The middle east

[ocnbrze]

I don't think this was a "bubbling over". Anger and hatred made this possible, but the Hamas attack was clearly a deliberate provocation intended to provoke an extreme Israeli reaction. And Netanyahu, predictably, ignored the first rule of conflict and gave his enemy what they wanted.

yes that is what bubbled over. the hate. the anger. it seems like every 10 years or so violence erupts because of the emotions. if it is not Hamas, its another group. or if it is not from the Palestinian people, its from Israel.

 

[Windroid]

OMG its like talking to a wall.

does anybody else's head hurt?

What I've said about the word "terrorism" can be boiled down to this: The term "terrorism" is used in so many ways, I do not know what you mean when you say it!

Ture, Dannydet gave a definition. Rob gave multiple definitions (which only shows my point that the term is ambiguous). But you never explained what you mean by that term, you never said which actions you were objecting to. So, if anything, I'd say I'm the one who's talking to a wall.

 

[treb1797]

OMG its like talking to a wall.

does anybody else's head hurt?

Don't even bother arguing with this one

 

[AugieTN]

The U.S. is wrong in doing this:

U.S. Vetos UN resolution calling for a humanitarian pause in Israel Hamas War
US vetoes UN resolution calling for humanitarian pause in Israel-Hamas war

and this

The U.S. vetoed a U.N. resolution Wednesday to condemn all violence against civilians in the Israel-Hamas war
US vetoes UN resolution condemning all violence against civilians in Israel-Hamas war

and this

The U.S. prepares troops for deployment in Israel
U.S. Prepares Troops for Potential Deployment to Support Israel

This needs to be handled by the UN. I'm tired of us spending billions of our tax dollars on war.

 

[Dannydet]

Not only hurt, but frustrated on top of it.
I could go on but I'm really biting my lip here and staying civil. Lol...

 

[treb1797]

For those of us that have been here for years, I think we found our new Bob Maxey

 

[Windroid]

This thread shows why I don't like the word "terrorism" (even if "terrorism" were strictly defined as targeting civilians). What the West did to London, Dresden, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki in WW2: That was far worse any modern terrorist attack! Germany, the US, and the UK, having the most elite militaries of the day, had far more opportunity to stick to military targets then the modern middle-eastern irregulars and insurgents do. Now, that's not the say that the West was necessary wrong to target civilians. That's not the point! The point is: It's hypocritical to imply that a soldier who targets civilians is automatically evil, and then get offended when it's pointed out that the West itself targeted civilians in WW2.

In short: "Terrorist" is a term used to demonize the enemy. It's never applied to your own side, even when the shoe fits.

My take: If you're going to target civilians, there better be a military purpose (e.g. getting Japan to surrender by dropping the a-bombs)! To target civilians, when there's no military purpose, is murder. Actually, it's worse than murder. Japanese brutality in China, during WW2, accomplished nothing but turning the Chinese people against the Japanese forces. In other words: The Japanese forces who brutalized civilians were helping the enemy. Those soldiers were not only murderers, but they were also traitors! They assisted in the Chinese war effort against their own country.

Edit:

By To be clear: When I said, "That was far worse any modern terrorist attack!", I meant "worse" in terms of civilians killed (e.g. nuking Hiroshima killed more people than the 9/11 attacks). As I said, that's not to imply that the West was necessarily wrong to target civilians.

 

[ocnbrze]

 

[treb1797]

 

[mikedt]

I'm so worried about what's happening today in the Middle East you know...

 

[ocnbrze]

if you have 15 minutes of your time check this video out:

 

[AugieTN]

if you have 15 minutes of your time check this video out:

Seemed like an accurate video from what I have read.

 

[AugieTN]

I thought I heard this on the TV, but I googled it to make sure:

....The Gaza Health Ministry said the death toll among Palestinians passed 8,000, mostly women and minors, as Israeli tanks and infantry pursued what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called a “second stage” in the war ignited by Hamas’ brutal Oct. 7 incursion.....

Gaza receives largest aid shipment so far as deaths top 8,000 and Israel widens military offensive

I hope it's not true, but if it is it's starting to sound like genocide. What Hamas did was no better.

The whole area is a mess. We need to get out of the middle east and let the U.N. handle it

 

[Dannydet]

Hamas will deliberately keep innocent women and children in their war zones as their "battle tactics". Then show the world how "evil" Israel is...
These people were given 24 to 48 hours notice to leave the area.
This is their "way"....

 

[AugieTN]

Hamas will deliberately keep innocent women and children in their war zones as their "battle tactics". Then show the world how "evil" Israel is...
These people were given 24 to 48 hours notice to leave the area.
This is their "way"....

I remember hearing Egypt didn't open their border in the south, so where are these 2 million people with their families and kids suppose to go and who's paying for it?

The other problem is Israel won't wipe out Hamas, no more than we wiped out the Taliban in Afghanistan or the Viet Cong in Vietnam. They don't wear uniforms or wear purple hats. They blend right into the general population.

 

[Dannydet]

Exactly. You can't identify the enemy. What type of army / fighter takes the body of a 22-year-old girl who was abducted and killed, to be paraded naked by Hamas fighters?
Really? How sick are they and to believe western civilization and "infidels" must all be destroyed in the name of their religion?
Isis are no better...
God save us all...

 

[AugieTN]

Religious warfare makes no sense to me.The Christian Crusaders fought Muslims for like 200 years to free the holy land from Islamic control, and lost. The Muslims were infidels to to the Christian Crusaders. An infidel is anyone who doesn't adhere to a certain religion.

I give up on religion. I don't want to be associated with any religion.

 

[Windroid]

What type of army / fighter takes the body of a 22-year-old girl who was abducted and killed, to be paraded naked by Hamas fighters?

Yes, that's hardly acceptable behavior! When the United States Air Force bombed Hiroshima: The soldiers did not land in the irritated city, bring an irritated charred corpse abord, and then fly the corpse back to America to be paraded through the streets.

It's ... regrettable when civilians get targeted in war. Ideally, war would be waged without targeting civilians. But to drag corpses through the streets, especially civilian corpses, is crossing a line! The soldiers who did that ought to be court-martialed, and perhaps hung. Whether that happens will show us what kind of military Hamas is running.

 

[Windroid]

Whatever the rights or wrongs of this war, we all know that civilians are being caught in the crossfire (both figuratively and literally)! We're the Android forum. What are things we can do to help those civilians, things related to computers and smartphones and all?

 

[Windroid]

Here's something encouraging:

Excerpt from "eSIMs: How Gaza got Vital Connectivity during Communications Blackout" by Rabia Al:

The [Gaza Strip] communications breakdown left over 2 million people isolated, without any contact with each other and the outside world.
Mirna and her sister Yara El Helbawi were among activists around the world who were searching for ways to help restore communications for Palestinians in Gaza. [...] The Helbawi sisters then thought of roaming services. They started with two eSIMs bought from Europe and sent them to two people they knew in Gaza. “Once we confirmed it’s working, we started to call (to check) if some more people would like to get people connected through eSIMs,” Yara told Anadolu in a video call. In just 24 to 48 hours, the sisters received more than 2,000 eSIMs as donations, and they have so far been able to provide more than 1,000 to people in Gaza.

I'm embarrassed that we didn't think of that. But the important thing is: People out there have figured out how to help civilians, who are caught in the crossfire of this war, maintain their phone and internet lines. During a disaster (man-made or natural): Phone and internet lines are vital tools to save lives!