Albert Schweitzer

I mean Other information about me shall remain secret... untill ... the day I ... appear on every newspaper because I ..

Untill you fly planes into buildings?

xawery, this misreading wouldnt have changed much about the meaning of the slogan anyway

Pathy said it correctly: Al Quaida (as stupid as they may be) indeed have an agenda and each action is part of a global strategy. BUT, please do not blame the US for 911. Al Quaida simply stroke the US because it is considered as the center of loose western cultures and the supporters of Israel. Al Quaida does not fight for the poor and weak in the muslim society. They strive for power and blood just like Saddam did. 911 wasnt a revenge for mean US politics in the middle East but simply a cruel savagery aimed to target christians. Al Quaida does not defend muslims otherwise they wouldnt blow up hospitals and definetly NOT muslim pilgrims. So all in all Al Quaida is a pretty "black and white" enemy: evil, guilty and dangerous. But THAT is what makes it so dangerous for the US. Many americans believe that if the enemy is sooo goddamn evil then he must be easy to identify. Us against them, US against terorists, Freedom against supression. And they dont understand why muslims would support Bin Laden even if he blows up their sons and daughters. And consequently they have problems to understand that if the EU sais: "careful, this middle east is a cultural minefield, we have to analyse it first to forsee cause and effect" then it does not mean "we are not with you, we are against you". But instead, they declare "war on teror" which is just as smart as declaring "war on Tornados in Florida" and say "we can do it alone". Fine with me, but dont blame us for hating you! France may be smaller than the US, but listening to their experiences would have helped you in Iraq just like it would have helped you in Vietnam. Cause they can say: "been there, seen that, done that". Americans! to learn from your mistakes first means to accept them.

lol, reminds me of our latest scandals just a few days ago. Bishops filming themselves kissing each other and downloading thousands of paedohile images from the internet. Welcome to the house of pretention!

 Okay... you are not Bush... but Kerry isnt so much different, is he? Come on, whether you want it or not but Bush has been elected by more than 50% of the americans to represent the country. And polls show they agree he is doing a good job. But seriously, dont you see the gap that has been created between us (europeans) and you (americans) since this man entered the white house? Why is that? Actually it is very human that we support those that have been hurt and hate those that have caused it. So a day after 911 we probably all thought that this desaster would bring the western world together and unite our aims. But now a few years later, the opposite has happened. Bin Laden has won that battle! A lot of mess in the arab world, US is blamed, europe is humiliated! But looking back it wouldnt have been so difficult. Instead of sending 180.000 soldiers into Iraq those could have been screening Afghanistan and definetly would have caught Bin Laden by now. Bush could have waited for the Inspectors to fully search Iraq, he could have forced the UN to develop a strategy that slowly withdraws Saddam from power. I am sure some countries would have even agreed to send military support if they wouldnt have been rushed into the decision. Take Germany for example. If Bush would have waited one more month then the war in Iraq couldnt have been abused for election purposes. Maybe even a different party in germany would have won the election. Our troops were in Afghanistan so what spoke against us joing or supporting a war in Iraq? But country after country was humiliated with insensitive insults a la "old europe" a la "freedom fries" a la "coalition of the weasals". There was a whole P&R campaign on the way to ridicule european nations. Only because they said "we dont have enough evidence that there are WMD". Those countries that finally moved with you into Iraq did it because of A: they trusted your Intel, and B, they were promised economical gains and C, because they are you real friends that even follow blindly. But believe me, the next time you are under attack, countries will refrain from blindly following your leaders. After 9/11 Bush had the support of the entire world. Now, 3 years later, the US is being looked down at as never before. On the other hand european exchange students in american boarding schools are being insulted on a daly basis.  Politically this is a big fuck up and politics is supposed to be Bush's job. Who elected Bush? 50% of the american people! Who would reelect Bush? 50% of the people. In other words either 50% of the americans like the international humiliation, dont see it, or dont realy care! That is shocking. In germany cancellors were reelected in the past only because they were able to turn enemies into friends (Helmut Kohl) and not the other way around.

It sometimes reminds me of Germany under the Nazis prior to WWII. - Didn't they whine endlessly about the whole world being against them and the unjustices of the Versaille Treaty? - Weren't they facing record budget deficits and a plunging currency? - Didn't most of the unrest begin when a foreign terrorist burnt down the German parliament? I'm no historian so correct me if I'm wrong, but America really needs to get a hold of itself. Slightly harsh. First of all the germans didnt "whine" about the situation but they simply had sincere doubts that the nation could survive any longer under these conditions. Basically all products produced inside germany were exported and the germans were left with nothing. I remember that in my town the only way to get cole in the winter was to steal it from the train that exported it all to France. The french guards however were allowed to shoot immediately. But sometimes when a child came along a french guard would simply kick a few pieces of the train. But as you might imagine a few pieces are not realy enough to get you through 5 hard cold winter months. Comparing starving germany of the Weimarer Republic with the USA 2000 is slightly inadequate!

Very embarassing, I know. I still live in the appartment that belongs to the company. Didnt have the time yet to look for my own appartment. Next weekend I am gonna get one... and then the next thing I do is get my DSL connected. Look, I am even in the company on sundays!

No, I think they were just too busy keeping everything secret.. Come on, lets admit it, the game was overhyped and I think it sucks!

tough life but good read!

27,Berlin germany. Now work in the financial sector as analyst for closed investments. Not as interesting as what I did before (traveling traveling traveling) but definetly awesome pay. Lived in Ireland, France, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand and Malta. (show off)

Come on people, read the entire thread and think about the following: "do you realy believe that someone who has OFP for the first day understands anything about all the stuff you list up here?? I TELL YOU NOOOOO, he probably doesnt First of all Hiskys skies are basically the same like Llaumas skies (sky effects) ECP (improved special effects) is included in the FDF-MOD. But the FDF mod is easier to install and more fail-proof. Also, if he wants to play online he could join FDF-multiplayer sessions (you can google it as Finish Defense Forces) Furthermore you have the option to enforce one or the effect that are supported by new modern graphic cards. To do so download DXDLL 1.0 (you find it in the addon forum). However do not download to much stuff. Your OFP gets slower and you might jam it too many incompatible things. Better go to Avonladys helppages (http://www.theavonlady.org/theofpfaq/ ) to build up your perfect OFP plattform.The items I advised you to get are fully fail-proof and work perfectly fine together.

  That's exactly what I said and meant.  Here is what I said   Hollywood USA. You'll never find a more vile hive of scum and villiany. Sorry buddy. A sentence like "either you are with us or against us" or "smoke them out of their caves" and "coalition of the willing" sounds very much like John Wayne. Actually calling Mr. Rumsfeld a texan cowboy is an insult to all hollywood WildWest productions. Imagery and stereotypes is what gave america its good reputation. Think of surfboys, playgirls, cowboys, rockstars, gangstas, policemen... but do you seriously believe this is what people might hate about america? Bullshit, people get anoyed that you freely call the whole world weasels just because they didnt eat your lies about WMD That you dont sign the Kyoto-treaty that the WHOLE world agreed to, and would save our nature That you are the only nation not willing to cooperate with the UN tribunal That you are the only nation not willing to ban Landmines That you are the only nation around not seeing that also Israel is causing pain. (just like palestine) That you call everyone liars, traitors, weasels who do not want to rush into a war That you would never accept that some chapters in your history book are filled with ill-doings. You rather reinterpret it. That your soldiers are now for longer in Iraq than a year and every muslim child already speaks better english than the GIs speak arabic. And that you think criticism is just envy, hostility and arrogance. Sorry, couldnt help it.

I assure you that by next month I will have my internet back running and we will be back in business. (CIA?) What do you guys think about Wargames addpak 4.0 ?

First of all one should maybe explain to him what options there are to improve the game appearance. A: Skies B: water C: Effects & sounds D: maps E: units A: skies, there you should check out for skies created by Hisky B: Kegitys (name spelled wrong) created water effects simmillar to those of FarCry C: Finish Defense Forces is a compact upgrade to the game that you can download freely. It comes with a variety of new addons and new effects that are tons better than the original OFP effects D: maps, well there you have a free choice, but what is the use of a map if it doesnt come with any missions. I suggest you get some winter maps first cause they are awesome. E: units? Again, there you have free choice. The best units I know are made by BAS but there are so many addons out there.. I guess more than for any other game I know. But again, what the best thing is to download all-inclusive Mods that come with maps, units and missions.

First of all one should maybe explain to him what options there are to improve the game appearance. A: Skies B: water C: Effects & sounds D: maps E: units A: skies, there you should check out for skies created by Hisky B: Kegitys (name spelled wrong) created water effects simmillar to those of FarCry C: Finish Defense Forces is a compact upgrade to the game that you can download freely. It comes with a variety of new addons and new effects that are tons better than the original OFP effects D: maps, well there you have a free choice, but what is the use of a map if it doesnt come with any missions. I suggest you get some winter maps first cause they are awesome. E: units? Again, there you have free choice. The best units I know are made by BAS but there are so many addons out there.. I guess more than for any other game I know. But again, what the best thing is to download all-inclusive Mods that come with maps, units and missions.

Too bored to answer to that. I know quite some cool people from the States here on this forum and I think this topic is just too lame to answer to. And no, I am not poor, I am not admiring your incredible freedom, I dont want to live in Hollywood, I dont want to have a girlfriend like Britney Spears, I dont hate america because of the incredible military power. I only get bored of americans talking about america. Maybe one day you understand why a european starts laughing when you use the occasion of the opening of a newly renovated school-canteen to sing the national anthym and raise the american flag. Man, come along with a real topic, if you want to talk about patriotism and USA and "god bless america (only)" then go to www.military.com. But for a decent discussion on "which country has the best tanks or the smartest soldiers" you are always welcome

The logical consequence of winning a war means that you later on have to patrol the teritory you hold. The HMMWV is no patrol vehicule for resistance teritory, full stop. If you would know that you got RPGS at home, that you have grenades available as well as the capabilities to build bombs, wouldnt you feel tempted to attack such soft targets? And this car with its weak armour basically sais "come on, attack me, you have got a fair chance!". So this is not the right way of showing strength and invulnerability. Does the US army have any other vehicule available in Iraq right now to serve the purpose of daily patrols?

There are so many potential substitutes out there. Take the Fennek for example 110 km/h fast, 860 km range, what else do you want. or the GTK or even the stupid Dingo would do a better service I dont want to show off with potential Bundeswehr equipment, but I guess there is a reason why even a underfunded army like the one of germany has basically 5 vehicules to choose from that could do the job.

I totally agree. I dont claim that the HMMWV is "badly" engineered, but it has been produced in too high numbers. Standardisation is not always the best solution, a better differentiation of the vehicule-pool serving different purposes would have been benefitial. Watching the news makes me believe that the HMMWV is the basically the only "option" for the US forces to patrol the roads in armour. It is a shame that an army that puts so much money into giving it soldiers the right equipment is not able to provide the most important component of real armour the right patrol-vehicule!

But that is the civillian version. The military vehicule has armour indeed, but it is just not meant to see tough action or to face grenades, rpgs and roadside bombs. Not to speak about the wheels. Does the HMMWVV still carry ordinary wheels?

M113 is no adequate substitute. High mobility? This tank may be older than most of the iraqi rpgs! But something simillar to the Fuchs would be an adequate substitute. Ok, consumption may be higher but so is maneuverability. But if you would see the other site (once it is back online) you would notice that many of the american casualties could have been prevented if not a HMMWV would have sheltered the soldiers.

damn! That source was perfect. It is gonna be back up in an hour!

YOU BROKE THE FIRST LAW, BURN IN HELL

I like the missions with an early-rambo-trap. What? You dont know what that is? Well usually in a big coop mission you always have a few players that by nature tend to ignore orders given by the officer. Good missions have a trap implemented right at an early stage of the mission that usually causes the death of those disrespecting team play. A silent sniper in the forrests, a hidden enemy-squad, a bmp already on alert.. well there is tons of opportunities.