks, true, but is a very evenly suppled stink, and no-one is clean.

Hmb I could not agree with you more.The whole world is at it with it's snidey deals and backhanders.

It's also disgusting how it's turned into a media war with pointless bloody updates, live reports from the middle of a desert, with a reporter saying what that section of the army are doing at the mo and how they are feeling - it's like a bloody soap opera! The media are milking it for all it's worth, and then there will be the obligatory film, endless documentaries and books by ex-army officers who were there. All this money, it's blood money. I don't think people are relating what they see on the TV every day with real-life, real people and real families. And the TV stations are clambouring over themselves to show more and more upsetting images, dead soldiers, partly buried bodies, funerals, etc. It's all crazy!

This war stinks.

I agree. Every issue is analysed, re-analyed, over analysed. I was struck over the weekend when there was a report of 5 British soldiers being kidnapped. After about 15 minutes they had a 'talking head' in the studio saying, 'Well this is emotive language, and co-elition spin, its not kidnapping, its soldiers being captured'. And then about 10 minutes later it turned out that it was 5 Italian journalists that had been 'kidnapped'. I was left wondering what this had told me about the war. Answer, nothing, except the journalists are getting their rocks off over it.

If women ruled the world, there would never be a war, but some very tense arguments on a 28 day cycle!

Shall we build an annex for the Yurt??

Haven't been to the Yurt for ages... must pop in sometime.

Rhubarb your points about the media and TV really hit home with me. Last Friday I had the news on about 5pm when lots of families sit down to dinner. The newsreader then announced it was within a few minutes of the heavy bombing the night before so we'd be switching to Bagdhad. The camera then moved to said city in Darkness and next thing all these bombs started dropping.

I just couldn't beleive I was watching a real war played in real time like that. Do people really want such graphic involvement while they are eating their tea? It reminded me of watching sports coverage or a football match. V. Macrabre. Just couldn't beleive we were expected to want to see it happen. I turned off after a minute or so as it made me feel so uncomfortable. Kind of like those women who used to sit with their knitting to watch the guiletine in Paris.

The excecuted thing is the difference between someone being shot in a battle, and someone being shot after they have surrendered. Ie having a gun placed at the back of their head, and shot. The Geneva convention says that POWs should not be paraded and humiliated. There has been coverage of Iraqis being taken prisoner, but not interogated on camera for the amusement of the civilians. A fine line, but I think there is a difference.

hmb, agree completely.

There has been plenty of evidence of the total lack of respect for all human life of the Iraqi regime - anybody's life, they don't care. The US and UK govts don't make a habit of torture or repulsive methods of killing people as far as I know.

Re the initial marketplace explosion, somebody on the radio commented on the fact that the shellholes were being filled in by a bloke with a shovel as they were first shown. Hello? What about finding debris as evidence?

Sobernow, I don't know if the two soldier were excecuted or if they died in action. However, as the wife of a service man out in the Gulf I would prefer to think that my dh died swiftly, without knowing that he was about to die. Can you put yourself in their position for a while and realise that? They may well have been told that they died in combat as a kindness. Rather as you would say, yes, they died quickly in no pain, regardless of the truth of the matter. Would you like to think that your dh/dp knew that they were about to die? because I wouldn't. I wouldn't like to have to think of the fear and pain that they were in. Since your Dh/p isn't there you may not have thought this through. I have.

I agree with you that the information given to the general public is generaly meaningless.

Plus excecuting prisoners violates the Geneva convention.

hmb.

How're you doing?

Fine, thank you Soupdragon, and how are you and yours coping? I hope you DB is OK. Had an e-mail form Dh today. It is much easier for me than so many others as we have regular contact, which helps so much.

Cyberhugs to you all

I agree that the comments of the Goverment were unforgivable.