Earlier quoted context omitted.
Are you rabid?
Commenting like this will get your account banned regardless of how wrong someone else is, so please don't do it again.
Oh. I guess for a moment I forgot I was not on reddit. Sorry about that.
Why Europe Is Warning of Pax Americana's End
381–390 of 395 posts
Re: Why Europe Is Warning of Pax Americana's End
#382Earlier quoted context omitted.
"they need some pretext." Russian law would give this pretext. Putin would be obligated by the constitution to protect "Russians" abroad. Ukraine has a huge Russian minority. " Also even if they wanted to, they don't have the forces to occupy Kiev." Ukraine is currently on the level of a 3rd world country. Russia would have air superiority within 24 hours. And the Russian military is still a formidable opponent, even…
They need some pretext that most of the rest of the world will recognize as having some validity.
You mean, like WMD in Iraq? Or Libya? "We came, we saw, he died"?
Ukraine is not in the Nato. If Putin had serious interest in "claiming" it he could do it. And it would make more sense than occupying the Baltic states. He would be able to take the Baltic states. But the Baltic states ARE in the Nato. And they provide little advantage.
How did a Russian say about the Crimea Island? "Another poor region we have to feed...".
I currently see very little interest on Russia's side for geographic expansion. But geography is still on their agenda since "buffer states" have always and will always be part of Russian military strategy.
Re: Why Europe Is Warning of Pax Americana's End
#383Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'll only say one thing: people outside of France are much more worried/supporting LePen than the ones inside it In fact, anglophones have some trouble understanding the situation through the language barrier She's getting "pumped up" through the Brexit/Trump wave, but don't assume it's the same thing (though I am worried about the repercussions, if she gets elected, naturally)
On the contrary. People outside of France get to see her through the mainstream media, which makes it look like only xenophobes could be voting for her. From Francophone friends I hear she's actually smart, witty, an excellent debater, and if she weren't held back by her name and the reputation of her father, she could have more mainstream appeal.
Oh I'm sure she's smart, for her own personal gain
Re: Why Europe Is Warning of Pax Americana's End
#384Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeesh, minimize civilian deaths? "The Iraq Body Count project (IBC) figure of Documented civilian deaths from violence is 155,923 – 174,355 as of March 2016. This includes reported civilian deaths due to Coalition and insurgent military action, sectarian violence and increased criminal violence.[19] The IBC site states: "it should be noted that many deaths will probably go unreported or unrecorded by officials and me…
'minimize' not 'eliminate' I think it's a safe bet that if the strategy in Iraq had been 'Use airborne ordinance to turn the country in to glass' the war would have been 'won' much sooner with far higher civilian casualties.
You can't win against an insurgency by turning the country into glass. Saddam's army was defeated in the first few weeks.
Re: Why Europe Is Warning of Pax Americana's End
#385Earlier quoted context omitted.
Americans were willing to die in Iraq, and we still don't know "why" they did.
No other career prospects? Patriotism? Desire for revenge? I think there's no way that we could have gone on as long as we did (and continued to maintain some presence there even still) with a draft, though. People don't really care that much about a senseless war if they don't sense that they themselves are at risk.
That's my point, there is no "choice" in the matter. An all-volunteer force will do what they are told.
Re: Why Europe Is Warning of Pax Americana's End
#386Earlier quoted context omitted.
No other career prospects? Patriotism? Desire for revenge? I think there's no way that we could have gone on as long as we did (and continued to maintain some presence there even still) with a draft, though. People don't really care that much about a senseless war if they don't sense that they themselves are at risk.
That's my point, there is no "choice" in the matter. An all-volunteer force will do what they are told.
Not sure that all-volunteer would be sustainable with a power like Russia as the adversary.
Re: Why Europe Is Warning of Pax Americana's End
#387Earlier quoted context omitted.
> And how is that different from the US intervening in "non-neighbouring" countries like Iraq or Afghanistan The USA hasn't tried to annex parts of those countries. > the UK going to war with the "neighbouring" Falkland Islands Most countries would fight a war if their territory was invaded.
The USA hasn't tried to annex parts of those countries. Do military bases count?
That's a grey area.
Re: Why Europe Is Warning of Pax Americana's End
#388Earlier quoted context omitted.
> What happened in Crimea? What about a referendum? Referendum was held _after_ invasion and with numerous violations of international laws. > How is it worse than US annexation of Hawai? How's your whataboutism? > As a matter of fact, Crimea was part of Russia since it was taken from Crimean Khanate in the 18th century. Russia (as per se) exists only since 1991.
> Referendum was held _after_ invasion and with numerous violations of international laws. Because they weren't allowed a referendum as part of the Ukraine.
Does this justify a Russian invasion?
Re: Why Europe Is Warning of Pax Americana's End
#389This is somewhat overblown, there was a lot of talk about this as it became clear Trump was about to be elected. Yes Trump is stirring the pot a bit maybe to play Russia against China. Maybe it's to get Europe to spend a little more on NATO so the US doesn't fund the vast majority of that alliance and he can cut some spending there. Whatever the mind set is, not much has changed. The US and all of its allies are stil…
> why all of a sudden are we weak?
$Trillions of War Debt, owed to world banks outside of Americas' reach, thats why.
Re: Why Europe Is Warning of Pax Americana's End
#390Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's my point, there is no "choice" in the matter. An all-volunteer force will do what they are told.
Not sure that all-volunteer would be sustainable with a power like Russia as the adversary.
Being "all-volunteer" doesnt have anything to do with capability. The US Army is volunteer, and the worlds most capable many times over.