Malala Yousafzai - A Tragedy...Hoping for the best

[Keith]

This is one of the bravest people I have ever come across. From the age of 9 years old she has been highlighting injustices dished out to women in a lawless part of the country controlled by mighty heroes the Mucho Macho Taliban.. Now those fucking cowards have shot her in the head and left her for dead.

Much of the population of Pakistan has come out and condemned the murderous act, and in a way, we may see a new initiative out of this, but what kind of sick world is it where it takes the assassination of a 14 year old girl who's only 'crime' was she didn't want to live like a serf, for people to come to their senses?

I truly hope she survives, but even if she doesn't, I fervently hope her sacrifice will not have been in vain...

BBC News - Outcry over Pakistan attack on activist Malala Yousafza, 14

 

I echo your sentiments Keith. Fervently hope she pulls through.

 

[Doug S.]

Count me in....this seems like a new low for the cowardly Taliban bastards :thumbsdown:

No cheers tonite!

Doug

 

[Keith]

There is Some Good News:

BBC News - Malala Yousafzai: Pakistan bullet surgery - successful

 

[Mike Pass]

Totally agree. That little girl has more brains and guts than all of the Taliban put together.
Cheers
Mike

 

[Jim Rosenthal]

We'll see. These are serious injuries- I hope she survives and more than that to a meaningful life with fulfillment of the promise she had already shown. The Taliban are despicable animals- they are the ones who ought to be shot in the head. Twice, to make sure they are dead. You cannot reason with people like that; the only practical thing to do is take them out altogether.

 

[Mark]

Careful Jim, or the 'anti bucket of light' brigade will rip yer face orf.

May all the gods bring a speedy recovery to this heroic young person.

 

[Keith]

Hey Mark. Where are the "Just Say No to Sunbuckets" brigade then?

Actually, I wouldn't know. They are in the naughty corner and I can't see them.

Gods, plural. Sensible option. Invoke them all for this plucky little lady. I was still playing with Dinky Toys at her age.

Sheeesh....

 

[Jim Craik]

Careful Jim, or the 'anti bucket of light' brigade will rip yer face orf.

May all the gods bring a speedy recovery to this heroic young person.

I sincerely hope this brave young girl pulls through!

Mark,

I'm all for taking out the Taliban, one at a time or in groups. Kill the fuckers!

But judging by you comment, I take it that you are a 'pro bucket of light' person. Are you really for using nuclear weapons on the region?

You are OK with killing thousands of innocent people to get to the few bad ones.

Tell us Mark, how many other brave young girls are you willing to kill?

How many good, anti Taliban fighters are you willing to kill?

What will you say when they retaliate with a detonation in New York Harbor?

You attack me because I'm against killing millions to get a few hundred nasty folks?

Christ man, think about what you are saying!

 

[Keith]

Hey Mark, I can't see it but it looks as if the Charge of the Anti Light Brigade has responded. I'll bet a go with my sister behind the pub that you got a bollocking mate..

 

[Pete McCluskey.]

Keith, I just spent three seconds trying to squash your bug. Lol.
Jim how many young girls did your lot kill in Hiroshima and Nagasaki ?
Was it worth it? I personally think so otherwise I'd be talking Japanese.
War is nasty and non combatants sometimes get killed.
IMHO, a bucket of light dropped on the Taliban would sort them out nicely.
Trouble is of course the cowards use women and children as shields, so it won't happen.
Back to the thread, if I had a god I'd be praying to him or her for this young girls full recovery.

 

[Jim Craik]

Jim how many young girls did your lot kill in Hiroshima and Nagasaki ?

Pete,

The estimated number of deaths varies, but 105,000+- seems to be close to the number.

How many of those were brave young girls speaking out against the Japanese warlords, I have no idea.

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Jim even coming from you that is an arrogant and ill informed comment, you call it a US war, which totally ignores the British , Canadian , Australian and other NATO forces that have sacrificed their young men and women in this conflict.

Posted by Pete

Now Pete, just a few days ago, you called me arrogant and ill informed because you thought I implied that Afganistan was only a US war.

Now in a rather impressive bit of hypocracy, suddenly WWII is a US war? You seem to have forgotten about our British, Canadian, Austrailian, New Zeland.......allies.

Pete, you can not have it both ways......................

 

[Pete McCluskey.]

Pete,

The estimated number of deaths varies, but 105,000+- seems to be close to the number.

How many of those were brave young girls speaking out against the Japanese warlords, I have no idea.

And that forced Japan to surrender and saved many more young lives than the 105, 000,
Or so I am told.

 

[Jim Craik]

Was it worth it? I personally think so otherwise I'd be talking Japanese /QUOTE] Posted by Pete.

Pete, you need to pay a little more attention to history.

By August of 1945, Japan was well and truly beaten. With or without the Atomic bombs, the chances you would be forced to speak Japanese was ZERO!!!!!!

Additionally, it was not the atomic bombs that brought about Japans surrender, it was Russia entering the war.

The Japanese leaders were not swayed by civilian deaths from bombing. If they were, the firebombing of Tokyo with a much higher death toll than Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined should have done it.

We like to think that our wonder weapon did the trick, and although it did have a contributory effect, it was Russia and being able to keep their Emperor that convinced them to stop.

 

[Pat]

Not to quibble with details but when Emperor Hirohito addressed the Japanese people he stated the reason for the war's end was as follows:

..."The enemy, moreover, has begun to employ a new most cruel bomb, the power which to do damage is indeed incalculable, taking toll of many innocent lives. Should we continue to fight, it would only result in the ultimate collapse and obliteration of the Japanese nation . . . but would lead also to the total extinction of human civilization. Such being the case, how are we to save millions of our subjects, or ourselves, to atone before the hallowed spirits of our Imperial ancestors? This is the reason we have ordered the acceptance of the provisions of the joint declaration of the Powers."
-Emperor Hirohito radio address to the Japanese nation 14 August 1945

He makes no mention of the declaration of war by the Soviets. The Japanese had been trying to get the Soviets to broker a peace for some time since they had the 1941 Japanese–Soviet Non-aggression Pact and saw them as a potential mediator. The Soviets refused to transmit the information to the US but since their codes were compromised the US was aware. Once the Japanese realized the Soviets were not going to broker a deal, (coincidently the same time Nagasaki was bombed) followed the attempted coup on the Emperor they decided to capitulate.
Remember the Soviets had no means of invading the Japanese homeland and were not an immediate threat to their sovereignty whereas the US was massing forces on Okinawa. Estimates are that an invasion of the homeland would have cost (best cast postwar Army estimate was 500,000 worst case 2 million) on the invading force alone), undoubtedly millions on both sides.

 

[Pete McCluskey.]

Thanks Veek, you beat me to it. Jim it must be wonderful to be always right.
Btw the major supplier of products to my business is a Japanese company, so I
Do speak a little Japanese.

 

[Jim Craik]

This is just one article, From Boston.com, I suggest that anyone who is interested is this topic read some of the most recent books on the subject, I have. Within six days of Russia declaring war, Japan surrendered.

************

Why did Japan surrender?
Sixty-six years ago, we dropped a nuclear bomb on Hiroshima. Now, some historians say that’s not what ended the war.

In recent years, however, a new interpretation of events has emerged. Tsuyoshi Hasegawa - a highly respected historian at the University of California, Santa Barbara - has marshaled compelling evidence that it was the Soviet entry into the Pacific conflict, not Hiroshima and Nagasaki, that forced Japan’s surrender. His interpretation could force a new accounting of the moral meaning of the atomic attack. It also raises provocative questions about nuclear deterrence, a foundation stone of military strategy in the postwar period. And it suggests that we could be headed towards an utterly different understanding of how, and why, the Second World War came to its conclusion.

“Hasegawa has changed my mind,” says Richard Rhodes, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “The Making of the Atomic Bomb.” “The Japanese decision to surrender was not driven by the two bombings.”

 

[Pete McCluskey.]

Jim, Mr Hasegawa, may be a well respected historian but he is one man with an
opinion, and he like many others may try to re-write history. I prefer to believe
the main stream historians and as Veek pointed out the Emperor of Japan.
Keith sorry for the thread drift.

 

[Jim Craik]

Pete,

You think that without the Atomic bombs you would now be speaking Japanese, did you learn that from "main stream historians"?

 

[Pete McCluskey.]

Jim, you know that is just a figure of speech, now go and take a little nap,
you will feel much better.