That graphic captures a quote from me to my better half. She did not appreciate the “SHH”. Charles Krauthammer was a great intellect who will be missed.

Yes let's invade Iraq because of WMDs that we know don't exist. The UN inspectors are in there looking anywhere they want and they aren't there.
What can go wrong?

qjs

How could they have used them on the Kurds if they didn't have them? IIRC didn't the inspectors or somebody find the artillery shells for binary agents? Any decent chemical plant can handle the production.

Edit: The Iraqis knew where the inspectors were going well ahead of time and many places were off limits between Desert Storm and the Iraq War. This is the same problem that the Iran nuclear deal had. The Iranians could delay or prevent the inspectors from looking at particular sites and the appeal process would take significant time.

Why would the issue of WMD’s in Iraq be an item of discussion in this forum?

May we keep politics out of this tribute?

Jeanette Isabelle

> May we keep politics out of this tribute?

How are we supposed to ignore the mans life when paying a tribute to him?
I take it you'd have no problem with me paying a tribute to Osama Bin Laden then?

No offence UTAlumnus but everything you said is untrue.

Saddam used chemicals on the Kurds; but that was in the 1980s.

The inspectors in Iraq found nothing:

Wikipedia: In March 2003, Blix said progress had been made in inspections, and no evidence of WMD had been found.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_War#Opposition_to_invasionw


On Iran:

wikipedia: The IAEA, EU, Russia and China have all affirmed that Iran is respecting the limitations on its nuclear program.[554] The IAEA, the foremost authority on the matter, has repeatedly deemed Iran in compliance with the nuclear deal. The U.S. State Department has also certified that Iran is holding up its end of the bargain, and a host of experts affirmed these findings.[555] IAEA Director General Amano said that "Iran is subject to the world's most robust nuclear verification regime.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Comprehensive_Plan_of_Action#Denial_of_Re-certification

Hopefully the moderators will soon close this thread down.

qjs

For the sake of discussion let's say the former president dies. I can say something positive without being political. I'll give an example of something I may say if he did:

I did not agree with a lot he has done; despite opposition even from his financial supporters, he followed his conscience and defended his ground.

Jeanette Isabelle

??? Did you accidentally post in the wrong thread? What does your post have to do with a tribute to a gracious man who has died, and whose death brought sadness to many?

Or at the very least, delete the posts from the one who is trying to divert and ruin it.

> Or at the very least, delete the posts from the one who is trying to divert and ruin it.

UTAlumnus is entitled to state his opinions as much as anyone else while the post is active.

qjs

> What does your post have to do with a tribute to a gracious man who has died, and whose death brought sadness to many?

If you are entitled to call him 'gracious' aren't I entitled to point out he backed an unprovoked attack on another nation justified on fraudulent evidence?

Why should your opinion of him be allowed, but my citing the actual facts not be?

qjs

As long as we’re discussing actual facts... What actual facts are you certain he knew at the time, 2002? Not the facts “known” with 20/20 hindsight like so many who discuss Iraq’s WMD’s, but with facts known at the time of the invasion by the media. What do you know that they knew then?

Is this how it will be every time I celebrate the 70th birthday of a nation or honor a person who has passed away?

Jeanette Isabelle

>As long as we’re discussing actual facts... What actual facts are you certain he knew at the time, 2002? Not the facts “known” with 20/20 hindsight like so many who discuss Iraq’s WMD’s, but with facts known at the time of the invasion by the media. What do you know that they knew then?

As I said in an earlier post. BEFORE the invasion in 2003 the inspectors said they were finding nothing. They went to the top 40 sites the CIA said 'we KNOW he has WMD sites here' and there was nothing. They carried on searching and found nothing and reported this. It's not true that only with hindsight do we know this. It was announced by the weapons inspectors BEFORE the invasion. This was clearly reported in the media.

Anyway you've all got your wish. I'm leaving this thread.
It seemsThere's no use pointing out the actual facts about what really happened.

qjs

The thread is about the too-soon passing of Charles Krauthammer. The Earth's centrifugal force must have surged, flinging you off in some unexpected tangent direction. WMD apparently.

HEY! Politics - knock it off. The moderator is going to kill this thread and that is as it should be.

We all have people/personalities we admire and are saddened by their passing. If we disagree with some of what they may represent - it may also be that they represent many other qualities and can be respected and/or admired for them.

Charles Krauthammer has made me reflect, think and reconsider many different things - this is good. Let's leave it at that and DROP THE POLITICS!

Thank you.

Paul -

I’d be good with deleting everything after the OP cartoon.

I wasn't referring about UTAlumnus...

It is called being gracious. Most people do not feel the need to immediately speak ill of someone who has just passed. You highlight the good, and accept that nobody is perfect. Which means that there will be some things that you disagree with. That comes with being human. At your funeral, would you yourself be able to withstand the litmus test that you are trying to apply here, to the satisfaction of everyone on the planet?

You can't make a tribute to a political commentator without bringing politics in. The tribute itself is already political. In other words, Jeanette has violated the spirit of the forum once again. By permitting such posts, this forum is revealing its bias and declaring itself to be a r i g h t - w i n g , c o n s e r v a t i v e operation.

We can jam up this forum by posting tribute every time some political figure somewhere in the world dies or whatever. But that's not what this forum is for. Back to survival and equipment, please.

Please

You have a point here. But unfortunately it's a very sad point. We have come to this: We can no longer say something nice about someone because somebody else might be offended. This is quite the sorry state of affairs, especially when one of the somebodies just died.

R.I.P. all you dead people out there. We can't mention any of you by name anymore and have to pretend that you never existed.

But Bingley, you do have a point. I hate your point. This statement has nothing to do with you or your bringing up of the point. That's fine. I just hate the content of the point, but I agree that you have it correct. It saddens me though.

Has this forum become so politically correct that we can't say anything even if it's positive?

Jeanette Isabelle

If we're dispensing with political correctness then may I quote The Wizard of Oz: 'Ding Dong...'

I did not see it that way when I posted the tribute. I thought every member would be mature and not add anything political. The only thing you said I'm agreeing with is by allowing the cartoon to remain, ETS is revealing its bias.


What I don't understand is the word "again." What is the word "again" referencing?

Jeanette Isabelle

That is the biggest load of fake and sensationalist statements I have seen on this forum in a long time. I have no opinion nor dog in the fight of the original post. However to falsely state - without a shred of convincing evidence that this forum and by extension, its owner and or MOD's are revealing its bias, is completely unwarranted and smacks of utter disrespect.

Since no one else may have done so already, this thread has been flagged to the MOD's.

Possibly one reason this thread hasn't been shut down yet is that the mods are waiting to see if we have any self discipline. Let's show some!

Perhaps the greatest positive attribute of this place is the lack of political discussion. I am sure we all have political views (I certainly do!!) and I hope that we do express them at appropriate times and at the right places, none of which is ETS.

We will do better by discussing the merits of various blade steels which i think is actually pretty abstruse. How much real difference can there possibly be? I'll just take my Moraknivs and go sulk in the corner.....

Buh-buh dee, buh-buh dee, tha-tha-that’s all folks!

This may not have been intended as political, but it went there fast.

We’re done here. I’m shutting this thread down.

Let’s play nice out there.

.....CLIFF
(like, who else?)