You’re Gonna Hate Me For This
March 4th, 2008
OK so some Marine in Iraq is under fire because he took some cute cuddly little puppy and threw it off a cliff, causing everyone to scream and cry animal cruelty. I understand the initial knee jerk reaction, its a little shocking especially if you dont have thick skin but I ask you this. Even though the Marines actions are deplorable, are his actions more deplorable than the deaths of innocent civilians that happen everyday in Iraq and other war torn regions at the hands of soldiers just like the marine in the video?
Is it possible that the American people value the life of an animal more than those of human beings living in Iraq? Over a year ago I told you all a story about a Marine who killed a pregnant woman and her unborn baby, no one felt outraged about that. I mean just yesterday 6 innocent people, women and children, were killed in Somalia by a US missile, where’s the outrage for that? Can we get an investigation into the people who caused their murder? Of course not and while Americans are crying and sending death threats to the Marine who threw the dog, people in the Middle East will be saying “so what!” and you all will think they are a bunch of heartless barbarians, because whats a puppy compared to their sisters, cousins and children? Mourn the dog if you want, I’m OK with that but can we get our priorities straight first? Can’t we find something more worthy of our outrage, can we mourn the murdered kids in Gaza, the family in Somalia or the 15 killed in Sudan?
Just look at these fruit cakes crying over this damn puppy. This guy is classic, he nearly starts crying when he says puppy. I love these two, they are extremely concerned over how hurting a puppy makes America look bad. This one is probably my favorite, this liberal fruit cake, emo girl cries her eyes out. And this girl, she hates America because a soldier threw a puppy off a cliff. (’She adores animals, dogs arent her biggest fan’)
The reality is that people who are outraged over this stupid dog actually do value a puppy’s life more than the lives of human beings who may be, Arab or Muslim or african. Maybe everyone out there thinks thats what Arabs and Africans should do, they die everyday so whats the big deal when they are killed in the crossfire, even intentionally. But a puppy?! I guess puppies are too cute to die.
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Buff Buff
Though the killing of innocent humans is a greater tragedy, the killing of a puppy is easier to distinguish as evil because there is no question that it was unwarranted. When civilians are killed there is almost always the contention by some that it was necessary because they presented a threat. In the case of a puppy, it is not possible that the puppy could have presented any sort of threat, especially since it is shown being held by a smiling soldier. Had this marine been taped throwing a human baby over the cliff, or even a human adult if full context were given to show that he was an innocent civilian, I would expect far more outrage and press than this incident is receiving.
I am going to agree with Sean, this is NOT more deplorable. And the many Americans outraged do not feel this is more deplorable. Many Americans are frustrated at this war and the killing of this innocent puppy is an example of how eggregious it in fact is.
There is a presuposition (not necessarily true) that our marines are behaving according to some convention or code. This clearly indicates that they are not and, in fact, becomes one of the most powerful anti-war statements available. Even giving platform to the discussion that far worse things are happening which we are not privy to.
D.B. you do bring up some interesting points. First of all, it’s difficult, in this sometimes cold and ruthless world, to get anyone to feel anything. Getting people’s attention is hard enough, but bringing a tear to their eyes is close to impossible. In America, people love their dogs. What can I say? Animal cruelty is something that is likely to get attention, and something that is likely to evoke an emotional response in people who love their pets.
But your other point is also very significant. You indicate that some people may think to themselves that people in Africa or in the Middle East are used to death, so it’s not such a big deal. I can’t honestly say that such feelings don’t exist. And to be quite honest, it is heartless to think that way.
If we hold life precious, as most of us do, we should prove it by considering the death of another, as our own. We are not entitled, as you suggest, to create ideological categories, and to thereby discount the suffering of others. If any life is to have any meaning, than all life is to be held sacred. I can understand why you take offense at the puppy. It points to the lack of perspective in some of us. But it also brings into clear focus the need to become sensitive to the plight of others, as if their struggle is our own, because in the final analysis, it is.
Do you have any video (or other proof) of Marines gleefully murdering “innocent civilians” other than rumors and anecdotes? People are more shocked by this video than they are of your sob stories about evil U.S. Soldiers because they see it with their own eyes, rather than hear about it second hand from someone with obvious anti-American bias.
Personally, I think the puppy was dead when they tossed it. That yelping is almost as fake as the “Haditha massacre”.
No, people don’t care more about a puppy, your just looking for something new to bitch about. People care about this incident especially because there is no friggin way you could explain the puppy as a threat to the soldier, the act was completely indicative of how disgusting the occupation is. Why? Because it shows even on their off time U.S. soldiers like nothing better than to kill things for giggles. Most anecdotes about iraqi civilian deaths involve troops not knowing or calculating a low risk of innocents when they bomb etc…It’s not fake either, vets have chimed in and said thats what a puppy would sound like, the puppy isn’t dead he’s scruffed. When you scruff an animal they naturally go limp, thats the whole point, thats why the parent animals do it.
“Is it possible that the American people value the life of an animal more than those of human beings living in Iraq?”
Actually DB, yes….I really can’t stand humans and don’t care what happens to them.
As far as your term “stupid dog,” please reserve the term “stupid” for humans. After all, animals are instinctual and not capable of true hatred, stupidly, or even an imprudent thought process like the one you…ehm…put forth here.
So there you go….blog away my misguided child!
That’s an unfair comparison you’re trying to make. Show me a video of the things you describe as “fact”, show me a video of a soldier throwing a person off a cliff, and there would be 1000x the outrage among Americans and people worldwide.
Living in a dangerous environment is dangerous, civilians get killed during war – but the real problem is that too often when there are war crimes no one is there with a camera to capture it, not that people don’t care when it happens.
Ben it happens everyday and its video taped everyday and there are news reports about it very regularly and the U.S. admits to it very regularly. The fact that you found out about this dog incident the day it happened and are oblivious to the routine murder of civilians is indicative of the problem. So if you dont want to believe it and you require extreme means for it to be proved to you then go enlist in the war effort and see it for yourself. I dont know what to tell you.
For all you dog lovers, you crack me up. You value the life of an animal over your own. Your problem is that you’re spoiled, you dont have hardships in your lives to place things in proper perspective. If you lived in fear of death or oppression i promise the last thing youd care about is a puppy.
Tell me, if you were starving and you’re only hope of survival was smashing that puppy’s face with a rock and cooking it, would you do it? If not you deserve to die.
The world is a confusing place when you can’t understand the different between killing an innocent puppy, a person that wants you dead and people that died from an accident.
Several points:
1. Americans are generally desensitized to person on person violence. They see it from a young age in cartoons and in slapstick, as a joke. They see it in their sports, such as boxing, football, and hockey, where fighting is tolerated. And then there is film and television. Between the war movies, war documentaries, war-mini-series, crime dramas, serial-killer specials, C.O.P.S, comedic spoofs of the former and the latter, Americans are exposed to a great deal of violence. And let’s not forget video-games. Virtually all are related to war, whether it be first-person shoot-em-ups, or real time strategy games.
2. The U.S. military has the full cooperation of the news media, generally. Thus, the war is discussed in terms favorable to the military. This is part of psychological warfare, a portion of which must be directed at the domestic population so as to maintain support for the war. Thus, every event that takes place is largely viewed through the prism of the military mindset. People who are being tortured are all terrorists. People who are killed are all enemy combatants, or collateral damage, for which the insurgents are just as much to blame as the U.S. soldiers.
3. The U.S. is a hyper-competitive culture that adulates the winner and disparages the loser. There is often little sympathy for victims, because they are viewed as weak, and blaming the victim occurs frequently. Conversely, if the victim is not blamed, it is usually for exploitative purposes, or to reinforce the need for police protection. Thus, cops who taser people are defended, and the taser victims spun as being troublesome or deserving, whereas civilian criminals are demonized as subhuman and worthy of being locked away, even for simple crimes such as drug possession, or crimes of necessity.
4. Although the U.S. consumes meat in mass quantities, the actual slaughter is done far away in rural areas, and is rarely depicted on television or in the print media. The internet is a different story, but most meat eaters do not seek out the clips; there exists a psychological divide in their heads. Americans are exposed to animal-on-animal violence on the discovery show, and occasionally human-on-animal violence on a hunting show, but the latter are generally edited.
5. Americans have a love affair with dogs, probably like a lot of people’s world-wide. There was an article in the Wall Street Journal awhile back about how Americans always hated the dog-catchers, hence the expression, “He couldn’t get elected dog-catcher.” Many Americans have dogs for pets, and whole industry is devoted towards coddling these pets. Additionally, many humans anthropomorphize dogs, because they resemble humans in that they are mammals. However, the dog will not have many of the negative traits that a human would, such as the ability to criticize or insult. Hence, dogs can become more human than human to many people. It is not uncommon to find people who prefer animals to people. In fact, the founder of the Church of Satan preferred animals to many people, having worked in a zoo; he kept several large predatory cats as pets.
From these points I can draw the following conclusion:
The selective outrage comes from the fact that the military CANNOT spin the subject matter of the video in any way of it is proven to be true. Thus, the American minds CANNOT spin the puppy’s death, other than by a showing that the video is a fake and that “no puppies were harmed in the making of this video.” But the video does not appear to be fake, so the burden is on the military to prove otherwise, which they will attempt to do before denouncing and punishing the offending soldier as a deviant.
The pregant woman, on the other hand, regardless of the true circumstances surrounding her death, can be, through the “magical thinking” of “guilt by association” can be viewed as the enemy, because she is human. Some people will think, “Oh, she was in the wrong place, she must have done something wrong, etc.”
Not so for the puppy. Nobody could seriously argue that it was somehow working for al-Qaeda in Iraq. Hence the outrage over its killing.
I’ll tell you why this puppy is stirring such anger. For 5 years those of us who have spoken out against the killing of humans in Iraq, Afghanistan, Gitmo, Guantanamo, Somalia, name your place…have been killed filthy liberals, we have been told we are supporting terrorists…every pregnant woman killed was a “terrorist”. Every child killed was being used as a suicide bomber, or was already a terrorist…every last human being was a terrorist or potential terrorist. but nobody can possibly use that tired out disgusting excuse for this puppy — “oh, that puppy was a terrorist intent on killing Americans”. Right. This is why we are pissed. This is the obvious killing of an innocent life that has nothing and cannot be SAID to have anything – to do with war.
In my above post that should have been “we…have been CALLED filthy liberals”.
I’ve been to the war DB, and I wasn’t impressed. The natives lacked initiative and just like unruly teenagers, needed to be told to do their homework and brush their teeth every night. But heck, I’ll agree with what I assume is one of your all-consuming global concerns and that is there is no need for the USA to be anywhere outside of the USA. That is where our similarities end. (I’m guessing) you march down the “America is imperialistic” route and I skip down the “To hell with the rest of the world…go isolationism” path!
So, how about you enlighten us about your “hardships”? An Egyptian living in Chicago? You life sounds so horribly difficult that I must believe you have the proper “perspective” that you refer to in your previous post. No, there is no way you are the spoiled one, as you sip on your cappuccino and alternate between bites of Kahlúa cheesecake and chunks of cool collegiate post-postmodern anti-American rhetoric. I’m going to go out on a limb and say you are as much “in touch” with your Middle Eastern brethren and I am with my Lebanese dirt farming relatives. Maybe you were actually born and raised in Egypt? Are there hardships of war and misery in Egypt? You can’t refer to Egypt’s ass-whopping by Israel during the Six-Day war. You weren’t even born then and besides, it was only 6 days for crying out loud. So, I can’t really figure out what exactly are your hardships, unless of course, there are none and you conveniently forgot that people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.
I’ll finish with this. I am not worried that I would ever have to smash a puppy’s face with a rock and cook it for survival. There will always be some stupid human picking a fight and starting a war, giving me all the real or perceived moral grounds to kill and make a delicious Garlic and Pepper Femoris roast to share with my dog Skip. After all, humans taste like chicken, right?
@Centralvalleygal
So you are not fit to comment about hardship unless you experience it, eh?
One need not go to college to spot lousy, fallacious insults that pose as arguments. Here, let me help you. The following is a link called “Logic Fallacies.” Let’s see if you can figure out which one you just made.
http://members.aol.com/standardcharter/logic.html
D.B.–I am going to leave the puppy issue alone as I believe that others have already covered all of the potential angles.
In respect to the lack of outrage, I agree 100%. I mean, where is the outrage for the residents of Sderot who have been suffering from rocket attacks for the last 7 years? I was there last weekend–I ended up running to the bomb shelter 2 times in 40 minutes. The second time that boom was freaking close. The intended targets are literally civilian houses, stores etc.
Living with that for 7 years? Especially after the withdrawal from Gaza was supposed to end it? Unbelievable. I would have gone postal years ago.
And you know what? No outrage! Hmmm…do you suppose if Hamas manages to knock off a puppy, it might wake people up?
Gila
Centralvalleygal-
you know i’m blessed that I dont have to deal with the hardships many face in this world but still somehow I have the sense to sympathize and understand the struggles of others. Somehow despite not suffering as many people do I still have the ability to see that innocent people die and you are OK with it because they aren’t Americans and you somehow find it tolerable because its “an accident”. You rationalize the murder of innocent people so easily while crying about an animal and despite the facts being right there in front of you, you dont see any moral peculiarity in that. I dont know maybe I just dont get it but to me it seems like all you care about is how cute an animal is, that it makes you feel all warm and squishy inside. However if you saw a dead skunk on the road you wouldnt care because its not about loving animals its about loving the animals that you deem worth of love. Hypocrite.
Were those atrocities recorded on video and posted online? People are having this reaction largely because of this. In general, people tend to react more strongly to violence against animals and children because they are considered to be defenseless, at least compared to grown men.
I’d like to add that my stomach turns every time I hear one of these stories of Marines abusing Iraqis and Afghanis. It’s disgusting, but it’s one of those things I don’t feel I have any chance of changing.
If the video is true, and I beleive it is, I know many USArmy SF men that would like just 1 minture alone with these two “SICK” persons. That was a Defenseless puppy and anyone that would take those actions should punished to the MAX, PERIOD!!
RB
I get your point
but respect the puppet ok!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Americans never involve themselves in middle eastern challenges and they just watch killings in movies; then they assume its just a fate for others not themselves! Because they’ve never seen these in their real life!
I guess there is a lot of standard “defense” for killing humans – woman, children, innocent bystandars…
You know: Collateral damage, the “terrorists” used them as human shield, “ooooops!” and so on…
People got tired on it.
But killing puppies is more universal message, and less explicable.
The anger is not essentially against the killking of the puppy, but for the level of the humanity of the american soldiers…
No … it is not one off…
Maybe just one too much on the top of Abu Gharib and Haditha…
“Professor” American-
I’m not here to discuss whether my arguments failed Aristotle’s, Perelman’s, Toulmin’s or any other philosopher’s theory on the construction and advancement of sound arguments. I’ll readily admit that my posting was more based on emotion and as such it placed both DB and I outside of Perelman’s definition of the rational “universal audience.” The purpose of my sardonic remarks was to put in check DB’s basis for his generalizations and to question DB’s “qualifications” to call those in question “spoiled.” Whether or not in your eyes I failed that task miserably, do remember I’m not the one who started this discussion. Furthermore, the next time you wag your “professor” finger at someone, take the time to grade their paper and detail their argumentation faux pas instead of taking the easy road and referring them to a website. Remember, if a post is worthy of your admonishment, don’t be a Lazy Larry (no offense intended to the Larrys of the world). Take it all the way baby! On a side note, after this post I’m done, so feel free to have the last word. I don’t know you, but you seem like you enjoy that so you have my promise that I will not take that little pleasure away from you.
To answer your question, yes, you can “comment” about the hardship without experiencing it, however, if you are going to rebuke others for lacking in a virtue (uh…you do agree that the term “spoiled” indicates diminished or complete absence of one of the four cardinal or three supernatural virtues albeit directly or indirectly, right?!?!), then I would hope you could back it up with a little bit more substance than just bitter words fueled by what I perceive to be the angst of youth or maybe some extremist orientation or maybe both.
So “Professor,” can we agree that the killing of innocent civilians and the killing of a puppy (animals are truly innocent is implied) is unconscionable? Both are bad, correct? Alright, with that out of the way, in DB’s post it is clear that in his value hierarchy, the death of an innocent civilian is more unconscionable than the death of a puppy. Enough said, my judgment call is irrelevant. My concerns are, however, with DB using his value judgment to generalize and admonish others. DB generalizations chastise all those who found fault with the actions of the idiot Marines, as if this implied that those who disapproved of the idiots Marines’ actions care for animals more than humans. Were all those posting suppose to place a caveat at the end of thier post proclaiming, “but the killing of humans is worse!” Another concern of mine is that DB’s value judgment may be reserved for those of his “kind.” A question to help clarify: would DB be as angry if the discussion revolved around the killing of innocent Americans (don’t start a discussion whether the spoiled Americans, in particular, the spoiled US volunteer military members, are or are not innocent…too tiered and not interested). Was DB angry because the innocent civilians were (possibly) of his imagined community? Back a few years, was DB equally outraged at the murder of innocent non-Arabs, non-Muslims, and non-Middle Easterners (e.g. Daniel Pearl)? I can’t quite figure out if DB’s outrage is universal, or reserved for a select few. My opinion is if you are going to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders, carry it all and not only the parts of the world you like or find pretty. Now, one possible explanation I did toy with was maybe DB was bitten by a dog as a child and now, years later is still traumatized by pups. Who knows? I guess more important than all my guesswork, is the question whether anyone should care what DB, with a “reputation“ for “wiseASSness and satire embedded” in his “affection for Middle East causes” (his words, not mine), think? With that self-description, I’m not so sure.
Well, since I’ve been subject to your innocuous tongue lashing about my “lousy, fallacious insults” and given your deep concern for structurally sound arguments, how about you back up your (pseudo?) premises with some citations, or are the points you presented all your original work (in which case you should still cite…duh)? BTW, regarding the website you referred me to, “Macintosh HyperCard shareware stack”??? Oh, such a rationalist-chic name. I love it!
Good night “Professor” American and good luck with your career in rhetorical criticism.
DB,
Huh? Did I say I find it tolerable because it is “an accident”? How is it that I rationalized the murder of innocent people? Did I say I didn’t care about skunks? I wonder if we’ll see Professor “let me point out your argumentation flaws” American. Yeah, never mind…
Seriously, congratulations on your extensive feelings of “sympathy” for others. Just make sure your sympathy is universal and not only reserved for the “groups” of people you like. Please stop nipping at my heels (sorry, no doggie pun intended), and go out and get some real life experience. And criminy, stop (over) using the word hypocrite.
“Professor” American….I broke my promise not to post again. Opps! So, numerous grammatical and spelling errors notwithstanding, in my last post I meant to say,”…however, if you are going to rebuke others for lacking in a virtue in direct reference to the hardship.” Yeah, well read it any way you’d like…mach nichts.
Adieu!
A dog is better than a man who rapes, a woman who abuses her child, a fellow human being killing another. Yes a dog is much better than that. Abuse is abuse, a dog abused, a child abused, a woman abused, a Middle Easten abused, an American abused, nature abused, it is all wrong. A woman abuser, a solder abuser, a Middle Eastern abuser, an American abuser, all of them rank much bellow the poor dog we see in the clip ( or in my case not seeing because of the dial up connection speed). Tamam
Compassion is blind.
To witness with one’s own eyes what one comtemplates in one’s mind, is to experience reality in a way different from knowing through our intellect that certain things happen.
If we choose who or what to show compassion to, we deny the essence of compassion, and the world is poorer for it.
Your full of bollocks you turd. stop comparin it to other stuff. So your not respectful of animals where you come from but we are here. This cruel bullyin twat wants killin.
@dog lover
“full of bollocks” isn’t proper English, now is it?
I think the whole outrage is that everyone SAW it and heard it’s cries. There would be 10 times the reaction if there was an actual video on the net about a man throwing a baby. When you tell someone that a pregnant woman was killed, honestly, it doesn’t put a damper on my day. It happened, I didn’t see it, I don’t care.
But when you actually see someone doing something horrible, it’s a different story.
Case in point, no one cares about text, they respond more to images.
Yeah. I agree. People who blog about six “innocent” people being killed in Somalia have their priorities screwed up when 3,000 innocent people were killed in New York by Islamists. Or what about the 1,300+ innocents killed by Islamists in the month of February alone? Not a peep until a puppy gets tossed over an embankment, and then it’s time to bag on the Big Bad Americans killing “innocents”. Nevermind the 10,000 violent incidents by Islamists since the last time they made themselves known to us in New York.
Asshole.
Dogs rule. Screw humans!
Signed:
Scruffy
WTFF??
@sean: okay.. so if I make the puppy swallow a little pack of C-4 n then when it blows next 2 the smiling soilder?then u guys would b shooting at every other animaal cuz they represent a threat too
totally agree
but ITS A PUPPY for crying out loud.. n cannot believe all the fuss abt it
get over it.. like D.B. said, let get our priorities straight
What about the 200,00 East Timorese Christians killed by US backed Suharto in 1975? Or the slaughter of 3 million Bengalis by Kissinger and Nixon supported General Yahya Khan? Or the brutal coup in Chile by Allende Salvedor? Or the 600,000 killed in both Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Or even the 1 million dead in Iraq currently?
Your 10,000 “incidents” mean shit compared to what the Western world (most especially the U.S. government) have done in the 20th century.
Dickhead, go join the fight in Iraq you armchair general you.
Meant to say the brutal coup in Chile that overthrew Salvador and installed Pinochet in power.
Oh, and also, what about the Greek junta, backed by Lyndon B Johnson?
I am willing to bet that US foreign policy alone has committed more killings than Islamists ever could, and that’s a fact Einstein.
Seriously, because American lives are worth so much more than the millions of lives who were lost since then. Yes, you’re totally right, we should definitely obsess about 9/11 seven years later and forget all the innocent civilians who suffer through far worse tragedies on a daily basis, countries where the death rate of 3,000 is per week rather than per decade.
Wow, this sure has developed into something hasn’t it? Who knew my lack of sympathy for a puppy would turn into a foreign policy debate of EPIC PROPORTIONS. Can I get an echo effect on that last part?
All this dead puppy talk reminds me of something… oh yes! http://www.whisperofmadness.com/2007/01/20/kill-the-puppy/
Or what about the 40 million Indians killed by Islamists, and the 100’s of millions killed by Muslims since its inception by the pedophile Mohammed? Muslims have invaded Christian lands, continue to practice slavery, mutilate the genitals of their women, and violate the basic rights of “kaffirs”. So. Take your fake outrage over a puppy, and your inflated numbers and toss yourself over that cliff along with that puppy. It would be appropriate.
Dear everyone here, with the exception of level-headed MEY members,
Please shut up.
Thank you!
This pissing contest about who killed who is great and all, but what do you want to do about it?
Shouldn’t you go back to LittleGreenFootballs or JihadWatch? WHile you’re at it, can you learn how to count before making yourself look like a fuckin idiot?
And you know what’s funny? The ‘Christian Church’ had justified the colonization of most of the Muslim for centuries, and it’s ironic how he never bothered to comment how Orthodox Christianity nearly wiped out ancient Greek customs, or how Coptic Christianity declared much of ancient Egypt to be heathen when they were in control, or how Catholics forced their beliefs upon natives in the Americas and the Indian island of Goa.
Clean up your own backyard before commenting on others, chump.
Esra’a
-Do you happen to see the same irony that I see?
You were wondering, D.B., how people could care more about the death of a puppy, than about the deaths of millions of people. Well, the tone of this discussion points to the possbility that there is a hell of a lot more consensus about the puppy, than about world history. And gauging the anger expressed here, it is not much of a jump to imagine people going at each other’s throats for who knows what reason.
I’d like to understand how this turned into a religious debate? Everyone, I dont care what religion you are, I dont care if you worship the sun or if you have no religion at all.
Regardless of what religion you practice my point is still the same, there are very serious death’s, murders, genocides, etc. going on around the world, some of which occurred the day off this puppy incident and some of which occurred the day before as noted in the original article. Everyone needs to calm down here. All anyone is saying is that, mistreatment of an animal is wrong, agreed but why dont we get as angry when mistreatment of human beings occur.
People have responded so quickly to their gut reaction regarding this puppy that when i ask them, “what about the 22 day old baby killed in Gaza”? They give me some nonsense about the dog being more innocent. Well i understand that human beings are not perfect creatures but if you have trouble seeing a newborn baby is a more valuable life than a puppy, well I’m sorry something is really wrong with you.
That value of life is regardless of religion or race or region. Death of human beings is the same, its awful and we have all become desensitized to it. If thats the case, I dont hold that against you. All this post is asking you to do is stop for a second and say, “why arent people as upset about the death of a human being as they are over this puppy?” This is about valuing life, I would not be bothered if the outrage over human loss was equal to the outrage over this dog. Thats not the case however, the reaction demonstrates to us all that the dog is valued over people. I think thats sad.
Oh and as far as religion goes everyone this is not a muslim/christian issue so lets please not make it one. No one had to go and insult other peoples religions, if you have a score to settle this is not the post to do it on. Lets keep in mind that the people dying in Sudan are both Christian and Muslim, the people dying in Gaza are both Christian and Muslim as well as the people dying in Iraq are both Christian and Muslim. Also this site is religiously diverse as well so if you come here and think that this is some pro jihadist islam site you have greatly misunderstood our mission. We’ve been speaking out against terrorism and extremism since the sites inception so please be respectful and browse the site and our causes to better understand who you are addressing.
And the people being killed and wounded in Sderot and Ashkelon are Jewish, Muslim and Christian….
Or perhaps, if it is Hamas missiles launched at Israel, it is okay?
Thank you Gila for that point, I wasn’t intentionally excluding Jewish victims. thanks
I for one do not rate the life of this dog higher than that of a human, but that does not say I cannot be outraged by this sick act. This soldier is representing us, the west, and we expect a lot more than needless animal cruelty, if he can be identified he should be kicked out of the marines. Since watching that utube clip I have watched a few more, soldiers tormenting and gloating over a crippled dog, marines in hysterics after blowing up a dog, marines amusing themselves by throwing a grenade (or something) into a flock of sheep. These people are sick and need to be brought to justice!
remebering that joke of George Bush wanting 1 million Iraqis and 1 french blonde dead; and all ask why you want that poor blonde dead… who cares about 1000000 (still counting) iraqis?
I could go into the story of how the puppy was innocent, I could go on for days about how crulty of any kind is wrong, I could talk for hours about the war and how it should have been over along time ago, Yes innocent people have been dieing over there since this whole mess started, weman, children, Dogs, cats, yes and even innocent men. But is that really the piont. No it is not. The real piont of this whole story is the fact that a person could be to cruel and heartless to any living creature that posed him no treat at all and if allowed would ahve been a comfort to him.
I hate the fact that we are still at war over there, I hate the fact that these little boys are sent over there and feel manly by killing and innocent dog. I hate the fact that even though his family had nothing to do with the horrible thing he did that people are harassing a poor little old lady that did not even Know about the Video and she too is innocent.
Yes he should be punished for what he has done. Yes these thngs should not be allowed on sights that are so easy to view by our children. Yes the war will change people to monsters like it has done to this little boy that now feels like a man because he has killed. And yes any person who has gone after his family becaue of what he has done should also be punished.
Lets face it, no one will ever agree about this and no one will ever get punished for it. I think it is time to move on.
I really don’t agree with this whole situation. The people that think its fake, it may be but, the fact that people still do that cruel stuff to puppies (or animals in general) like for example: throwing them off cliffs because they think the dog is a threat! thats the most heartless thing I have ever heard.
I do agree with the person above me.
This soldier did a very heartless thing and he should be punished for it.
But, no one will do so. People like this get away with it, and believe it or not… it will always be that way.
It was horrible that a solider would do that for no reason. Also it’s a war and innocent people are going to die. Not on purpose though. And if a soldier is killing people for no reason than yes there should be an investigation. Killing period is horrible and should be mourned.
But also, what if the video was a fake. Its been told that the dog was already dead and the yelping from the dog was edited in. Its judgemental to say that the american public dosent care about the killing of the arab public. It seems to me that the non-american public will only take the radical news that get big due to people thinking there crazy, and taking that as a reliable source. A video of a girl on you tube crying becase of a dog, is not how much of americans feel about dogs. I personally feel more sympathetic towards the the innocent suvillanes being killed in the middle east. But again we have to remember were at war. Certain people cannot be trusted. A pregnant woman could have looked like a suicide bomber. We just dont know.
D.B.:
Regardless of the victim, violence is still violence. It cannot be justified, no matter what the context is. Sure, the difference between a dog and a human is immense, but both are living, breathing animals. You brought up an innocent pregnant woman and her unborn child being killed, as well as 6 innocent Somalian civilians, and said that none of these people deserved to die, I agree with you on that. However, that dog was just as innocent as the rest of them, if anything it may have been more innocent than some of those people. Those people have voices, they have choices. How do you know that those people haven’t performed heinous crimes or killed people themselves? Then they may not be so innocent. Either way, no one deserves to be killed.
Also, you included a stereotype within your piece, saying:
“…while Americans are crying and sending death threats to the Marine who threw the dog, people in the Middle East will be saying “so what!” and you all will think they are a bunch of heartless barbarians, because whats a puppy compared to their sisters, cousins and children?”
It is quite unfair of you to make such an assumption, because you are not acquainted with every single American. It would have been okay to make such a statement, had you added a “most” or “many” in front of Americans. What gives you the right to place stereotypes on American people, but it is NOT okay for us to place stereotypes on the people of the Middle East? I don’t believe that it’s right to assume things about any people as a whole, and I refuse to condone or encourage this act.
In addition, I don’t think it was right of you to call the girl “emo” for crying. Do I agree that crying about a dog dying that you probably didn’t know is a little unnecessary? Yes, but some people may react in that way, and no one has the right to judge a person’s reaction.
Basically, what the Marine did was wrong, no matter how you twist it. Not every single American is bawling their eyes out about the situation, but many people do find it to be a wrongful act. Lastly, if a girl’s going to cry about a dog, let her be. She’s not hurting anyone…she’s just an innocent civilian.
I think that it is wrong for everyone to make such a big deal over this marine throwing a puppy over a cliff. There are people dying everyday, and people should make a bigger deal about women and children dying, especially a pregnant woman. Even though it was wrong that the marine threw the dog, it is not nearly as big of a deal as killing inocent people. It is ridiculous the publicity that this dog is getting over human beings.
I think that over the course of the war, with all the news and media coverage, we are becoming desensitized do the deaths of innocent people. We hear about it everyday. It’s almost like background noise now. Then all the sudden the headline “American soldier throws puppy over a cliff” pops up. Can you really blame anyone for being taken by surprise? We’ll admit that, at first, we were appalled by what took place, only because it is such an unusual update to hear about during a war. However, D.B.’s first post was eye-opening. I never even thought to compare it to how many innocent people are killed everyday. It makes this puppy incident seem almost comical in comparison to the tragedies that result to HUMAN BEINGS everyday.
However, as an American, it is extremely disappointing to be represented by a soldier that would commit such a ridiculous act in the middle of a war. In a war, innocent people will die. It’s a fact of life, but to throw a puppy off of a cliff for the heck of it? What is even the point? That is why there has been such a reaction from Americans over this, not because we value a puppy over people.
The oddity of this “media buzz” is the fact that it has drawn attention of many people. But it would be insane for someone to value a dog more so than a precious human being. If there was a baby in place of the dog, there would have been a much larger outrage. Either way, there is a war going on, and although we don’t like to accept it: people will die.
Our media usually covers up the harsh and brutal killings in Iraq, and we usually don’t get the entire story. We should care more, and our ignorance shows, but that is all that the media provides its viewers with. We want to be upset over these deaths and people, but it’s so hard to relate; we don’t live there and know the people personally. Although, we do feel some ounce of sympathy towards the family that will have to cope with the loss of their loved ones. We are not purposely being heartless Americans, it has to do with the society that we are a part of and the media coverage we are exposed to.
I do clearly understand where you are coming from. Americans are making a big deal out of the killing of the puppy. I do say how do you blame them though??? That was just wrong…..But just as the killings in Iraq or where ever is aslo wrong. But the reason Americans are making such a big deal out of the dog killing is because EVERYONE can relate to a dog…to be truthfull we can not relate to those that are being killed. But my question is are we wrong for not being as sympathetic about a dog to a person we dont know??? I actually say no we are not…when people die that I don’t know I have feel bad about it but I don’t know them so how can I make a big deal out of it…but dogs are just to precious:)
Arab racism and Islamic supremicists continue to lie and distort the historical record sending scores of their own sons and daughters to death in a jihad based on lies and half-truths. What a shame that multiple generations are given over to hate, crime, murder, and deceit… This is just yet another piece of the never-ending Muslim gameplan called the “grievance theater”. Push push push, murder murder murder, and when another society or civilization pushes back then act like a victim.
At least we, for all of our faults, still believe in choice. The lot of a non-believer in the Muslim paradigm is:
1) Pay a jizya in order to exist.
2) Submit and become a Muslim.
3) Become a slave.
4) Be murdered.
Remember, according to Muslims non-Muslims are never considered innocent, and are always “guilty” for denying Allah. I would recommend very strongly that people take a moment to read:
http://www.strategycenter.net/docLib/20080107_Coughlin_ExtremistJihad.pdf
http://www.investigativeproject.org/
http://www.globalpolitician.com/24345-islamism-multiculturalism-european-immigration
http://www.memri.org
That’s just for starters. Long live freedom. Long live democracy. Long live equality for all men, all women, homosexuals, all creeds, all faiths, and for those who don’t believe.
That last comment is quite ill-informed and it’s hilarious that people consider MEMRI to be a level-headed and reliable source.
Wake up and smell the coffee, children. Islamophobia is the brutal anti-Semiticism of these past few decades. You’re not being any less violent and hateful than the people you hate.
Islamophobia is just another term for “telling the truth”. Funny how any time anyone “tells the truth” he is “Islamophobic”, children.
Do NOT be deceived by people who oppress others. Freedom from the jizya! Freedom of religion! No more honor killings! No more terrorism! Open up ALL Muslim lands to free and OPEN church worship. Stop the Muslim slaughters of Paganists and Christians in Darfur! Stop Wahabbism and Salifism!
Reform Islam! No more violence in the name of Islam. No more from the Religion of Fear:
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=343_1206967836
Is that last comment of yours supposed to be revolutionary or something?
Many Muslims themselves have been arguing that for decades. Somehow you missed that because you were too busy watching the excessively racist MEMRI which was telling you otherwise.
Cute… in Darfur, Muslims are also getting slaughtered also…
Cute… I think he/she/it is going to say next that nazism is another term for “telling the truth”
Please stop being democraphobic. It’s hurtful. Do you believe Muslims and non-Muslims should be equal in every aspect of society?
“As a Muslim I have all rights as long as I follow the Quran. As a kaffir you have no rights – strictly speaking- at all as you reject the Quran , Allah’s masterpiece . It is your fault , your self-imposed illegality, kaffir, if something bad happens to you then.”
” O ye who believe! Take not the Jews and the Christians for friends. They are friends one to another. He among you who taketh them for friends is (one) of them. Lo! Allah guideth not wrongdoing folk.”
antishock8, you do no that this website is not an Islamic website right?
“What the kuffar call “human rights” are a manifestation of their Ignorance and their arrogance, for the basis for this concept, this idea, is the belief that human beings have these “rights”, by their very nature, and that manufactured laws, governments, agencies and organizations – or “our leaders” – can “give” us these rights, or embody them, or protect them. In addition, this kaffir concept implies that we, as individuals, have or should have a “duty” to “obey” such laws, such governments, organizations, and such leaders since they embody or protect these “rights”. However, according to Deen Al-Islam, this amounts to kufr: to insolence, to overstepping the bounds which Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala has set for us. It is a denial of our Muslim nature and a denial of the truth of Tawheed.”
“For Islam, “human rights” – individual “rights” – do not exist. For Muslims, there is only obedience, or disobedience. Muslims know that we, as individuals, only have duties and responsibilities – toward Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala; toward those who are the representatives of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala on Earth (such as a Khalifah); toward our brothers and sisters; toward upholding Adab Al-Islam in our relations with non-Muslims.”
No, thanks. Never. See you on the battlefield…
I think now this thing can be considered spam, no?
Yup. It’s trolling. Those people at Jihad Watch need to put their commenters in a cage.
Typical American criminality. These guys are know for their inability to take on anyone one on one. Brave guy throwing a puppy down like that. Sick twisted bastards.