People get pissed when I put this shit in R&R

[jimkatai]

http://www.un.org/Depts/oip/sector-water.html

read.

[Deacon]

Bacteriological and chemical analyses revealed that 98 per cent of drinking water samples in the urban areas were brought within guidelines established by the World Health Organization (WHO).

With an estimated population of 1.5 million, the three major northern cities of Dahuk, Erbil and Sulaymaniyah were the focus of urban safe water supply interventions. Urban water networks and sewerage channels were extended and the level of access to water, currently at 96.4 per cent of households in urban areas, was maintained.

Cool, thanks for backing me up. I wouldn't have expected you to do so, honestly.

[jimkatai]

Assuming this specific place in question was one of these main cities referred. The program is ongoing, Deacon.

[Arc Orion]

Let me get this straight. You provide a link that backs Deacon up and when he points this out your response is "the program is ongoing", as if that automatically makes you right?

[jimkatai]

It doesn't automatically make me right. Just stating that Deacon can't state for sure that those kids had clean water and the way all those kids ran for that water, despite being horribly demeaned in the process, and the way the other kids tackled the water makes me think otherwise.

[Deacon]

What kids tackled what water? What the HELL are you talking about?? And yeah, there's nothing special at all about getting a bottle of water (I'm assuming bottled water still isn't as common there as it is here) from an American soldier, and they're simply dying of thirst, which is how they can run for several blocks with no apparent ill effects.

[jimkatai]

First off, if you're dying of thirst, there is a lot of motivation to run your ass off trying to get some water. Not to mention that I already stated that the kid might not have steady access to water, so while he may not have been dehydrated then, the potential is just around the corner.

As to the said tackling, I was wrong about that. The situation was over exaggerated when I watched it the first time, due to my anger and as to the fact that they don't get bottled water and that might have been special within itself like coke bottles are special in Mexico, I accept that.

All in all due evidence states that the kid might not have been in such a tragic situation as one would presume. Either way, though, what the soldier did was terrible and demeaning and the soldier should be reprimanded for what he did. It's not some simple joke that crossed a fine line of decency, this man was a soldier representing the U.S. and he was demeaning a little kid because he wanted a bottle of water.

[Deacon]

Dude, Coke bottles are in no way special in Mexico. They're the default. And yes, the dude was being kind of a prick, but the degree of the offense has been blown out of proportion, and the furor over it is unnecessarily exaggerated. That's all.

[jimkatai]

About the coke bottles, it depends on where you go. It helps, of course, if the coke bottle happens to have soda in it of course. The villages I went to, the kids would show us stuff they had or were proud of and one of the common things I saw was a coke bottle.

[Deacon]

Yes, exactly, they're quite common, and they still have value, so they're turned back in for the deposit. That's why when you get a Coke or Pepsi or whatever at the tiendita on the corner, they'll often pour it into a plastic baggie, pop a straw in, and hand it to you, placing the empty bottle back in the rack. You seem to forget I lived there for 5 years (well, 6, but that other year I was too young to really count) and have family (by marriage) in a Mexican village.

[Tigger]

[quote="jimkatai";p="695396"]It doesn't automatically make me right. Just stating that Deacon can't state for sure that those kids had clean water and the way all those kids ran for that water, despite being horribly demeaned in the process, and the way the other kids tackled the water makes me think otherwise.[/quote]
It also means you can't state for certain (which you seen hellbent on proving) that those kids haven't had clean water to drink in days. They ran because they were being offered the chance at water from American soldiers...that's what they do. It's horribly demeaning to us...but perhaps not to them. If I could remember the word from my sociology class, I'd tell you what judging other countries by our own standards is called...but I can't at the moment.

What I do know is that I couldn't even stand to watch that video all the way through. I knew how it would end before even reading this thread. The guy was a jackass for taunting them, definitely, but how is it worse than the taunting that goes on in the Us everyday? Because it's a third world country? Why is that worse?

I will always fail to understand why people are less willing to accept American people indulging in certain behaviors overseas than they are those who indulge in those same behaviors at home.

[jimkatai]

First off, it's worse because those are American soldiers representing our country.

Second, I already drew back my claim so everything you said was just an effort to get your two cents in, despite the fact that the two cents aren't worth crap now.

[Tigger]

[quote="jimkatai";p="695461"]First off, it's worse because those are American soldiers representing our country. [/quote]
And the people who live here, representing our own homeland to our own people, should be let off? It's ok for them to treat their own people like shit, but not other people? Why?

Second, I already drew back my claim so everything you said was just an effort to get your two cents in, despite the fact that the two cents aren't worth crap now.

I didn't see anywhere in the title of this thread that said "Deacon and jimkatai only". I AM allowed to put in what I think, whether it goes against what you said, agrees with a retraction, or agrees with what you said in the first place. My opinion is my own and I do believe I am allowed to state it. I very rarely participate over here, choosing to do so only when something is important to me. Back off and let me do so, since I wasn't the one attacking you - as a matter of fact, my post wasn't directed at you at all...or anyone else, for that matter.

[jimkatai]

I didn't see anywhere in the title of this thread that said "Deacon and jimkatai only". I AM allowed to put in what I think, whether it goes against what you said, agrees with a retraction, or agrees with what you said in the first place. My opinion is my own and I do believe I am allowed to state it. I very rarely participate over here, choosing to do so only when something is important to me. Back off and let me do so, since I wasn't the one attacking you - as a matter of fact, my post wasn't directed at you at all...or anyone else, for that matter.

So, you quoting me wasn't targeting me? I detracted my argument in the post before yours. If you just wanted to state your opinion, you shouldn't have quoted me.

And as to your first comment, are you talking about Americans in general representing our country or soldiers? If a soldier shows himself in a way not befitting his country anywhere (including the U.S.), then he should be reprimanded because, yes, he represents our country.

If an average American were to do something like that abroad or in America, yes, he represents us as Americans, but we disassociate ourselves from him by disapproving of his actions. Everything an average American does in his life does not have to represent the beliefs and practices of America, that's called freedom. Everything a soldier does in his life does have to represent the beliefs and practices of America, that's called being a soldier.

[Prospero]

Hardly surprising or shocking. I've seen worse videos - some including torture and mass burials that are difficult to watch. It's all under the machine of human suffering. You get some people that work against it, some who work towards it, and most others somewhere in the middle. But at the end of the day, we all get our just deserts.