I just figured I would post some thoughts here for all to read...

We've had a couple threads in the last 24 hours get shut down due to personal attacks. From my point of view I have not personally attacked anyone. I certainly have not cursed at anyone (that cannot be said for all). I admit to having been rather sarcastic in a few instances to prove a point, but I don't think I did anything worse than that. If I offended anyone, then I am sorry and that was not my intention.

If we are going to discuss controversial subjects related to the Military and to War (i.e. War on Terror/Terrorism, Iraq, etc.) then everyone is going to have to be willing to have discussion with those who they do not agree without taking it personally. And I don't mean those who you disagree with slightly, I mean those who you disagree with 100%.

In war there are two sides, and usually not everyone in the world thinks the same side is in the right. If it were that simple, there probably wouldn't be a war in the first place.

Yet, it seems that any time I suggest that perhaps the American military is in the wrong, I am told that I have insulted some members who are part of the military.

Well, that is not my intention. I'm pretty sure that most soldiers of all millitaries worldwide are brave and patriotic and believe they are doing good, or else they probably would not be putting their lives on the line. So if I compare an American soldier to the soldier on the other side of the battlefield, that should not be taken as an insult. But somehow it is.

My understanding is that this is an International forum, not specifically an American forum. I can only imagine the chaos there would be in these discussions if there were any forum members from the Middle East or Central Asian countries. Then you would be dealing with people who don't have centrist views like me (I tend to think both sides in most wars are equally wrong), but they would be 180 degrees opposite of what is normal for this board (they perhaps may think of American troops the same way most Americans think of Al-Queda).

If you are going to participate in these discussions, then you have to be civil and not insult people for their viewpoints. If everyone wants me to stop posting in these threads, I will. Then these discussions will no longer be debates and will instead just be cheerleading sessions except perhaps for blondboi occasionally saying how much he hates George Bush. Perhaps that is what most of you want, I'm not sure.

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my experience on X5world when I spend too much
time posting in political threads in the lounge...