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Author Topic: Boycott & computer products.  (Read 21396 times)

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Offline mdwh2

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Re: Boycott & computer products.
« on: April 06, 2003, 02:34:43 PM »
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i agree with the boycot on france the quality of french made stuff is below poor
So you aren't buying French products because they are of poor quality. I think that's called consumer choice, and not a boycott.
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besides there a smelly bunch of backstabing cowards why would the french help with the war when they support sadam the evil murderer they make loads of money out of sales to iraq .
I take it you'll be boycotting all US products, for similar reasons?
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What they done to the graves of people who whent to war to help france  just goes to show what there like.
"They"? Last time I looked, the "French" as used in this context means the French government. Clearly it's absurd to suggest that everyone in France is anti-war, and I doubt that the grafitti was organised by the French government. I'm sure that at least once, there must have been some time when an individual vandalised graves in the US, so if this is the case, again will you be boycotting all US products (or indeed, any country where a grave ever got vandalised)?
 

Offline mdwh2

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Re: Boycott & computer products.
« Reply #1 on: April 06, 2003, 03:00:30 PM »
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smerf wrote:
Us people in the US feel we don't need the UN or any other of you wussy countries to help us, but you know what you do need us. We helped bail out france in WWII
I never understood this tired argument of "a group of people [not 'we', unless you're actually a WW2 veteran] helped out a country once, therefore that country must agree with everything we do". The situation isn't the same since Iraq isn't invading countries - indeed, it's the US which is doing that, so it's entirely consistent to have opposed the German invasions in WW2, and to now oppose the US invasions.

Yes, if a new superpower emerged and threatened the world, I'll be glad to have the US on "my" side. As indeed I'd be glad even with no new superpowers emerging.

But this is exactly the point! - people aren't anti-war or anti-US because they think they don't need the US, or because they think it isn't powerful. It's *because* of the power, and that it is using this power to invade countries without any care what the rest of the world thinks is why some people are against it.

Your attitude of "we're the most powerful country and can do what we like, and you've no choice but to agree because you need us" is a perfect example of why people are anti-US.
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and we helped re establish germany,
You were there were you? (Not that us brits can do much - I mean look at how the French defeated us in 1066 not too long ago).
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 as a matter of fact we have generally tried to help every country in the world,
That's the problem - I'm not convinced that the US' policy of invading countries, installing governments to their liking, and then crying ten years later when that country hates them is one that particularly works.
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what do we get in return the old finger wave and no support from the UN which by the way gets 85% of their funding from the good old US and is one of the things that we strongly supported until now.
"Support" in the monetary sense, possibly, which is the "we're the richest country, we can do what we like" argument. This is hardly the first time the US have refused to go along with what the UN says (see http://www.cunr.org/priorities/treaties.htm).
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If the United Nations makes these rules for countries to follow and then does not back them up then what good is the United Nations, the United States gave the UN and saddam every bit of patience that we could muster, there is a time though to say enough is enough and go in and kick some butt when regulations are not followed,

Well said! So, America should be punished for going against the UN.
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and thats what we are doing. America has woke up since 9/11 and we know that the rest of the world don't like it, too bad. These fanatics have played with America and now we are slowly roundin em up and putting em on the old meat hooks to say the least.
Saddam didn't have anything to do with 9/11. It was someone who was trained and funded by the CIA. I can believe that this war might be about Iraq not following UN rules, or it might be about them possibly having WMD, or it might be to "liberate" the Iraqi ppl, or it might be about oil, but I think "terrorism" is the weakest argument for war. You won't catch any terrorists, and invading countries is a quick way to get lots more people hating you.
 

Offline mdwh2

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Re: Boycott & computer products.
« Reply #2 on: April 09, 2003, 11:34:51 PM »
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smerf wrote:
Wake up and smell the bombs, it is better for them to fall over there than over here where our children are,
From my own personal point of view, it is better if bombs fall on someone else's heads than my head. But that applies to everyone, and it doesn't make one case more right than the other.
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at least we try to miss civilian's do they?
Yes. Why do you think they don't?
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How many military men did they take out in 9/11?
I've never quite understood the argument that military deaths are okay, but civilian deaths aren't.

Where this argument applies is if a soldier is invading a country and shooting people - it can reasonably argued that it is necessary to shoot him, where as it's unfair to shoot random passerbys.

But in Iraq or Afganistan, the soldiers were defending their country, so I don't think that makes them fair targets. On top of that, I believe many in the army (in Iraq at least) are conscripts.

The only way these deaths are less unacceptable is in the sense that they are less avoidable - if your target is an enemy tank, it's difficult to destroy it without killing the occupants. On the other hand, bombing a residential area generally doesn't have any useful value.

But 9/11 was not an attack on a residential area! If you want to hurt America economically, militarily and politically, going after the World Trade Centre, the Pentagon and the White House seem obvious targets.

So in summary, I see Iraqi deaths as unacceptable as deaths in 9/11, and civilian vs military doesn't come in to it.

It's difficult to know the scale of Iraqi deaths. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52531-2003Apr7.html suggests between 2000 and 4000 soldiers, and between 877 and 1050 civilians have died.