Notes from Fallujah

[TeePee]

What's independant? I treat both reports with equal scepticism. Both are written with an obvious agenda, and should be considered equally false.

[DaBeeeenster]

What's independant? I treat both reports with equal scepticism. Both are written with an obvious agenda, and should be considered equally false.

That's fair enough, but there are some things that I think cannot be dismissed, however. For example, if you saw a photo with a woman from Fallujah who had been shot in the false, their can be no falsehood about that, can there? Or the Army shooting at ambulances?

[TeePee]

No. But who is to say they were shot by americans, or that the woman wasn't carrying a gun, and the ambulance wasn't carrying munitions and trying to drive through a checkpoint.

This is a war started by a religious fundamentalist country, in an attempt to prop up their economy, against a country which gives 13 year old kids kalashnikovs. It's not as simple as Americans shooting everything that moves.

[DaBeeeenster]

No. But who is to say they were shot by americans, or that the woman wasn't carrying a gun, and the ambulance wasn't carrying munitions and trying to drive through a checkpoint.

This is a war started by a religious fundamentalist country, in an attempt to prop up their economy, against a country which gives 13 year old kids kalashnikovs. It's not as simple as Americans shooting everything that moves.

I agree with you, and I am not suggesting it is as simple as the Americans shooting everything that moves. However, that has nothing to do with accuracy of the sources we are talking about. I have now read 3 independent journals of people who were in Fallujah over the past week, and they all paint the same picture. It is one that is at odds with the US army. The US army have an entire war to defend, people blogging their activities on the web do not.

[TeePee]

So are you saying www.empirenotes.org or www.opendemocracy.net are impartial?

[DaBeeeenster]

No, but I think they are less partial than the US army...Last term I heard, OpenDemocracy (and I know a few people who work there, funnily enough) dont have a "psychological operations" team...

[TeePee]

How exactly are they less partial? Empirenotes.org is dedicated to ridiculing US foreign policy!

[DaBeeeenster]

How exactly are they less partial? Empirenotes.org is dedicated to ridiculing US foreign policy!

So what? The report that I linked to was not discussing US strategy. It was an eye-witness account of a short period of time in Fallujah, which has been corroborated by two other, independent statements.

The US Army are in the business of "constructing truths". They have entire departments dedicated to it.

[TeePee]

And you've linked to websites dedicated to it.

[DaBeeeenster]

*sigh*. I guess we shall have to agree to disagree. As I said, if you dont believe 90% of what you read, that's up to you. I think that is probably a good idea in the corporate realm, but from personal websites, I have little reason to distrust people. I dunno.

[DaBeeeenster]