Der Einzige said:
It's absolutely not a bastion of moral authority, but treating the government with reasonable suspicion is one thing and jumping to conspiracy theories is another.
Pakistan Crisis
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It's absolutely not a bastion of moral authority, but treating the government with reasonable suspicion is one thing and jumping to conspiracy theories is another.
Vermillion_Hawk said:
From the standpoint of ethical or moral standards, I believe that the vast majority of people who gravitate into roles and formal social leaders--well at least at levels that are beyond truly 'local,' meaning anything from midsize city mayor/councilman and on up to the top--are willing and capable of committing the worst possible breaches of honesty, humanity and dignity. In sum, I believe that these roles naturally either (a) attract scumbags, or (b) force people who wish to have a career to slowly morph into scumbags.
That said, most conspiracy theories fail to acknowledge one key fact, that is generally applicable throughout most of the Western world, and indeed moreso today than at any time in the past: Watergate crushed Nixon.
It is very hard to conceal complex and 'juicy' secrets and most conspiracy theories (e.g., 9/11 as a false flag operation) are founded on assumptions about a great deal of complicity by hundreds or thousands of foot soldiers or operatives in keeping lots of secrets. It just doesn't happen that way in the Western world. It hardly happens that way in the Soviet/post-Soviet world. It may happen that way to a very limited degree in places like North Korea, or Iran, but the fact is, the hermetic seals which those regimes have worked to keep in place on the minds of their citizens for decades are slowly, inexorably eroding and will eventually burst.
Mage246
So you admit that politicians can in fact say things that are true. Well, that's progress.
Der Einzige
Master Knight
Is the idea that the White House had some sort of prior knowledge of an attack just a conspiracy theory? I remember there being a bit of strong evidence for that. But we'll never know for sure though. I wouldn't put it past them of course.Vermillion_Hawk said:
And this whole thing about wire tapping of US citizens, I mean **** that's been happening since the 60's. No one cares about the Church Committee
or how most of this has already been talked about in the past.
Mage246
Your politicians seem pretty bad at lying. If you don't tell the truth at least some of the time, nobody will believe your lies.
Der Einzige said:
When talking about prior knowledge it's obviously hard, after the fact, to say anything conclusive without knowing all the facts. Looking back the signs were all there, but hindsight is always like that and it's safe to say that the way international incidents are handled has changed a lot in the intervening years. Whether or not they had concrete foreknowledge, I'd say probably not. Could they have handled it better? I think maybe, but like I said, nothing is conclusive.
Mage246 said:
Sorry for all this ****, but elections are coming and the campaign is going strong and it is getting on my nerves. The thing is, both sides speak the truth when they say the other side does not deserve another chance. But the thing is, none of them mentions why would they themselves deserve another one, and the whole thing starts getting old. And after watching the events in Ukraine, I just want to punch a politician.
Pakistan Taleban have announced a month-long truce:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26398758
Buying some time to reinforce their positions? Hard to believe they want to genuinely negotiate.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26398758
Buying some time to reinforce their positions? Hard to believe they want to genuinely negotiate.
Jhessail said:
It was my understanding that, at least among British and American elements of the coalition, the prospect of some sort of negotiated settlement in which the Taliban / Al Qaeda would be 'let off the hook' was increasingly appealing these past few years. U.S. has been pretty relentless with the drone strikes and I suspect that, it might actually be starting to 'hurt' a bit. Always difficult to judge with these totally modern approaches just how effective they are likely to be or are proving to be.
If they cannot really hide in Pakistan, despite having plenty of friends in the Pakistani government/military, then they really have no where else to run. Maybe they are slowing reaching the conclusion that they need to either stall for time or seriously consider some sort of negotiated settlment?
That would be my guess.
