BoaterTalk: Forum: Liquid Lounge

Looking at the news out of Syria - are suicide car bombs a legitimate tool of revolution?

Forum: Liquid Lounge

If they're using car bombs are they freedom fighters or terrorists? Freedom fighting terrorists?

By any means necessary?

Danged 'ol slippery moral high ground!!

I'm a tad confused about where we ought to "be" on this. Can we embrace the result w/o legitimizing the method?

Just wondering...

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Why not? Terrorism is in the targeting, not the method. <NT> janedoe New

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Okay - I see what you're saying - so the ends actually DO justify the means? funkmop New

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Bioweapons are pretty hard to target. I think the question "does the end justify the means" janedoe New

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Precisely - I agree with every word in your post here - but it begs the question "Where does the line lie?" funkmop New

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Somewhere on the other side of Hiroshima. RandyH New

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We seem to have drawn different conclusions based on what was "learned" in Hiroshima and Nagasaki... funkmop New

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The practical reality is that it takes all people everywhere to not have war, but only one person to have war... RandyH New

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That may be the reality, but I question its practicality... funkmop New

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If you don't defeat them, then you, your values, and your definition of honor become extinct and gone forever... RandyH New

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I agree that it's important to win any fight to the death you happen to get into... funkmop New

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Obviously it is better not to fight at all. Obviously it is better to win without compromising values... RandyH New

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If it's really the high ground, is it a luxury, our our greatest asset? funkmop New

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It is a luxury (and no, you won't get the answer you like) RandyH New

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"Mr. Sartre, may I introduce Captain Kirk?" funkmop New

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I am not delighted with the situation...I just don't see the point of beating my head against the brick wall... RandyH New

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Le Main Sales by Sartre. <NT> ezwater New

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Link inside. ezwater New

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Nothing like the theatre for a little light entertainment... <NT> funkmop New

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Both Sartre and Camus struggled with issues of what the Resistance did during Nazi occupation. ezwater New

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We've installed dictators and tyrants that kill in Africa many times in the past. Why stop now? 20yrboater New

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I'm not sure where the line lines but I'm pretty sure it's not between "bomb" and "suicide car bomb" janedoe New

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I can respect that... <NT> funkmop New

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Lotta people have been executed who might not have been bombers at all. ezwater New

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I would argee if they weren't talking some 18 year old sap into blowing himself up lrcable New

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If the Palestineans only targeted Israel's military/government, then it would be justified... RandyH New

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US government uses or has used drones, agent orange, fire torches in villages that kill civilians. Why ok for us then? 20yrboater New

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Because it was always OK, even before there was an "Us". RandyH New

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It might have been like that - it might even still be like that - but it was never "OK" and never will be... <NT> funkmop New

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I wish I could have Scarlett Johannson, but it won't happen. That is not OK, but it just IS. Don't have to like it. RandyH New

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Life is not worth living, then... <NT> Zork New

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Yet, for some reason we persevere anyway. <NT> RandyH New

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I would have to add rationale to targeting. lrcable New

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I agree completely... funkmop New

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Between the Ottomans, British, French, Iranians and Isrealis, the area is a goat rope lrcable New

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Yeah - but we never seem to get far enough out of it, do we? funkmop New

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In this case, the least bad option is minding our own business. likes

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2 lrcable New

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Probably, but I doubt we have that sort of self restraint... <NT> funkmop New

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Unfortunately, that is probably correct. lrcable New

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Having been in the Marines...I say there is no respectable way to kill people. <NT> UFO New

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But the coolest way is the F22 Raptor...that is a killing machine from the future! <NT> UFO New

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I wholeheartedly endorse that idea - if it gets to the point where we're killing folks, we've already failed miserably.. funkmop New

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200+ years ago, the English thought the Colonists were terrorist. No uniforms. Shooting from behind trees... Dale New

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And at the same time the British were carrying out reprisals against civilians (a time honored European tactic, BTW)... funkmop New

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I just don't see "suicide car bomb" as being materially different from "bomb" janedoe New

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at least with suicide car bombs... rustyboater New

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Again, I agree - if you decide to explode HD real close to someone, how you get it there doesn't seem so important... funkmop New

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Here's a thought! If a guy in Kansas shoots a drone missile, he has to taze himself too! ezwater New

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It's not so much that I'm comfortable with it, but it's certainly reminiscent of the US's beginnings... Dale New

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So a "minor atrocity" is regrettable but acceptable? funkmop New

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i know you were... rustyboater New

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Yeah - I'm just a shitty "joiner", I suppose - I've been ambivalent at best about most of what's gone down since 9/11... funkmop New

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we're in the same club... rustyboater New

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Didn't you know. Its only terrorism if.... Pinecricker New

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It'd be funnier if it wasn't so easy to see that it might be true... <NT> funkmop New

And suicide oxcarts! Dacshunds with explosives strapped under their PFDs! <NT> ezwater New

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was it a suicide bombing? rustyboater New

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An excellent question - as I type, most of the coverage says it was - but as you say... funkmop New

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When you have no other weapons... Pinecricker New

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I'm not the one who singled "suicide car bombing" out as a characteristically "terrorist" act... funkmop New

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"Where do we draw the line?" Zork New

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Okay - so say "our guys" (the Syrian rebels in this case, presumably) get a bunch of Mustard Gas shells... funkmop New

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It IS a genuine issue, all right Zork New

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There are two angles to this question... Pinecricker New

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And that's what you aspire to? Simple to understand, but kind of grim, isn't it? funkmop New

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What is the alternative?... Pinecricker New

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Why do you assume that the only effective way to overcome oppression and injustice is through violence? funkmop New

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Thanks for the insights Ghandi, but... Pinecricker New

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Not a problem - pick up your bowl and loincloth on the left on your way out. Want a flower? funkmop New

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This should calm you down, Grasshopper Zork New

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Nonviolence only works if the opposition has some humanity or belief system that espouses justice. likes

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1 lrcable New

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