"Why don't we kill him?"

[Stinky The Clown]

I just heard those words uttered by a teevee pundit/yakker/shill/flack.

The issue was Muqtada al-Sadr. The teevee pundit/yakker/shill/flack described the guy as 'one of the bad guys'. And then he said, with great volume and machismo, but with equal amounts of shocking matter-of-factness, "If he's so bad, why don't we just kill him?" And then, far softer, almost whispered: "Or at least take him into custody?"

Why don't we kill him?

We also hear many candidates, including many Democrats, including Democrats I favor and support, postulating the same sort of thing, albeit mostly less targeted. But to call for 'capturing or killing' the bad guys has gotten to be an easy, damned near offhanded remark.

And its bloodthirsty.

It inures us to the literal meaning of the phrase.

Why don't we kill him?

How far a leap is it from this to calling for the killing of ..... an annoying neighbor, a cheating spouse, a little league pitcher who throws a high inside fastball at your kid's head, anyone else.

Why don't we kill him?

Indeed.

My answer?

Because we're fucking HUMAN.

(The teevee pundit/yakker/shill/flack in this case? TYhe conpletely unaccecptable Tucker Carlson.)

[Javaman]

1. You give humans way to much credit. but then again repukes aren't human. nt

[rockymountaindem]

2. We don't kill him because that would make the situation worse, not better

If that were not the case, he'd probably already be dead by now. Al Zarqawi is.

[Stinky The Clown]

10. My point, actually, was the literal phrase used

..... "Why don't we kill him?"

We have become a nation of bloodthirsty people who find utterinmg such a phrase acceptable on its face.

Al-Sadr was not the point.

[renie408]

3. Oh damn, I thought this was going to be about George Bush. I was going to say, "Damn Skippy!!"...

Kidding!! I am just kidding!!



(i think we should torture him instead)

[Stinky The Clown]

11. Hey Agent Mike .... he said it ...... not me

:)

[sinkingfeeling]

4. Now that would be another brilliant move, like say, disbanding the Iraqi army 4 years ago.

We kill al-Sadr and if you think Iraq's a mess right now, the result would probably be a doubling of US dead soldiers within about 5 days.

[TwilightGardener]

5. I have no love for him--I do believe he is responsible for the deaths

of some of our soldiers, and had they taken him out earlier, I wouldn't have exactly been shedding tears. But you're right--the Shias would turn him into a martyr, and then the shitstorm of reprisal agaisnt US forces would REALLY begin.

[Stinky The Clown]

12. My point seems to have been missed

You're correct, of course. Killing him would make things worse.

But my point was not that at all. My point was how easy, how acceptable, how matter of fact it has become for us to call for killing.

[The Magistrate]

13. That Does Not Strike Me As A New Development, My Friend

Nations, and people, have been doing that for a long time, and doing so pretty openly.

"Any normal man must sometimes be tempted to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin cutting throats."

[unpossibles]

6. well, you know, we have to kill them all before they kill us

you know, because they're just bloodthirsty savages... :eyes:

[sinkingfeeling]

7. I do believe you have expressed the mental set of the quoted pundit.

Since Shiias make up the vast majority (65%) of Iraqis, killing al-Sadr could perhaps lead to a truce amongst the the Sunnis and Shiia and they could combine their efforts against the US! Then we'd have our troops surrounded with 20 million irrate Iraqis. As I said earlier, it would be another brilliant move that would increase America's 'security' another -1000% of what it is today. Bush would probably like the idea to create even more 'terraists'.

[FiveGoodMen]

17. We sure do!

Oh wait, you weren't talking about republicans, were you?

Never mind.

[unpossibles]

18. I was talking about extremist, evil men who hate freedom, women, and democracy!

so I guess I can see the comparison.

Honestly, I have tried to use this argument whenever people say "I hate all Muslims, you can't trust 'em and they all just want to kill every American!" I respond with, "so what is the answer if they ALL are inherently evil and want to kill us? Do we kill them all first?"

Sadly, most of them don't ever seem to get it, and think I am providing a good solution. They think it is acceptable to wage genocide in the name of self-defense.


gee, I wonder how the Germans fell for it last decade. </sarcasm>

[bpj1962]

8. Al-Sadr

I don't advocate the assasination of anybody but this guy has openly stated as recently as yesterday that he wants the Iraqi army to quit cooperating with the US and to take up arms against us. I fully realize that we are an army of occupation but this guy is taunting us and them he goes and hides while his Madi army goes out and does his dirty work for him. These guys have kidnapped american soldiers and we have done nothing because the powers that be won't let the soldiers operate in true tactical fashion. Al-Sadr is not your bad neighbor unless your bad neighbor is stock piling weapons and advocating the assassination of the local police force.

[sinkingfeeling]

14. You really think it would be a good idea to stir up the 65% Shiia population of Iraq to join with

the Sunnis against the US troops? How do you think they'd fair against 20 million Iraqis with guns, targeting just the US troops? Or do you just want to 'kill them all'? If we left their country, they wouldn't have our troops as a target.

[sinkingfeeling]

15. Duplicate delete.

[zbdent]

9. "Hey, come on now ...

I was just joking ... ha ha ha ..."

:eyes:

[LSK]

16. or why dont we invite him to a summit and work with him and all parties

To figure out a way to peace.