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ISIS Demands $6.6M Ransom for 26-Year-Old American Woman.....

Um, in the post you quoted, I was agreeing with you that the killing has been lopsided toward the US in the past several decades. That was the part where I said "that's all I was arguing"! As to the AK47 being superior, I said that foreign fighters believe it so, obviously. I personally haven't an opinion on that.

I said the number of lopsided military victories favor the US weaponry, the total body count favors the Soviet/Russian weaponry. But that is because the Russian weaponry is used far more against helpless civilian populations by ruthless dictators.
 
By a post that points out that a majority of Americans view the afghan war a mistake? And since when do you consider Americans to be superior, didn't you just point out elsewhere that the majority of Americans are stupid?
Those who voted for Obama a second time were, in my book, stupid. There was no excuse for voting for him a second time. I would also blame those who stayed home and didn't vote. They were foolish.

I don't recall saying Americans are superior or inferior. Do you have a quote for that?
 
:agree: It seems that people on both sides of the aisle are so disgusted with the status quo these days - we see the people we elect to govern us, and whose salaries are paid by us, BTW! - ignoring us in favor of those who lobby them with money, and voting how they expect them to; we watch our infrastructure crumble while billions of dollars are sent to other countries who love our dollars but hate us; we see our food dollars not going as far as they used to - c'mon...hamburg per pound costing as much as a expensive good steak used to?; we see our good jobs leaving our shores and moving to more business-friendly climates, so we're left with the Mc-type jobs that don't pay much for people who have little schooling or skills; and on and on.

The problem with getting a good third-party candidate is that it is nearly impossible to do. It's too expensive! The two major parties have written laws that benefit them, and since it takes so much money to run for office - One $ billion dollars each for Obama and Romney in the last election :eek: they simply don't have the means to even get on the ballot in all 50 states. It's unfair, but that's how it is. Got any suggestions?

Greetings, Montecresto. :2wave:

Sadly, it is quite fair, Polgara. It is still up to the voter with the ballot in the hand who makes the decision. It can be an uninformed decision for a variety of reasons, and not always about money.

Obama is an example of someone who worked their way from poverty through the ranks, as did Clinton and many others. We tend to complain more about the system when we feel it failed, not when the majority are happy. It was the elected candidate who failed, and those who voted for him contributed to this failure.
 
No, the US should not bring her back.

She chose to go there, as an adult, and she can get herself out.

This is what happens when people have too much time on their hands.

People should go back to working to survive and not go thinking she has some obligation to go to a war torn country to do whatever she was doing.

Those people can save themselves.

My daughter wouldn't be there. I wouldn't raise a stupid person.

It is not heroic to put yourself in danger for absolutely no reason then cry when something does happen to you.

I wasn't making her out to be heroic. I think we should bring her home.
 
I wasn't making her out to be heroic. I think we should bring her home.

Maybe not but in her mind,,I am sure, she thinks so.

Why else would somebody put them selves in mortal danger like that?

It couldn't be that she was so stupid that she didn't know what Syria was like before she went, or maybe it was that.
 
Hahahah! Whoa, your argument sure has changed!

From "American weapons cause more deaths!!" to "Whoo Hoo! Soviet Weapons are great!" :roll:

It also doesn't help that the US wasn't in the habit of arming brutal dictatorships, not at the pace of the Russians/Soviets, anyway.

Once you get past the "HooRah" bit from Arlee Ermy this is a pretty interesting comparison of the M-16 and AK-47:



AK is easier to keep and per-bullet is better than the M-16, but the M-16 is more accurate, especially when firing fully-auto.

In the end the bad guys of the world buy the AK-47 because it is cheap and easier to maintain and someone will sell it to them.


Oh, ok, we're better because we haven't armed brutal dictators at the same pace the Russians have, so we're second worst. Alright, I won't argue with you any further.
 
Those who voted for Obama a second time were, in my book, stupid. There was no excuse for voting for him a second time. I would also blame those who stayed home and didn't vote. They were foolish.

I don't recall saying Americans are superior or inferior. Do you have a quote for that?

I think being stupid is pretty much an inferior position. Just to recap and a little course correction, was it your position that the young lady be left to fend for herself?
 
Oh, ok, we're better because we haven't armed brutal dictators at the same pace the Russians have, so we're second worst. Alright, I won't argue with you any further.

No, second would be China, followed by Iran... but mostly as a reseller of Russian weapons.
 
Maybe not but in her mind,,I am sure, she thinks so.

Why else would somebody put them selves in mortal danger like that?

It couldn't be that she was so stupid that she didn't know what Syria was like before she went, or maybe it was that.

I'll bet that in her mind she's feeling pretty stupid right now, and wishing she hadn't showed up to help. Projecting motive upon her though is something you can't possibly know. Unless you heard her say she was going to Syria to be a hero!
 
Typical conservative position. The regions oil belongs to the world. I've got news for you Grant, that's not democratic at all. And that the US being at war with Middle East nations is better then them being at war between themselves is one of the reasons I resent your constant volunteering of Americans blood and treasure. Get Canada to do more!

Um... no. Not any more than America's natural resources belong to the world. It's their oil, they get to decide what to do with it. Where did you get that idiotic idea anyhow?
 
The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office said the Defense Department failed to notify the relevant congressional committees at least 30 days in advance of the exchange — a clear violation of the law — and used $988,400 of a wartime account to make the transfer. The GAO also said the Pentagon's use of funds that hadn't been expressly appropriated violated the Antideficiency Act......snip~


That's Right.....the Taliban wasn't the ruling government. Which no one recognized them.....other than the people of Afghanistan.

A couple of countries recognized them. also...we didn't recognize the North Vietnamese government yet exchanged prisoners with the government. There's a difference between diplomatic recognition and reality.
 
The comparison was the destination.

Many people travel to Mexico. It is the if not the second most US active border. To think someone could mistakenly enter the country and be detained is reasonable. It has in fact happened. It is a mistake. A person taking a tour of North Korea is not a mistake.
 
No, second would be China, followed by Iran... but mostly as a reseller of Russian weapons.

Worlds largest arms dealers

2013 rank Supplier Arms exports
1 Russia 8283
2 United States 6153
3 China 1837
4 France 1489
7 United Kingdom 1394
5 Germany 972
6 Italy 807
8 Israel 773
9 Spain 605
10 Ukraine 589
11 Sweden 505
12 Belarus 338
13 South Korea 307
14 Netherlands 302
15 Switzerland 205
 
Um... no. Not any more than America's natural resources belong to the world. It's their oil, they get to decide what to do with it. Where did you get that idiotic idea anyhow?

Cephus!?!? Did you read what Grant said to me? It's his position that the ME's oil belongs to the world. I was pointing out his position in my post you quoted. I believe that the ME oil belongs to the citizens of the ME and they should nationalise it and enjoy the proceeds.
 
Worlds largest arms dealers

2013 rank Supplier Arms exports
1 Russia 8283
2 United States 6153
3 China 1837
4 France 1489
7 United Kingdom 1394
5 Germany 972
6 Italy 807
8 Israel 773
9 Spain 605
10 Ukraine 589
11 Sweden 505
12 Belarus 338
13 South Korea 307
14 Netherlands 302
15 Switzerland 205


You've gone back to making the same straw man argument. It isn't about the amount of weaponry sold, it is about who it was sold to. Russian weaponry has killed far more civilians than US weapons have... but I am sure you aren't counting the millions dead at the hands of the Chinese, the North Koreans, the Viet Cong and The Khmer Rouge just for starters.

Also note that your new evidence for your straw man argument proves your initial argument was also false:

Sorry dude. The United States is the biggest weapons dealer

Again, FALSE! :lamo
 
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I think being stupid is pretty much an inferior position. Just to recap and a little course correction, was it your position that the young lady be left to fend for herself?
You seem confused.

Yes, i believe she is on her own, and to bomb the crap out of those who kidnapped her. If she survives great, if she doesn't then I can only express my sympathy. When we put ourselves in harm's way we have to accept that responsibility.
 
I'll bet that in her mind she's feeling pretty stupid right now, and wishing she hadn't showed up to help. Projecting motive upon her though is something you can't possibly know. Unless you heard her say she was going to Syria to be a hero!

My feeling is that she, like many who enter dangerous territory, is acceptive of her fate. Many of those who have been beheaded by Islamists have died silently, stoically and bravely.
 
Pay it if need be and get her out of there. We should do our utmost to save our citizens. ISIS won't be substantially boosted by such a minor cash infusion and we've done this many times in the past.

Pay the ransom? Idoicy.

Pay the ransom, the girl is released...and ISIS kidnaps more Americans because apparently it's a profitable venture. America is seen as spineless and can be easily bullied into paying ransom for citizens.
 
Oh, is that suppose to let Bush off the hook? He created the power vacuum in Iraq.

He didn't create a power vacuum. When we left, there was a semi-stable government in place.
 
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