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Photos of Mosul 2017

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Re: Photos of Mosul 2017

#91

Post by nyolfen »

kukabynd wrote: post #86
blubber wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please give me name and phone number of the one person that is responsible. Thank you. I'll call him/her and tell him/her that he/she did all that.

You’re overdoing it a tad, but let’s just imagine you had a number of that “evil person”. Why would you call him/her and tell he/she did all that? Wouldn’t it be pointless? Seriously though, I’m not saying I have all the answers but let me ask a simple question. Why would the country with the biggest military industrial complex in the world be involved in the regions all over the world, especially on the other half o…

so why are you blaming the US specifically and not any of the disparate partisan groups that directly built ISIS? the islamist militants from MENA, the saudis funding wahhabist madrassas abroad, the gulf monarchies giving arms and funding, the former iraqi ba'athists that make up its officer corps... and instead you choose an entity directly fighting ISIS? why is that? almost as if you have ideological blinders on...

Re: Photos of Mosul 2017

#92

Post by dragonwriter »

dasil003 wrote: post #69
rublev wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is this being downvoted with explanation?

I didn't downvote, but my guess would be because ISIS is responsible for this escalation, not the US.

ISIL (or something like it; the name/identity couldn't be predicted) as a substantial force with territory, was a foreseeable consequences of the US invasion of Iraq, the inadequate allotment of troops for occupation compared to pre-invasion expert-identified requirements, and bungling of details of the occupation like de-Baathification, particularly the wholesale and disorderly dismissal of security services.

The US (and specific US policy makers) are directly responsible for that.

Re: Photos of Mosul 2017

#93

Post by afarrell »

kukabynd wrote: post #78
dasil003 wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't downvote, but my guess would be because ISIS is responsible for this escalation, not the US.

And who’s responsible for ISIS?

Many, but I'd like to add Mark Sykes and François Georges-Picot to the list of names we're considering.

Re: Photos of Mosul 2017

#94

Post by nyolfen »

jokoon wrote: post #89

It's weird because I've read several times over that violence in the world is decreasing on average, so it would seem the middle is the last violent place. Still quite violent...

you see all those weird straight lines when you look at the political boundaries on a map of the middle east? those are lines drawn by former colonial masters. they look inorganic because they aren't natural.

this alone is a seed of conflict: unnatural borders that don't reflect a social reality. throw in prized resources to compete over, and it's incredibly fertile ground for violence.

now, look where else you can see these national border geometries for a glimpse into the future...

Re: Photos of Mosul 2017

#96

Post by wfunction »

Denvercoder9 wrote: post #41
wfunction wrote: post #32

Note: Just to clarify in case anyone misinterprets, these are not my photos! I merely copied the title from the page. If there's a better way to title pages like these, please let me know, since I was confused as to what title I should put while avoiding it being misleading.

It'd probably work to prefix the name of the author before the title, so something like "Kainoa Little: No One Would Buy My Photos, So Here They Are For Free: Mosul 2017".

Ooh, that's a good idea, thanks!

Re: Photos of Mosul 2017

#97

Post by kukabynd »

nyolfen wrote: post #91
kukabynd wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re overdoing it a tad, but let’s just imagine you had a number of that “evil person”. Why would you call him/her and tell he/she did all that? Wouldn’t it be pointless? Seriously though, I’m not saying I have all the answers but let me ask a simple question. Why would the country with the biggest military industrial complex in the world be involved in the regions all over the world, especially on the other half o…

so why are you blaming the US specifically and not any of the disparate partisan groups that directly built ISIS? the islamist militants from MENA, the saudis funding wahhabist madrassas abroad, the gulf monarchies giving arms and funding, the former iraqi ba'athists that make up its officer corps... and instead you choose an entity directly fighting ISIS? why is that? almost as if you have ideological blinders on...

I don’t know all the details, I just see arguments from both sides and want to explore the possibilities so that I have a rational non-biased opinion anyone can have. I’m not from the US nor from the Middle East. I’m not religious nor in support of anything close to it.

All the information I consume is not necessarily true nor fact-based. I don’t know, I wasn’t there. My point is that we don’t know 100% of the information as any information might be false. No channel, source, a journalist is 100% trustworthy nor bias-free. Thus, my only choice is to think about the global picture by consuming and sharing my thoughts based on both true and false news.

So, blinders off.

---

You say that “entity” fights ISIS. Why do you say that? What’s your take in this? Do you personally support that war? Is it because you read/saw it somewhere or personally went to war? Let’s imagine you did go to war. Did you lay out the orders or followed them? These are rhetorical questions.

I read articles about how the US is the one doing the bid in stopping terrorism, but I also read articles on how the US is sponsoring state terrorism. I heard what the UK officials say, but I also listened to what Iran officials have to say. I read that the US sells billions worth of military stuff to Saudi Arabia, but I also saw that Saudi Arabia might be sponsoring ISIS.

Where’s the truth?

---

Let’s just consider the possibility that both of our arguments are right as in “ISIS is sponsored by local partisan groups with finance coming from the US”.

Where does that leave you and me? Nowhere. We are simply watching the game those in power play. To hope that any of our governments care about us is a fool’s errand. We are simply economical units and numbers in their vote ballots. The same as citizens of Iraq and Syria. Look what happened to them. It can happen to any of us. The goal is to be prepared and have an “Exit”, that’s all I’m interested in.

Re: Photos of Mosul 2017

#98

Post by Simon_says »

dragonwriter wrote: post #92
dasil003 wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't downvote, but my guess would be because ISIS is responsible for this escalation, not the US.

ISIL (or something like it; the name/identity couldn't be predicted) as a substantial force with territory, was a foreseeable consequences of the US invasion of Iraq, the inadequate allotment of troops for occupation compared to pre-invasion expert-identified requirements, and bungling of details of the occupation like de-Baathification, particularly the wholesale and disorderly dismissal of security services. The US…

I want to believe that this result was foreseeable. I want to believe that some people at least are wise enough to see consequences of actions. Can you point to some piece of writing explaining this prior to or contemporaneous with the US invasion?

Re: Photos of Mosul 2017

#99

Post by dsego »

skywhopper wrote: post #48

These are great pictures, and makes me realize that while we hear a lot (though not enough) about these conflicts around the world, its usually just accompanied by a photo or two or a few seconds of video capturing a firefight or an explosion. But such things are cliche at this point and don't hit home. Seeing real soldiers taking a break between firefights, and real families fleeing their homes with their children a…

There is a great short film about the yugoslav war that depicts this really well. You can find it on youtube, type in "10 Minutes, a short film".

Re: Photos of Mosul 2017

#100

Post by Simon_says »

the_cat_kittles wrote: post #70
aphextron wrote: post #49

The recent drone footage from Mosul is some of the most mind blowing, surreal stuff imaginable. God help anyone trapped in that city. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IW_F2ntQOcQ

anti refugee sentiment is so unconscionable, what the hell world do we live in

Please at least make an attempt to try to understand the other side. When any immigrants come, they change the country they immigrate to. With these particular refugees, they're refugees in no small part because of shortcomings their home culture has. It's not evil to want to preserve your own culture in the face of this. You can feel empathy for the people trapped in a hellish warzone just as you can feel empathy for the girl raped by migrants. The refugee debate is not good-vs-evil; it's competing virtues.
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