ISIS scumbags behead Japanese journalist

[Bonobo]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/01/31/japan-jordan-islamic-state-hostage/22643137

Goto was there to try to save the other Japanese journalist who was held captive. Now both are dead at the hands of those scum.

Goto was a very cool, anti-war guy. Rest in peace.

[bluestateguy]

1. They are just savage beasts

nt

[Rhinodawg]

2. Someone will blame the US in 3...2...1...

[iandhr]

8. No doubt.

[randome]

17. Of course! ISIS is clearly fighting American oppression!

[hr][font color="blue"][center]No squirrels were harmed in the making of this post. Yet.[/center][/font][hr]

[Rhinodawg]

20. Well, the US could all become an Islamic country and follow sharia law...

or we could nuke the bastards and get it the f**k over with.






Sorry...just frustrated.

[7962]

27. Daaaaamn!!! :)

[Telcontar]

32. I find your ideas compelling and would like to subscibe to your newsletter

[beaglelover]

104. +1

n/t

[KingCharlemagne]

72. You heard it here first, folks. "Nuke the bastards". Oy vey - nt

[marym625]

133. +1

Hard to tell this is a Democratic site from that.

[uhnope]

21. fighting "imperialism" is the term used by some apologists on DU. nt

[Exultant Democracy]

101. The correct term would be a reaction to western imperilism.

Unless you deny the concept of blowback. Do you?

[uhnope]

107. So is ISIS included in your positive forces in "reaction to western imperialism"?

How about Putin? Gaddafi? Assad?

[Exultant Democracy]

108. I have no clue what this gibberish means what are these "positive forces"

sounds like something out of a comic book. But seriously pass whatever you are smoking.

But even more seriously you need to answer my question, do you understand the concept of blowback? Do think it is real, or just made up? Do you even have the first clue as to what the west had been up to in the middle east for the last 100 years? Do you understand how these actions have set the stage for the current events we are seeing today?

[nilesobek]

18. Or, an elaborate dissertation of why Christians and Jews are at fault.

[7962]

26. Some here are saying that WE created them on purpose.

Others say Israel did it. But they say Israel is responsible for everything

[ripcord]

68. It was inevitable

As the rest of the world becomes more secular the fundamentalists are going to freak out more. When there is no moderating influence, as we are to our fundies, the nuts will take their behavior over the top.

[Violet_Crumble]

30. No-one did. N/T

[Comrade Grumpy]

41. Well...our foreign policy for the last 35 years has played a role.

We buddied up with Islamic militants (the mujahadeen) in Pakistan and Afghanistan in one of our Cold War ploys in 1979 and throughout the 1980s. That's back when the CIA was rubbing shoulders with Bin Laden, and that really virulent strain of Saudi-backed salafism was picking up steam. Our foreign policy in Afghanistan created the militant stew out of which Al Qaeda emerged.

Then we invaded Iraq, which had nothing to do with 9/11. That led to the rise of Zarqawi and Al Qaeda in Iraq, the direct progenitors of ISIS.

Then we cheered on the effort to overthrow Assad in Syria. Did more than cheered on. The CIA covertly supplied arms to the rebels (working with the Turks and Qataris) until Obama made it official. The weakening of the Syrian state in the ensuing civil war providing the breathing space for ISIS in Syria. (And the brilliantly cynical Assad is happy to ignore their little caliphate, at least as long as they spend their time fighting other Syrian rebels).

And then there was our glorious Libyan intervention. Now it's a hot bed of Islamic militants, and Libyan weaponry is being used in jihad across the Maghreb.

And let's not forget our drone wars--in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia. Nothing like dropping death out of the sky to win friends and influence people.

ISIS, of course, is responsible for its own atrocities. But it behooves us not to overlook our own role.

[Rhinodawg]

49. Grumpy...I'm "BEHOOVED"

So how many hundred of years before we are exonerated mostly for trying to save muslims ?

ok...we tried to bring democracy....we failed...

now what ?

[Violet_Crumble]

52. US foreign policy in the ME is done 'mostly for trying to save muslims'???

Really? Tell me more!

p.s. I think you need to learn the difference between playing a contributing role in an outcome and being blamed for the actions that happen years down the track. No-one's blaming the US for what ISIS is doing. It's obvious that the instability that the US created in Iraq with Bush's phony war was one of the factors in creating a vacuum from which ISIS emerged. If you think that's blaming the US for ISIS executing innocent people then you haven't been paying attention to what's happened in Iraq over the past few decades.

[Jim Beard]

64. Bush and Obama should have let the British Iraq split into 3 states.

They could have worked out the details on sharing the oil wealth. Screw Turkey and Iran.

[KingCharlemagne]

74. What a jejeune response. Typical for one who calls to "nuke the bastards". - nt

[Rhinodawg]

83. " a jejeune response " ? ..thats some SAT word there.

[tblue37]

80. No, the invasion of Iraq was *not* motivated by a desire to bring democracy. nt

[Rhinodawg]

82. Agreed ...how about Libya?

[yeoman6987]

54. That didn't take long

[Violet_Crumble]

56. You can't tell the difference between playing a role and being responsible for current actions?

I'll spell it out

US foreign policy played a role over the past few decades in creating a vacuum that ISIS has sprung from. As evil as Bush was, this end result wasn't his intention.

ISIS have been executing innocent people. The only party responsible for this is ISIS and no-one else.

[yeoman6987]

57. I just said it wouldn't be long unto US is blamed

I was right. No big deal as I knew it was coming.

[Violet_Crumble]

59. And no-one's done that in this thread, so you were wrong.

How does: 'ISIS, of course, is responsible for its own atrocities. But it behooves us not to overlook our own role.' manage to get twisted into blaming the US for the execution?

A few months ago someone posted a link to an excellent Frontline documentary on the rise of ISIS. If seeing how the US and other countries inadvertendly contributed to creating conditions where a group like ISIS could come into being upsets you, this isn't the documentary for you to watch...

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/rise-of-isis/

[killbotfactory]

61. Which is better? dropping bombs on groups of people or decapitating individuals?

The war and occupation we subjected them to, for completely bullshit reasons thanks to Bush 2 and his handlers, killed more people than ISIS could dream of decapitating.

Is ISIS worse because decapitation is more intimate bombing people?

[Violet_Crumble]

66. I think it's a mixture of being more intimate as well as the intent...

The killing of Iraqi civilians by Bushco happened not because the aim was to kill as many civilians as possible, but because civilian lives just didn't matter and if they were in the wrong place at the wrong time (ironic seeing it was their country being invaded), it was no big deal. And missiles and bombs are a detached and impersonal way of killing. On the other hand, the sole intent of the executions by ISIS is to kill civilians (of course they've also done mass executions of Iraqi soldiers and other combatants, which is a huge war crime) and to do so in a brutal manner intended to shock people. So, yes, I think ISIS is far worse...

[KingCharlemagne]

76. You've got it, my friend. Such moral squeamishness on this board. Need I remind everyone that

our CIA tortured detainees TO DEATH???? Kee-rist, but hypocrisy is the tribute vice pays to virtue (or some such).

[CJCRANE]

93. What's more, the logic and cost-benefit doesn't follow either.

Last edited Sun Feb 1, 2015, 05:54 PM - Edit history (1)

ISIS murder a few western individuals, so we send thousands more into the fray to die in the line of fire. It doesn't make sense.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

96. "US foreign policy played a role over the past few decades in creating a vacuum that ISIS has sprung

ISIS started in Syria on the heels of the "Arab Spring"

[Violet_Crumble]

110. No, they started in Iraq. That Frontline documentary I posted a link to talks about them forming...

This has got less detail, but it's also accurate...

The group originated as Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad in 1999, which was renamed Tanzim Qaidat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn—commonly known as al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI)—when the group pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda in 2004. Following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, AQI took part in the Iraqi insurgency. In 2006, it joined other Sunni insurgent groups to form the Mujahideen Shura Council, which shortly afterwards proclaimed the formation of an Islamic state, naming it the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI). The ISI gained a significant presence in Al Anbar, Nineveh, Kirkuk and other areas, but around 2008, its violent methods, including suicide attacks on civilian targets and the widespread killing of prisoners, led to a backlash from Sunni Iraqis and other insurgent groups.[a]

The group grew significantly under the leadership of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and after entering the Syrian Civil War, it established a large presence in Sunni-majority areas of Syria within the governorates of Ar-Raqqah, Idlib, Deir ez-Zor and Aleppo.[36] Having expanded into Syria, the group changed its name in April 2013 to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, when al-Baghdadi announced its merger with the Syrian-based group al-Nusra Front. The group remained closely linked to al-Qaeda until February 2014, when after an eight-month power struggle, al-Qaeda cut all ties with ISIL, citing its failure to consult and "notorious intransigence".[22][37]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_State_of_Iraq_and_the_Levant

[Jim Beard]

62. I think Assad got them started to get the West to start killing his enemies.

I think that is why the beheadings are being used too frequently, to draw more world anger toward Assads enemies.

[CJCRANE]

92. I doubt it. Their funding is off the charts. Assad can't afford to fund his army and his enemies. nt

[KingCharlemagne]

73. Hey, comrade, I think we must go even further back, to at least

1953 when our CIA helped overthrow the democratically elected leader of Iran (Mossadegh). Flash forward to 1962-63, when our CIA (while JFK was Pres, mind you) helped overthrow the Arab leftist and nationalist Qassem in Iraq, thereby clearing the decks for Hussein's Baath Party to take power and smash the Iraqi Communist Party.

ISIS exemplifies and personifies what Chalmers Johnson refers to as 'blowback.'

[Rhinodawg]

79. Got it CG..It's the U.S. FAULT... But ISIS is RESPONSIBLE.

Got it.

[whatchamacallit]

103. The US kills tens of thousands, we're "bringing democracy"

ISIS kills a journalist, "it's time to nuke the population!"... Ungrateful Savages!

[dsc]

51. well had we not invaded Iraq

it is quite possible that ISIS wouldn't have been able to gain the power in the region that is has gained so in that respect we might well deserve some blame.

[KingCharlemagne]

70. I'll take "Blowback" for $1,000, Alex - nt

[killbotfactory]

58. We invaded Iraq, disempowered the Sunni's, subjected them to a decade of occupation...

And then supported factions opposed to Assad in Syria, many of whom defected to what is now known as the Islamic State.

Come the fuck on. For good or ill, we have our fingers in this pie.

This situation wasn't created in a vacuum.

[KingCharlemagne]

71. Ah, come on man, don't you know that ISIS sprang fully formed, like

Venus out of Zeus' forehead, from EVIL? You're trying to get all liberal and shit, with your Commie details and red facts.

[melman]

112. So these guys would be a bunch of cheerul well-adjusted chaps if not for the Iraq war

Sorry, not buying it.

[KingCharlemagne]

113. Before the First Gulf War, Iraq had the highest per-capita standard of living in the

Middle East, aside from Israel. What do you think happened to all those Iraqi Army officers and troops that the rocket scientist L. Paul Bremer fired summarily after the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003? Do you think they just decided to go find 'other jobs'?

[KingCharlemagne]

69. Without the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq (for which there has, as yet,

been no justice for any of the perpetrators), there would BE NO ISIS! So, yeah, the U.S. sowed the seeds that created ISIS. Of course, one has to have an elementary understanding of history to grasp that.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

97. ISIS started in Syria during the wave of the Arab Spring.

[KingCharlemagne]

99. True, but it flourished in the political vacuum created by our

illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq which created a power vacuum there, compounded by our so-called 'Surge' where we temporarily bought off Sunni resistance in Anbar. Those fired Iraqi Army officers and troops had to go somewhere after that fucking genius Bremer fired them. They didn't all just throw up their hands and die of starvation and unemployment.

We were just fine with ISIS (and its proxies), so long as it confined its activities to fighting against Russian\Iranina client Assad. Or, rather, we looked the other way as Turkey and Saudi Arabia funded and enabled it in Syria.

Now we're getting 'blowback' (as Chalmers Johnson and others define the term) and our knickers are all in twist?

[Nuclear Unicorn]

100. ISIS got its start fighting Assad where, I think it can be safely said, there was no vacuum.

Those fired Iraqi Army officers and troops had to go somewhere after that fucking genius Bremer fired them.

Assad allowed Syria to be used as a way station for insurgents fighting the US occupation. The reason he's getting his butt handed to him is because he allowed so many foreign fighters and their weapons into his nation.

I guess lots of people make bad foreign policy decisions, not just the US.

[Violet_Crumble]

111. That's not true. They formed in Iraq...

They changed their name once they ventured over the border into Syria to do some more rape, pillage and large-scale murder...

[Telcontar]

114. You can call it many things, but you just can't call it illegal

That word has meaning, and tossing it around like an adjective because it sounds good doesn't help your position. The fact of the matter is the invasion was authorized by act of Congress, with BOTH parties voting in favor. As far as the US legal system is concerned, there's no question about the legalities of the invasion.

Let us focus on actual issues instead of diluting powerful words.

[KingCharlemagne]

117. EPIC FAIL. Please show me the link where the U.N. Security Counci authorized

the invasion and occupation of Iraq. Absent an imminent threat necessitating self defense, only the U.N. Security Council can authorize military action by one nation against another. Bush decided not to put it up for a UN Security Council vote, b/c he knew from NSA wiretaps on respective diplomatic missions that at least 1-2 permanent members would veto it.

We are signatories to the U.N. charter, right?

Massive war crime and crime against humanity, not that such a nicety as international law has ever affected U.S. behavior in any meaningful way. (See Vietnam, Central America, ad infinitum).

[Telcontar]

118. Someone is an epic fail. The US is sovereign. Foreign laws and courts have no jurisdiction

Re-read what I read. I said nothing about the UN. And your understanding of the role of the UN is poor.

Additionally, as one of the Big Five, the US can veto any UN resolution that hinders it.

[KingCharlemagne]

119. Denial - it's not just a river in Egypt. Please show me the U.N. Security Council

resolution authorizing the invasion and occupation of Iraq.

Oh, wait, there isn't one?

Please explain how the U.S. is entitled to violate the U.N. Charter.

[Telcontar]

120. Because the United States is one of the Permanent Five

And has nuclear weapons. Any other questions?

The UN SC resolution 678 "authorizes UN Member States to use all necessary means to uphold and implement Resolution 660 and all subsequent relevant resolutions and to restore international peace and security in the area." Since Gulf War II (Iran-Iraq being the original Gulf War I) ended in an armistice, resumption of hostilities due to violations of armistice terms by Iraq requires no further action.

[KingCharlemagne]

122. Bwa-ha-ha. That's why Bush put his invasion and occupation up for a U.N. Security

Council vote. Oh wait, he tried and discovered his plans were going to be vetoed by 2 of the 5 permanent members (Russia and France), so he withdrew his resolution. And then claimed he never needed no stinking resolution anyway.

Are you sure you're on the right website? Because you're doing a mighty fine job of rehashing the Bush argument for why the U.S. could trash international law and the U.N. charter.

[Telcontar]

124. What a rude response. I'm trying to preserve the idea that words have meaning

Tossing about "illegal" may make you feel better, but in the real world of power politics, it has no meaning. All the necessary legal forms were followed; the bureaucracy has been genuflected towards. A better argument would be the cause/effect of US foreign policy and the cost/benefit analysis of what the Iraq war bought us. Or cost us.

[KingCharlemagne]

126. "Can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen" ~Harry S. Truman. And where is that U.N.

Security Council resolution authorizing the invasion of Iraq? Oh, right, you're taking the Bush line that "we don't need no stinking resolution" because we're just enforcing an earlier U.N. resolution, a line that no one else in the civilized world agrees with or believes.

[Telcontar]

128. "There are none so blind as those who will not see" ~ who cares?

I told you, UNSC r.678, which is an extension of UNSC r.660

And the only one that has any legal weight: Joint Congressional Resolution 114, Public Law 107-243
But you'd rather argue pendantics, so carry on and good day to you sir.

[KingCharlemagne]

132. Actually, Republicans argue 'pendantics' {sic}. Still haven't produced

that U.N. Security Council resolution, I see.

We prosecuted Nazis at Nuremburg for doing to Poland exactly what the U.S. did to Iraq, fwiw.

[Telcontar]

136. Please read slowly

I gave you both the Congressional and SC resolutions. If you can't accept they exist, I simply can't take you seriously.

[Exultant Democracy]

102. You deny the concept of blow-back?

Because unless the concept of blow back is total bullshit then a good heaping of them blame could be put at our feat. They would be not Isis without Bush's war, that is a simple fact.

[Lefta Dissenter]

3. damn. (n/t)

[Liberal_in_LA]

6. .

[polly7]

4. Just so horrible.

How anyone could do something so barbaric is beyond me. That poor man.

[Brigid]

5. Gee, such nice guys.

Maybe I should bring one home to meet my parents.

[Rhinodawg]

7. .

[stevil]

9. ....

[840high]

10. Horrible.

[TerrapinFlyer]

11. I think the solution is just not to even discuss the beheadings

The goal of the beheading is for us to discuss it. Discussing it gives it credibility.

We should not negotiate with terrorist. The news should ignore their beheadings.

[Baclava]

12. They WANT a Holy War

It's so obvious

to me

[Rhinodawg]

14. What do you mean "want" ?

I think they have that already.

Hell, you can blame an entire rel....

eh, screw it.

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

24. The news should start calling them

cowards.

[meti57b]

36. Also a good idea might be to stay out of their territory. Don't go there.

..... or are they all over the place?!

[oberliner]

48. Stay out of their territory?

What do you mean?

[Art_from_Ark]

134. According to a Japanese TV interview,

one of the Syrian acquiaintances of the two Japanese victims advised them to stay out of the Raqqa, Syria area because it was ISIS-controlled territory and "ISIS are more like space aliens than humans".

[tabasco]

40. That's stupid

People need to know the truth

[GummyBearz]

44. So its

the old "bury your head in the sand" technique... brilliant idea. Lets give it a try

[NuclearDem]

13. Fuck these assholes.

[seveneyes]

15. It's a tough call

From the singular person at risk from those that would do them harm, to the masses that could pull them from danger, one must do what they can to survive in a world that breeds those with bad intent.

We could join together to eradicate the vermin. We too often do not police the breeding grounds that create and foster such bad intent. You can not destroy that which you condone.

[Augiedog]

16. STOP....

Just stop advertising for these alleged humans. No more news stories about their hostages. No more video, audio or still pics. Just stop. It's become clear they are not interested in acquiring some sort of ransom, they want attention and we are falling for it. Of course if right wing ideologues want war, they by necessity want to keep beheaded people on our front pages, so we won't see the end of this until the nukes fly. Maybe we can put McCain and Limbaugh in the nose one of the first couple missiles for some needed comic relief.

[wingzeroday]

19. question

Should we also suppress news stories about the KKK and other right wingers when they commit acts of violence?

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

25. They should all be called cowards

when being reported on.

[Bragi]

22. Not a real solution

We can't ignore what's happening, nor do I want media to not report. We need to examine what's happening and acvt or not act in a smarter way than in the past. Not that any of that is happening right now.

[Ykcutnek]

34. If a problem didn't exist, there'd be nothing for those assholes to exploit.

At this point, even the right-wingers understate the monstrosities of ISIS.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

23. They are such a poor excuse for life

I'm terribly sorry for all who've been killed by these walking hemorrhoids.


I move for extermination. I no longer care what they want, where they come from, if they have some justified grievance, have a hostage, are persecuted or denied some basic right. They are the personification of necrotizing fasciitis and deserve an analogous treatment.

[7962]

28. They dont realize that these acts just make more people say just what you said

Even many people who would normally be against most military action finally just throw up their hands in disgust and just say "fuck 'em, kill 'em all"
I agree

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

43. I hate war and violence

I was strongly against the Vietnam war when I was young and the Bush mess in Iraq. I want war only as a last resort. I want to kill the enemy only if they are killing innocent others. But I see no alternative here. ISIS is everywhere in the west now and they are provoking a world wide conflict. I say focus on where their strongest military actions are right now in Syria and Iraq. Surround them with a coalition of half a million elite troops, French Foreign Legion, Army Rangers, Marines, British Paras and the like, with every available weapon including air support. Close in on them killing or capturing everyone who offers resistance. Meet in the middle of the encirclement and then pull out. DO NOT STAY. If barbarians like the current ISIS go back in and start more trouble in a year or so, repeat the process. Again, do not occupy land and give the locals the opportunity for political self-determination as long as their objective is not world jihad. Just kill and leave. I hate the fact these fucking animals of ISIS are making me bloodthirsty for their blood.

[7962]

46. And I agree with your idea too. These people MUST learn that death is their end if they continue

If the world did something along the lines of what you suggest, it will be brutal and final. ANd that is exactly whats needed. We have been too concerned about how things "look" when we are in a war. THIS war is going to have to go back to the WW2 model; punish the enemy to the point they realize there is no point in continuing.
And DONT STAY!!!!!!!!

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

87. au contraire mon frere

IMNSHO the answer is to exterminate the existing infection and make joining their ranks unattractive to any considering such a plan.

ISIS is not a signatory of the Geneva Conventions and has demonstrated by the use suicide attacks on non-combatants that no other course has any merit.

From majoring in physics I learned the 4 laws of thermodynamics. From seeing ISIS and its consequences I learned the 5th: "Few problems remain after a sufficient application of heat."

[7962]

106. Why "au contraire"? I think you hit the nail on the head!

But you do realize that by doing what you suggest there would also be many thousands of civilian deaths. And the fear of civilian deaths is exactly what usually costs us a decisive victory. We're always afraid of what the world will think if we actually USE our weapons to full effect.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

86. The red area

Apply munitions until the red area reaches 200 degrees centigrade or higher.
Send gunships to patrol the perimeter and kill anything leaving.

...rinse and repeat as required.

[Telcontar]

115. There are thousands of innocent people living in that red region

A little girl in her brown dress and her little brother who followed her everywhere she went.

The goat herder on the donkey that used to trade sunflower seeds for water bottles.

The tribal sheiks trying to navigate a safe course for their people.

The Kurdish girls who worked hard making Christmas banners to decorate the outpost.

These are some of the people I've met in that red area.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

123. Just my opinion

Now would be a great time for everyone in that area to make a choice:
- join ISIS
- fight ISIS
- leave the area
- elect to make yourself a target of the ISIS pigs or chance becoming 'collateral damage'

It's a deal that really sucks but those are the options as I see them.

[Telcontar]

125. Moving around in Iraq (and I assume Syria) is far more challenging than you'd think

Many (most?) would love to extricate themselves from the area. Few have the ability.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

127. That exact fact then highlights a prime effort needed

A cooperating force of nations should work to change that.

[Telcontar]

129. Would be great to see

A joint Turk/Iranian operation to open a safe corridor and establish safe havens for the civilians caught in the conflict zone. Won't happen, too many local politics.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

131. The US and UN should make sure it does happen

The US should offer to relocate those displaced and a coalition of countries (US included) should develop state sub-departments which specialize in exceptions to integrate and resettle refugees. I have a feeling that effort would cost less than an Iraq style, 'boots on the ground' war.

The politics of the UN in areas of local conflict, civil war and respect for member country's sovereignty favor the country's rights above individual rights. Just my opinion.

[Terra Alta]

29. they are monsters, plain and simple.

May the two Japanese journalists rest in peace.

[Ykcutnek]

31. WE'RE NOT SINGING ENOUGH CAMPFIRE SONGS...

MAYBE SING LOUDER?

[hrmjustin]

33. Barbaric!

[Aerows]

35. Horrific, Bonobo :(

They are scumbags, and only absolutely vile examples of the worst "humanity" has to offer would want to be a part of such evil.

[imthevicar]

37. I want to be recorded here that,

I don't believe this.

[Rhinodawg]

39. You're right....the Eskimos did it.

or the Mossad ....


Same thing.

[jalan48]

42. It does have the ring of those 'savages"

we had to kill 150 years ago. The ones that performed despicable acts against the settlers. It certainly got the Americans back then up in arms and ready to kill.

[7962]

47. Oh? What DO you believe? He fell down? Or are you one who thinks this is all fake? nt

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

55. I'm sure Goto's family appreciates your disbelief

I'm sure you couldn't care less.

[imthevicar]

94. I do Not Believe the Narative,

[NCTraveler]

130. Please state the narrative.

Very vague. With that as your total post it is hard to determine what you view the narrative to be. Perception is reality and I don't want to assume to know the manner in which you perceive the narrative. In your words, what is the narrative you don't believe?

[betsuni]

38. The other man, Yukawa, wasn't a journalist.

He was a self-styled "security consultant" with mental problems. I thought PM Abe was going to cry when he spoke about Goto this morning.

[Jesus Malverde]

50. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ’s government prepares legislation to militarize Japan

The Japanese hostage crisis appears certain to play a role in the debate over Japan’s global security posture as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ’s government prepares legislation that would give it more freedom to use military force.

Mr. Abe’s government on Monday convened a session of parliament in which it plans to introduce legislation that will allow Japan to engage in “collective self-defense,” including aiding allies such as the U.S. in regional conflicts threatening Japan’s security, and to come to the rescue of Japanese citizens abroad.

Koichi Nakano, a political-science professor at Sophia University in Tokyo, said the hostage crisis—in which a Japanese citizen was beheaded by Islamic State militants last week—could strengthen Mr. Abe’s resolve to restyle Japan as a more muscular political actor on the international stage.

“Mr. Abe may use the latest case to raise support for his move to expand the role of Japan’s military,” he said.

Japan Hostage Crisis Revives Debate Over Military Force

Japan’s Pacifist Constitution

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan is pushing for an expanded role for the Japanese military that would allow it to fight alongside allies beyond the country’s territory. He seeks to shoulder greater global security responsibilities by what he calls proactive pacifism.

But he faces a major hurdle. Article 9 of the Constitution, which has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize this year, states the Japanese people “forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation.” Mr. Abe’s aim to change the powers of the military would require a constitutional revision, which would mean winning two-thirds approval in both houses of Parliament, followed by a referendum — a very tall order. So instead, Mr. Abe seeks to void Article 9 by having the government reinterpret the Constitution. Such an act would completely undermine the democratic process.

Mr. Abe’s highest political goal is to replace the Constitution written and imposed upon the Japanese by the American Army following World War II. For 67 years, not a single word has been amended. Mr. Abe strongly feels that the Constitution imposes an onerous restriction on Japanese sovereignty and is outdated. Still, as critics point out, he should know that the Constitution’s primary function is to check government power. It is not something that can be altered by the whim of government. Otherwise, there is no reason to bother with having a constitution at all.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/09/opinion/japans-pacifist-constitution.html

[betsuni]

65. I've been asking people if Abe will take this opportunity ...

Last edited Sun Feb 1, 2015, 01:26 AM - Edit history (1)

to do a Patriot Act sort of thing and maybe even change the constitution, but so far nobody I know seems worried. I don't know, it seems like a pretty good time to do so to me.

[Jesus Malverde]

67. At times

It's almost as if there is a symbiotic relationship between western powers and ISIS.

[DeSwiss]

45. Only ''scum'' would help create this group.

- K&R

“Thank God for the Saudis and Prince Bandar,” John McCain told CNN’s Candy Crowley in January 2014. “Thank God for the Saudis and Prince Bandar, and for our Qatari friends,” the senator said once again a month later, at the Munich Security Conference.

McCain was praising Prince Bandar bin Sultan, then the head of Saudi Arabia’s intelligence services and a former ambassador to the United States, for supporting forces fighting Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria. McCain and Senator Lindsey Graham had previously met with Bandar to encourage the Saudis to arm Syrian rebel forces.

More

Remember: Scum = exercise your free speech rights. Not scum = Help murder people.

[Jesus Malverde]

53. Don't forget the open rat lines through turkey, the training of jihadist in Jordan and the

Medical support by the israelis through the golan heights. Its all there for anyone who looks.

http://www.businessinsider.com/r-turkey-struggles-as-lone-gatekeeper-against-islamic-state-recruitment-2014-8

http://oilprice.com/Geopolitics/Middle-East/US-Training-Rebels-in-Jordan-Get-the-Story-Straight.html

http://www.thenational.ae/world/revealed-how-syrian-rebels-seek-medical-help-from-an-unlikely-source-in-israel

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ratlines_(history)

[Jim Beard]

60. I have been curious about this IS group that started in Syria

why do they continue to behead when it only intensives the anger and hatred toward. Now they have Japan mad at them and will probably join in and contribute to the down fall of IS. It still makes me wonder, who is their PR person?

Its almost like the brutal dictator, Assad of Syria got them started to turn attention away from him and actually get other countries to fight HIS enemies.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

63. According to some expert talking heads I've seen on the TV

ISIS is being led by Sunnis, generals and other elite leaders under Saddam Hussein who vowed to get back at the west for removing them from power. I don't know if they're right, but I heard one expert say they are secularists who are using religion and jihad to get the blood up among young men from around the world.

[flvegan]

75. *BOOM* headshot. "Carnage wherever your people are found."

LOL, surprise, you're dead.

#7569 on why flvegan will never be in power.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

89. ^^ +1

I prefer the mozambique 2 step.

[Telcontar]

116. Two to the chest, one in the head?

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

121. USMC Rules For Gun Fighting

#3- Anything worth shooting is worth shooting twice. (or 3 times) Ammo is cheap. Life is expensive.

[pansypoo53219]

77. BOO! come + get us yankee dogs! this is what they WANT. the mid-east needs to attack. NOT US.

[ChosenUnWisely]

78. ISIS is a direct and indirect creation of mainly the USA and other Western Powers

The USA has been messing around the middle east for decades, we have assassinated their democratically elected leaders, we have backed brutal dictators in their countries, we even taught them how to fight proxy wars for the USA.

Do I care that ISIS is loping off heads, not one bit it is our Frankenstein we own it.

What is it that George Washington said so long ago that is regularity ignored by our elected leaders......

Observe good faith and justice towards all nations; cultivate peace and harmony with all. Religion and morality enjoin this conduct; and can it be, that good policy does not equally enjoin it? It will be worthy of a free, enlightened, and at no distant period a great nation, to give to mankind the magnanimous and too novel example of a people always guided by an exalted justice and benevolence. Who can doubt that in the course of time and things, the fruits of such a plan would richly repay any temporary advantages, which might be lost by a steady adherence to it? Can it be that Providence has not connected the permanent felicity of a nation with its virtue? The experiment, at least, is recommended by every sentiment which ennobles human nature. Alas! Is it rendered impossible by its vices?

In the execution of such a plan, nothing is more essential than that permanent, inveterate antipathies against particular nations, and passionate attachments for others, should be excluded; and that, in place of them, just and amicable feelings towards all should be cultivated. The nation which indulges towards another an habitual hatred, or an habitual fondness, is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its animosity or to its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest. Antipathy in one nation against another disposes each more readily to offer insult and injury, to lay hold of slight causes of umbrage, and to be haughty and intractable when accidental or trifling occasions of dispute occur. Hence, frequent collisions, obstinate, envenomed, and bloody contests. The nation, prompted by ill-will and resentment, sometimes impels to war the government, contrary to the best calculations of policy. The government sometimes participates in the national propensity, and adopts through passion what reason would reject; at other times, it makes the animosity of the nation subservient to projects of hostility instigated by pride, ambition, and other sinister and pernicious motives. The peace often, sometimes perhaps the liberty, of nations has been the victim.

So likewise, a passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favorite nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest in cases where no real common interest exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter, without adequate inducement or justification. It leads also to concessions to the favorite nation of privileges denied to others, which is apt doubly to injure the nation making the concessions, by unnecessarily parting with what ought to have been retained, and by exciting jealousy, ill-will, and a disposition to retaliate, in the parties from whom equal privileges are withheld. And it gives to ambitious, corrupted, or deluged citizens (who devote themselves to the favorite nation), facility to betray or sacrifice the interests of their own country, without odium, sometimes even with popularity; gilding with the appearances of a virtuous sense of obligation, a commendable deference for public opinion, or a laudable zeal for public good, the base or foolish compliances of ambition, corruption, or infatuation.

As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways such attachments are particularly alarming to the truly enlightened and independent patriot. How many opportunities do they afford to tamper with domestic factions, to practice the arts of seduction, to mislead public opinion, to influence or awe the public councils! Such an attachment of a small or weak, towards a great and powerful nation, dooms the former to be the satellite of the latter.

Against the insidious wiles of foreign influences (I conjure you to believe me, fellow-citizens), the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake, since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government. But that jealousy, to be useful, must be impartial; else it becomes the instrument of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defence against it. Excessive partiality for one foreign nation, and excessive dislike of another, cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil and even second the arts of influence on the other. Real patriots who may resist the intrigues of the favorite, are liable to become suspected and odious; while its tools and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of the people, to surrender their interests.

The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations, is, in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible. So far as we have already formed engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. Here let us stop.

Europe has a primary interests, which to us have none, or a very remote relation. Hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies, the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves, by artificial ties, in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics or the ordinary combinations and collisions of her friendships or enmities.

Our detached and distant situation invites and enables us to pursue a different course. If we remain one people, under an efficient government, the period is not far off when we may defy material injury from external annoyance; when we may take such as attitude as will cause the neutrality, we may at any time resolve upon, to be scrupulously respected; when belligerent nations, under the impossibility of making acquisitions upon us, will not lightly hazard the giving us provocation; when we may choose peace or war, as our interest, guided by justice, shall counsel.

Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation? Why quit our own to stand upon foreign ground? Why, by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rivalship, interest, humor, or caprice?

It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world; so far, I mean, as we are now at liberty to do it; for let me not be understood as capable of patronizing infidelity to existing engagements. I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private affairs, that honesty is always the best policy. I repeat it, therefore, let those engagements be observed in their genuine sense. But, in my opinion, it is unnecessary and would be unwise to extend them.

Taking care always to keep ourselves, by suitable establishments, on a respectable defensive posture, we may safely trust to temporary alliances for extraordinary emergencies.

Harmony, liberal intercourse with all nations, are recommended by policy, humanity, and interest. But even our commercial policy should hold an equal and impartial hand; neither seeking nor granting exclusive favors or preferences; consulting the natural course of things; diffusing and diversifying by gentle means the streams of commerce, but forcing nothing; establishing with powers so disposed, in order to give trade a stable course, to define the rights of our merchants, and to enable the government to support them, conventional rules of intercourse, the best that present circumstances and mutual opinion will permit, but temporary, and liable to be from time to time abandoned or varied, as experience and circumstances dictate; constantly keeping in view, that it is folly in one nation to look for disinterested favors from another; that it must pay with a portion of its independence for whatever it may accept under that character; that, by such acceptance, it may place itself in the condition of having given equivalents for nominal favors; and yet of being reproached with ingratitude for not giving more. There can be no greater error than to expect or calculate upon real favors from nation to nation. It is an illusion, which experience must cure, which a just pride ought to discard.

http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/washing.asp

[MoonRiver]

81. Unspeakable horror

I'm for wiping those bastards off the face of the earth.

[CJCRANE]

84. This group massacred thousands

of people in Syria for two years before the TV news people even noticed.

Now they've murdered a few individuals which seems designed to make the west put thousands of troops in the line of fire. Some people are so enraged they're not thinking clearly.

[MoonRiver]

85. Personally, I am just as enraged that they've murdered

thousands, if not more, innocents as I am about the very public beheadings. I think they must be stopped and destroyed, but it can't just be America and Europe. The Middle East has to step up more.

[backscatter712]

88. This is why Predator drones were invented.

More ISIS fighters and especially more ISIS leaders need to be turned into fine red mist...

They're savages.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

90. An excellent opportunity...

...for sniper practice.

[Kali]

105. what do you mean?

[yuiyoshida]

91. I am very sorry to hear this..

Kanashii wa. konotabiha wa gosyusyou samadesu. My condolences at this

[Generic Brad]

95. This was a regrettable foregone conclusion

Once they took those men hostage and threatened to behead them, this was the only probable outcome. Had they been given the money they demanded, they still would have killed them. Had the prisoner they wanted to have released been freed, they still would have murdered those men.

My heart goes out to their families. It went out to them the minute their capture was publicized.

[Warren DeMontague]

109. Ugh.

[Yorktown]

135. That's what happens when people follow a 1400 year old book to the letter.