The Arab World vs. The Blackout Of 2003

by Latin assassin from Manhattan 4 Replies latest social current

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  Latin assassin from Manhattan

  You can tell alot about a society by the way they act when the lights go out. When the lights went out in Iraq, looting was the first thing that took place. Not only did the citizens pillage Hussein's palaces, they also destroyed each other's property as well. This is very hypocritical considering the Muslim/Arab world considers itself to be so civilized.

  The logic of the Iraqis and the Arab world is so twisted. Even after destroying each other's homes and sabotaging their own infrastructure, the Iraqi's now want to stand up against their own liberators, the Americans - when they couldn't stand up to their own tormentor, Saddam Hussein.

  Now that we've given them their freedom, they decide to riot, protest and ambush American soldiers? Where was their bravery when Saddam was brutalizing their country? If the Iraqi's really care about the welfare of their nation, why can't they work alongside the Americans, who have brought Democracy to them? Why can't they face their hardships the way we have this past weekend?

  During the worst blackout in U.S. history, we proved that the American way of life doesn't stop when the lights go out. In NYC, Americans looked out for one another, handing out water, even sneakers to those walking the long miles home. The lights may have been missing, but American dignity and rule of law was there the whole time - something those desert nations can use plenty of.
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  SixofNine

  While I'm proud and heartened by the way NYC and all of the affected cities handled the crisis, you're essay is shortsighted in the extreme.

  It wasn't that long ago that America would have, and in fact did, respond with much violence, and that while already being light years in terms of civilisation ahead of Iraq.
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  bigboi

  Even after destroying each other's homes and sabotaging their own infrastructure, the Iraqi's now want to stand up against their own liberators, the Americans -

  Lord have mercy. The invasion of Iraq and the subsequent events assoiciated with it cannot in any way be compared to a 24-36 hr blackout, no matter how many ppl are involved.

  The one point you made there can easily be refuted. The Russian ppl are pretty much famous for using exact same tactic the Iraqi resisters chose. I seriously doubt they meant any Iraqis any harm. It was probably a tactic meant to slow down the American advance as well as take those resources out of the enemies hands. You know, anything to make invaders of your home territory lives all the more difficult.
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  Latin assassin from Manhattan

  Sixofnine:
  
  Shortsighted? Not so. The previous blackout of 1965 was larger and there were fewer than 100 arrests.

  There was widespread looting throughout NYC in 1977 and there were fewer police available at that time due to severe budget cuts, the hardest hit area was Bushwick in Brooklyn. Even then, there were only 3,000 arrests in a city of how many millions? Either way, the ratio wasn't bad. At least the criminals got arrested. The Iraqi's can't even create their own police force without our help.

  The fact of the matter is that we handled 2 out of 3 blackouts remarkably well.
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  Latin assassin from Manhattan

  Bigboi:
  
  This is not the 17th century and certainly not WWII Europe. The self-destruction of Iraqi infrastructure couldn't stop the Americans in any way. The army has it's own corps. of bridge building engineers, they have their own water filtration/electrical systems and they also have night vision.

  The Russians used the same tactic to stop the Germans from invading and capturing their cities. It did work. However, the Americans were not interested in 'invading' Iraq like the Germans when they invaded Austria and Poland. The objective of the U.S. was to destroy Saddam's armed forces and liberate the people - both have been accomplished. The U.S. has no interest in Iraq's infrastructure because the citizens need it more than we do. Obviously, Saddam's 'forces' couldn't fight like men, so they chose to destroy the property of their citizens instead.