XPost: talk.politics.misc, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh   
   From: NoBody@nowhere.com   
      
   On Mon, 5 Jan 2026 00:46:10 -0600, AlleyCat  wrote:   
      
   >   
   >On Sun, 4 Jan 2026 14:35:53 -0500 (EST),  Bradley K. Sherman says...   
   >   
   >> In what universe is it okay to kill 40 innocent people to capture   
   >> one suspect?   
   >   
   >Pretty sure Obama killed a few more than 40 to get Usama bin Obama Ladeen.   
   >   
   >During the period from 2009 to 2016, which covers the pursuit and eventual   
   >death of Usama bin Laden, the number of civilians killed in the broader   
   >counterterrorism campaign is a subject of significant debate. There are two   
   >primary sets of data: official government reports and independent monitoring   
   >groups.   
   >   
   >The government's data is lower because it uses a more restrictive definition   
   >of "civilian," whereas independent groups include 'military-age males" and   
   >reported victims from local sources that the U.S. government often classifies   
   >as combatants.   
   >   
   >Civilian Death Toll (2009-2016)   
   >   
   >The following table breaks down the estimated civilian deaths from U.S. drone   
   >and airstrikes in the regions where Al-Qaeda and bin Laden were pursued   
   >(Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and Afghanistan).   
   >   
   >Region - Official U.S. Govt Estimate - Independent Estimates (e.g., Bureau of   
   >Investigative Journalism, Airwars)   
   >   
   >Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia (Non-Battlefield) - 64 - 116 - 380 - 801+   
   >   
   >Afghanistan (Active Battlefield) - Not included in drone report - 24,841   
   >(Total Conflict Deaths)   
   >   
   >Syria and Iraq (Anti-ISIS/AQ) - Not included in drone report - ~1,400+   
   >(Official) / 8,000+ (Independent)   
   >   
   >Key Contextual Details   
   >   
   >The "Obama Drone Report" (2016): Toward the end of his term, President Obama   
   >released a report claiming that between 64 and 116 civilians were killed in   
   >473 strikes outside of active war zones (Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia) between   
   >2009 and 2015.   
   >   
   >The Afghanistan Toll: The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA)   
   >documented that between 2009 and 2016, conflict-related violence claimed   
   >24,841 civilian lives. While many of these were caused by the Taliban or IEDs,   
   >the UN attributed roughly 250 deaths per year to pro-government aerial   
   >operations in the later years of this period.   
   >   
   >Definition Discrepancies: A major point of contention is how the U.S.   
   >classified 'militants." Reports (such as those by The New York Times)   
   >indicated that for a time, the administration counted all military-age males   
   >in a strike zone as combatants unless explicit intelligence proved them   
   >innocent posthumously.   
   >   
   >=============================================================================   
   >   
   >"Trump Derangement Syndrome" Is a Real Mental Condition   
   >   
   >All you need to know about "Trump Derangement Syndrome," or TDS.   
   >   
   >"Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) is a mental condition in which a person has   
   >been driven effectively insane due to their dislike of Donald Trump, to the   
   >point at which they will abandon all logic and reason."   
   >   
   >Justin Raimondo, the editorial director of Antiwar.com, wrote a piece in the   
   >Los Angeles Times in 2016 that broke TDS down into three distinct phases or   
   >stages:   
   >   
   >"In the first stage of the disease, victims lose all sense of proportion. The   
   >president-elect's every tweet provokes a firestorm, as if 140 characters were   
   >all it took to change the world."   
   >   
   >"The mid-level stages of TDS have a profound effect on the victim's   
   >vocabulary: Sufferers speak a distinctive language consisting solely of   
   >hyperbole."   
   >   
   >"As TDS progresses, the afflicted lose the ability to distinguish fantasy from   
   >reality."   
   >   
   >The Point here is simple: TDS is, in the eyes of its adherents, the knee-jerk   
   >opposition from liberals to anything and everything Trump does. If Trump   
   >announced he was donating every dollar he's ever made, TDS sufferers would   
   >suggest he was up to something nefarious, according to the logic of TDS.   
   >There's nothing - not. one. thing. - that Trump could do or say that would be   
   >received positively by TDSers.   
   >   
   >The history of Trump Derangement Syndrome actually goes back to the early   
   >2000s - a time when the idea of Trump as president was a punch line for late-   
   >night comics and nothing more.   
   >   
   >Wikipedia traces its roots to "Bush Derangement Syndrome" - a term first   
   >coined by the late conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer back in 2003.   
   >The condition, as Krauthammer defined it, was "the acute onset of paranoia in   
   >otherwise normal people in reaction to the policies, the presidency - nay -   
   >the very existence of George W. Bush."   
      
   Watch Bradley run..as he always does.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)