In Afghanistan, US finds itself lost in translation as military strugg

[Machjo]

http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/washin....aspx?id=125529

[M.Dancer]

isn;t there a thread dealing with this\already?

[DogOnPorch]

This is nothing new to the Allied forces.

WW1...many languages.

WW2...many languages (drove Ike nutz)

Korea...many languages.

Viet-Nam...many languages.

[Oleg Bach]

This is nothing new to the Allied forces.

WW1...many languages.

WW2...many languages (drove Ike nutz)

Korea...many languages.

Viet-Nam...many languages.

Afghanistan has many languages and much double speak. Often I wondered...at the begining of all of this...I put it to myself this way as far as the legitimacey of this affair...IF opium production goes down with Canadian envolvement - it means it is a legitimate action --- If opium production increases or stays the same then it is a shifty frinking illigitimate adventure..opium production has increased..and someone is making money - and it's not just the Afghanis.......If they really wanted to put an end to this buisness - our government would have applied as many resourses as possible to go after the drug buyers...and then there would be no weapons for the Taliban - and no ammo - because they would not have any money - this was not done and will never be done...because war is buisness......and our foolish soldiers die like road kill and are honoured as heros...a hero is a person that inflicts damage on the enemy and survives - we have no heros...just the 401 highway with idiots on bridges waveing to passing dead people.

[bush_cheney2004]

This is nothing new to the Allied forces.

WW1...many languages.

WW2...many languages (drove Ike nutz)

Korea...many languages.

Viet-Nam...many languages.

Excellent point.....highlighted further with Navajo Code Talkers that were actually an advantage in the Pacific....no written language equivalent. Salute!

[Oleg Bach]

Excellent point.....highlighted further with Navajo Code Talkers that were actually an advantage in the Pacific....no written language equivalent. Salute!

You mentioned the Navajo before - It's facinating...I always imagined some Japanesse intellegence officer listening in to cave man talk peculiar to the south western United States .....It's humorous...they must have dashed their brains out trying to figure out what the code talkers were saying - it was a perfect code..hidden in time - ten thousand years of time.

[bush_cheney2004]

You mentioned the Navajo before - It's facinating...I always imagined some Japanesse intellegence officer listening in to cave man talk peculiar to the south western United States .....It's humorous...they must have dashed their brains out trying to figure out what the code talkers were saying - it was a perfect code..hidden in time - ten thousand years of time.

Right.....it was a faster way (faster than multiple rotor crypto machines) to use an unbreakable cypher because few people mastered the language, none of then being Japanese. Choctaw was used a little bit during WWI.

[Oleg Bach]

Right.....it was a faster way (faster than multiple rotor crypto machines) to use an unbreakable cypher because few people mastered the language, none of then being Japanese. Choctaw was used a little bit during WWI.

Who would think of such a thing --- aboriginal people are marginalized to the point of being non-effective and almost non- existant...Could you imagine if they used the language of Austrailian aboriginals? No super power would even thing of such a thing - because most nations like Japan etc ...are racist and look down on the ancients...especially if they are black or red...It's quite cool and a very romanitic notion...and that mulitiple rotaor crypto machine is much like our computers of old - all machines can be breached - but the human machine is unbreachable if you utlize it imaginatively. Got to run out for a bit my friend - nice chat..thanks// we appreciate the finer things!

[dub]

Afghanistan has many languages and much double speak. Often I wondered...at the begining of all of this...I put it to myself this way as far as the legitimacey of this affair...IF opium production goes down with Canadian envolvement - it means it is a legitimate action --- If opium production increases or stays the same then it is a shifty frinking illigitimate adventure..opium production has increased..and someone is making money - and it's not just the Afghanis.......If they really wanted to put an end to this buisness - our government would have applied as many resourses as possible to go after the drug buyers...and then there would be no weapons for the Taliban - and no ammo - because they would not have any money - this was not done and will never be done...because war is buisness......and our foolish soldiers die like road kill and are honoured as heros...a hero is a person that inflicts damage on the enemy and survives - we have no heros...just the 401 highway with idiots on bridges waveing to passing dead people.

NATO has no power beyond a couple of regions in afghanistan. all they can really do is to carpet bomb the regions that are not controlled by them. NATO is starting to realize that afghanistan will never be ruled by "one" government. there are too many tribes in this land and there is too much history of resistance from outside forces for it to fall under control.

[M.Dancer]

NATO has no power beyond a couple of regions in afghanistan. all they can really do is to carpet bomb the regions that are not controlled by them.

No one has carpet bombed anyone in almost 40 years.

[bush_cheney2004]

No one has carpet bombed anyone in almost 40 years.

LOL! It is good that there are still people who know what the misleading term "carpet bomb" actually means.

[M.Dancer]

There was a Persian rug boutique across the street that bombed..doors closed after 3 months.

[M.Dancer]

Problem was, the area was saturated with carpet stores...

[DogOnPorch]

First carpet bombing: Battle of Caen, July/Aug, 1944.