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| Fifth Column |
| Slamming A Leftist Liar |
| 2003-03-18 |
| Published on Monday, March 17, 2003 by CommonDreams.org What Century Are We In? by Magie Dominic edited for brevity; my comments highlighted (and hopefully not too offensive except to the author) Modern weapons create the same heartrending images of heartbroken men digging through rubble, searching for home, for family. If Iraq really does have nuclear facilities, why is the U.S. planning to bomb them? The UN has a ban against attacks on nuclear sites. Cruise missiles, once en-route, cannot be recalled. (In 1991, the U.S. bombed Iraqi reactors, exposing the civilian population to radioactive iodine.) The statement made above that the UN bans attacks on nuclear sites is a categoric lie. Please note that the Israeli's bombed the Osirak nuclear reactor in the 80's. There is no such ban. In fact, it is outside of the UN's purvue to ban attacks on legitimate military targets which nuclear sites certainly count as. As to the second part of the statement, that the US bombed Iraqi nuclear sites in 1991 and exposed civilians to radioactive iodine, I'd like to see your proof of such allegations. Otherwise, you are categorically lying. During the six-week assault on Iraq, 84,000 tons of bombs were dropped, the equivalent of five Hiroshimas. I need to repeat that: 84,000 tons of bombs rained down, the equivalent of five Hiroshimas â and children were the largest group of casualties. Many died of hunger and cold. At the Cukurca refugee camp, eighty-six died in three days. So, in your twisted rhetoric, conventional bombs are the equivalent of nuclear weapons, right? Bullshit. In addition, your statement that the largest group of casualties was children is another outrageous lie of the anti-American, anti-Bush, pro-Marxist/Stalinist left. The largest group of casualties in the Gulf War was in the Iraqi military forces. In Iraq, U.S. forces introduced ammunition made with depleted uranium, a radioactive waste. At least 940,000 of those toxic, armour-piercing rounds were fired. Dr. Eric Hoskins, a medical doctor with fifteen years of experience working in war zones, surveyed Iraq two years after the war as part of a Harvard Study Team. He estimates that 50,000 children died in the first eight months of 1991, many from the effects of spent rounds littering the ground. UN aid workers saw Iraqi children playing with empty radioactive shells. In Basra, a child was seen using them as hand puppets. The reports that spent uranium rounds have contributed to both Iraqi deaths and the so-called Gulf War Syndrome is unproven. Although supported by such notable figures as Col. David Hackworth (USMC, Ret), it remains an unproven allegation and therefore, stated as a fact in the above comment, is another lie. Today, the U.S. possesses almost three-quarters of a million metric tons of depleted uranium â even though a 1996 UN subcommittee defined arms containing it as weapons of mass destruction. The mass destruction of Iraqâs water purification facilities hastened the spread of cholera and typhoid, and hastened the deaths of thousands of children. Protocol I of the Fourth Geneva Convention, Article 54 prohibits the destruction of objects indispensable to the survival of a civilian population, including food and drinking water. Near Baghdad, 12-million gallons of raw sewage spewed into the Tigris River hourly. Without access to television, radio or newspapers, families continued to rely on the Tigris for their drinking water. As many as a quarter of a million Iraqi civilians died as a result of the Gulf War. The best estimates of civilian casualties run to about 35 thousand - at the most and this figure is generally considered quite high. Thus the above comment is another lie promulgated by people who would, and have, turned a blind eye to the murders of millions of Iraqi citizens by the ruthless dictator Saddam Hussein and his brutal regime. Dr. Hoskins recently returned to Canada after another assessment mission to Iraq. His team found that 500,000 Iraqi children are malnourished and the country has only three months of medicine left. Now, with war looming once again, the children are more vulnerable than ever: And this is America's fault why? For over a decade UN sanctions have allowed for food and medical aid to flow to the Iraqi civilian population, but Hussein's regime has instead diverted billions of dollars to reconstruction of his military and his WMD programs. âWhile it is impossible to predict both the nature of any war and the number of expected deaths and injuries, casualties among children will be in the thousands, probably in the tens of thousands and possibly in the hundreds of thousands ... Iraqâs 13-million children are at grave risk of starvation, disease, death and psychological trauma.â In 1991, U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney â then Secretary of Defence â directed one of the largest and deadliest military campaigns in history. The Washington victory parade alone cost more than $12-million. The attack began late on a clear moonless night, while children were sleeping. Laser bombs work best when itâs clear; they become confused in the clouds. If any soldier can hear me, if any soldier can read this, in the name of God, realize why you have been called there. You have been called there to kill the children. What century are we living in? What have we become? Oh, this is outrageous bullshit! American soldiers have no more desire to kill children than they do to kill Iraqi soldiers who surrender. They have not and will not intentionally kill unarmed civilians and categorically have no desire to kill innocent children. To state otherwise is to reveal your true duplicitous nature and the depth of your hatred for America and all it stands for. American soldiers are willing to give their lives in defense of their country and in the cause of liberating nearly 25 million people who currently live under a brutal and savage regime that your lies and propaganda support. You are an ignorant lying seditious traitor and I only wish you were in the same room with me right now so I could take some satisfaction in beating you to a pulp for this kind of insult to the brave men and women who don the uniform of America and fight to preserve our way of life. Magie Dominic is author of The Queen of Peace Room, a personal exploration of violence in the second half of the twentieth century. Another book to cross off my reading list. Die, you ignorant commie slut traitor. |
| Posted by:FOTSGreg |
| #16 Here's a response that I wrote to articles in the Seattle P-I about the use of DU rounds by the Navy earlier this year: To the Editor, I agree with the article's implication that contamination of the ocean with radioactive material would alarm fishermen and consumers alike. However, I hope you will take the time to do further research on the actual level of danger to the public. The article correctly states that depleted uranium remains radioactive for approximately 4.5 billion years. Basically, the time period you refer to is the radioactive half-life of the material. The half-life for a given radioisotope is the time for half the radioactive nuclei in any sample to undergo radioactive decay. After two half-lives, there will be one fourth the original sample, after three half-lives one eighth the original sample, and so on. For example, Plutonium is one of the most highly radioactive materials on earth--so much so that it is not normally found in nature, but is created by man through atomic fission. Plutonium's half-life is approximately 24,000 years (Knapp, Brian, Nuclear Physics, 1996). The end of the decay process results in a material that is stable, like lead. In fact, depleted uranium's long half life makes it useful for radiation shielding! Some DU applications include use in medical isotope casks, radioactive source shields, tank armor, and ammunition for the CIWS (AKA Phalanx) and the A-10 aircraft used by the Air Force and National Guard. The real "danger" of DU is not radioactivity, but toxicity. Uranium is a heavy metal, like arsenic, cadmium, barium, zinc, lead and mercury. Given the small number of rounds fired during the tests you reported, the level of toxic exposure in a given area of the sea is virtually statistically insignificant. Ironically, the lead weights that fishermen use to hold down their baited hooks and nets are much more commonly deposited in the ocean environment than DU. Perhaps your next story can sensationalize that danger? One of the best articles on the risks of exposure to DU is a recent study by the British Royal Society--the summary is all you need to read. I've linked to the summary if you need more info. |
| Posted by: Jim 2003-03-19 01:49:41 |
| #15 Maggie Dominic = Bene Geseret Witch |
| Posted by: anon 2003-03-18 23:28:55 |
| #14 Well, she's full of it concerning 'empty radioactive shells'. DU rounds are solid, meant to penetrate armor not explode. As for the plea to soldier's 'in the name of God'...the best reply is this from a WWII GI talking to Ambrose: "Imagine this. In the spring of 1945, around the world, the sight of a twelve man squad of teenage boys, armed and in uniform brought terror to people's hearts. Whether it was a Red Army squad in Berlin or Leipzig, or Warsaw, or a German squad in Holland, or a Japanese squad in Manilla or Seoul or Bejiing, that squad meant rape, pillage, looting, wanton destruction, senseless killing. But there was an exception, a squad of GI's" [and I would add a squad of Tommy's]"a sight that brought the biggest smiles...." I would go on but you get the picture as this cow never would. The grand sons and grand daughters of these GI's and Tommy's are in the desert even now and would make their fathers and grandfathers proud in every measure. That she so cavalierly demeans them as 'child killers' I can only say SHAME ON YOU Magie Dominic. Sorry for my long-windedness, but this child-killer shit gets right under my skin....I guess mad-cow Magie is the first to publically state such? |
| Posted by: Steve Snake Driver 2003-03-18 22:38:29 |
| #13 It's appropriate as an example of what the fifth column's hollering about - that's why I left it in. |
| Posted by: Fred 2003-03-18 21:48:10 |
| #12 I've gotta stick up for Greg - I didn't think it was inappropriate as background info . Fred? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-03-18 21:16:40 |
| #11 A couple of technical points: The Soviet 125mm tank gun, the main gun for the T-64 and T-72 series of tanks have a DU round available to it. It is impossible for me to believe the coalition tanks were the only one launching these projectiles. I don't recall any references to the Soviet APDSFSDU round being fired in this missive, as it undoubtedly was. Second, you can always tell a polemicist who doesn't have the facts at hand. They use such phrases as "as many as', 'no fewer than' and at least. But my favorite is the phrase 'as many as.' My counter is that the writer also means as few as zero. Third, for my part, I don't want a woman as wacky as this getting a hold of my root. |
| Posted by: badanov 2003-03-18 19:35:05 |
| #10 "Die you ignorant commie slut traitor." Bravo FOTSGreg!!! That's the language of diplomacy we need to hear more often in the UN. |
| Posted by: Sgt.DT 2003-03-18 19:08:47 |
| #9 anon1, The answer is c) (for all of them, however many there are). Without Saddam there'd be no b), and hence no a) either. But try explaining that to a leftie... |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2003-03-18 18:06:47 |
| #8 also: does anybody have a reference source for *exactly* how many Iraqi children (TM) were killed a) by sanctions b)by GW1, and c) by Saddam? It would certainly help to quantify in an argument with the looney left. |
| Posted by: anon1 2003-03-18 17:53:23 |
| #7 This silly scrag's scribblings entomb everthing I loath about the hypocritical handwringing dictator-supporting left. But please, please do not call her 'slut' or 'whore' as this denigrates perfectly self-respecting women who either like to have a lot of sex, or who sell sex for money. |
| Posted by: anon1 2003-03-18 17:50:23 |
| #6 Ptah - Sorry, thought it was relevent. 11A5S - You're right. My apologies and memory enhancement duly noted and logged. |
| Posted by: FOTSGreg 2003-03-18 15:43:03 |
| #5 I suppose that the authoritarian left's pretense of concern for the lives of innocents is the worst and most evil aspect of their long-running effort to preserve brutal dictatorships and promote their own social superiority. This sickening whore lies when it suits her, pretends to care about children when her real objective is genocide, and actually gets a pass from the media for it all. This is about to end. These people have a lot to answer for, and it's time to collect. |
| Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy 2003-03-18 15:18:33 |
| #4 I prefer the equivalence between nuclear and conventional weapons. W80s for all! |
| Posted by: Brian 2003-03-18 14:59:59 |
| #3 FYI, Hackworth is USA, ret., not USMC, ret. |
| Posted by: 11A5S 2003-03-18 14:04:17 |
| #2 *shakes head* This is a fisking, not a news item. |
| Posted by: Ptah 2003-03-18 13:55:41 |
| #1 apparently Mugabe's rape rooms, the slave trade, and endless despotic torture chambers do not merit her attention as does America's inability to liberate millions of oppressed Iraqis without accidently killing as few as we possibly can. Nor does she care if another 3,000 innocent Americans are incinerated into dust, other than the fact that her maid never seems to properly wipe it all off her fine furniture. |
| Posted by: becky 2003-03-18 13:40:30 |