Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Department of State advises Americans worldwide to exercise increased caution

travel.state.gov

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

251–260 of 291 posts

Re: Department of State advises Americans worldwide to exercise increased caution

#251

Post by tombert »

terminalshort wrote: post #249
tombert wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess? I mean I actively did not want this president. I actively voted for someone else. I tried to get people to not vote for him, though I doubt I was successful at that task. I suppose I do still pay my taxes and as such I'm still kind of funding this stupid unnecessary war, but I don't think it's entirely fair to judge me just because I live in a country where demagoguery appears to be in vogue. Don't get me wr…

[flagged]

That's literally the opposite of what I said if you read the second paragraph.

I understand that ultimately I have to deal with the consequences of the group's action, not just mine. If the group decided to elect a convicted fraudster and alleged sex pest, I don't like it but that's just what I'll have to deal with. If something bad happens because of it, I don't have to like it but I have to deal with it. If something good happens, I probably will like it but I have to deal with it.

But I don't take responsibility for either the good or bad things that happened from a president I didn't vote for. If it turns out that Trump is actually much smarter than I think he is and everything ends up going swimmingly because of his seemingly-incompetent decision making, that would be great but I would concede that I did nothing to enable that. If something bad happens, I will also say I did nothing to enable that. It really isn't hypocritical.

Re: Department of State advises Americans worldwide to exercise increased caution

#252

Post by donkeybeer »

dotancohen wrote: post #165
engcoach wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s going to age as well as weapons of mass destruction in Iraq did. The reality is that only Israel was threatened by Iran and the US is caught up in it simply because we act as their vassal.

Then how do you explain the rockets taking on Saudi Arabia? Baharain? UAE? Even Diego Garcia - which is further from Iran than Israel is. Just as far as Europe is. So they were only developing weapons that could target Israel?

France has an ICBM system with a range of 10000 km. How do you explain it? Were they developing weapons to target the USA?

Re: Department of State advises Americans worldwide to exercise increased caution

#253

Post by vkou »

mlrtime wrote: post #204
nandomrumber wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would anyone argue that the TSA, Theatre Security Agency, shouldn’t be defunded?

Depends on what defunded means... if it means pay/control shifting from a Federal agency to local, then yes. Maning, airports / municipalities should be funding this. If airports were in control the the user experience, I bet you would see a lot better outcomes.

> If airports were in control the the user experience, I bet you would see a lot better outcomes.

Would you? It's not like I have a choice of which airport to fly out of.

Maybe New Yorkers have options, but for the rest of us, there is only one that is an option.

Re: Department of State advises Americans worldwide to exercise increased caution

#255

Post by dragonwriter »

donkeybeer wrote: post #252
dotancohen wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then how do you explain the rockets taking on Saudi Arabia? Baharain? UAE? Even Diego Garcia - which is further from Iran than Israel is. Just as far as Europe is. So they were only developing weapons that could target Israel?

France has an ICBM system with a range of 10000 km. How do you explain it? Were they developing weapons to target the USA?

Well, it was more to target Soviet satellites in Latin America which might, in a foreseeable scenario, host Soviet missiles (also, to hit the Soviet Far East, which would be even more likely to host Soviet missiles.)

But it also wasn't not to have the capacity to target the US; if France implicitly trusted the US they wouldn't have opted out of the NATO unified military command for 43 years as well as developing their own nuclear deterrent.

Re: Department of State advises Americans worldwide to exercise increased caution

#256

Post by dotancohen »

macintux wrote: post #223
dotancohen wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That plan would have expired ten years after January 2016. In other words, already excited two months ago. It was a ten year plan, not a permanent plan.

That's still ten years of collaboration that could have built greater trust, led to a new agreement, or worst case provided enough evidence to take a more precise military action instead of bombing girls schools.

Build greater trust? The Iranian regime's identity is based on anti-American rhetoric. They fund Hamas and Hezbollah because Israel is an American ally. They say this in their marches and their speeches and their rallies.

You are suggesting that these people change their entire identity to suit your notion that the world should be peaceful. Would you suggest that a metalhead not wear leather because you don't like loud music? Would you suggest that a gay man "be normal" because "God doesn't like gays"? Identity is not something you change in other people. Unless you're some colonial conquerer forcing your culture on others.

Re: Department of State advises Americans worldwide to exercise increased caution

#257

Post by dotancohen »

donkeybeer wrote: post #248
dotancohen wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know who you are implying, so go ahead and mention a single war that they have started.

This very war being one?

This very war that began with Iranian agents invading Israel, taking hostages, beheading people, raping women, murdering the elderly in their homes?

By what conceivable measure do you think Israel started it?

Re: Department of State advises Americans worldwide to exercise increased caution

#258

Post by AnimalMuppet »

disqard wrote: post #230
Tadpole9181 wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US does not have a legal avenue for cancelling elections regardless of circumstances without a constitutional amendment. It cannot happen under any conditions or circumstances. To do so would basically be an open announcement of dictatorship and - more than we have already - the end of rule of law and a likely civil war.

You are more confident about this than I am. Let's revisit this comment in December. I truly hope you are proved right by history, but I'm concerned.

December's too soon. Let's revisit it in January, after the new Congress is seated... or not.

Re: Department of State advises Americans worldwide to exercise increased caution

#259

Post by rawfan »

rendaw wrote: post #195
derf_ wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The TSA is responsible for more than just airports. As someone with family who works (worked) on port security in the maritime division, I would argue that Chesterton's Fence [0] applies here just as much as anywhere else. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G._K._Chesterton#Chesterton's_...

Ports had no security before 2001? What does TSA do there?

Yeah, it was actually a lot of fun. I worked in a port-related area and often we would just cruise around the port and look at the ships. If it looked cool we would yell loudly and ask if we could come aboard. The seamen were usually thrilled to show us around their massive ships and would often invite us to a barbecue. With the introduction of the ISPS all of that was over in an instant.

Re: Department of State advises Americans worldwide to exercise increased caution

#260

Post by dotancohen »

donkeybeer wrote: post #247
dotancohen wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll bite. Maybe I'm ignorant. Who are the US proxies committing terrorism and war?

You really don't know about Contra? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contras It was a really massive thing. or the Mujahiddeen. Oh look, the list is so long there's an entire article about it, fun: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_and_state-sponso... So tell me, if Israel is justified in invading Iran due to alleged proxies of Iran attacking them, would you agree that all these countries should invade the Uni…

Alright, help me out on this.

The Contras were anti-Marxist central American revolutionaries, yes? The Marxists overthrew the president of Nicaragua, and the US supported them, along with other nations. Israel is mentioned as being an ally, but is not mentioned in any other capacity in the article. The US was funding them with arms sold to Iran, in the hope that Iran would pressure Hezbollah to release American hostages. The Contras were found to be terrorists, that the CIA claimed were due to poor discipline, and then the Contra leader was executed.

Did I get that right? Seriously fill in the blanks for me, the Wikipedia page seems written for somebody who already knows the story. I also read part of the linked Iran-Contra page hoping it would shed some light.

Post reply on HN