51–60 of 157 posts
I clicked expecting to enjoy another public black eye for the School of the Americas, and instead I’m left with dread that the USA has privatized that training. Because of course you have.
Why is keeping nice with the Saudi family so important? Why does the US government bend over backwards to cover up for them?
Because the last time the US let a Middle East Country fall into complete chaos it didn't work out very well for the US. Sadly, the US didn't learn from this and then went and turned Iraq into complete chaos.
Why is keeping nice with the Saudi family so important? Why does the US government bend over backwards to cover up for them?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudi_Arabia_lobby_in_the_Unit...
Does America's ex-military personnel really teach people to dismember bodies? Is that an actual course, or did foreign psychopaths (albeit with state department approval) get training in actual military stuff (shooting, ironing beds, polishing boots, logistics, etc.) and then go on all by themselves to butcher journalists with a carving knife? I don't see the link here, other than a bit or outrage and a wee dopamine…
Would be that more evil than throwing tied men and women alive to the sea from helicopters so they drown, while kidnapping their babies at the same time? I don't think so.
Why is keeping nice with the Saudi family so important? Why does the US government bend over backwards to cover up for them?
Who do you think finances US debt, public and private? Who do you think pours money into defense contractors, financial services and politicians pockets? Who do we rely on to control the oil price for us? Who else is an important ally in the region for Israel? I dispise the Saudis, we should drop them and warm up to Iran, but that above 3 points are why no one has done it yet (plus momentum/tradition).
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The US supporting democracy (or atleast classical liberal enlightenment values that would eventually lead to a functioning democracy) in Vietnam, Iraq, Korea, Syria, Afghanistan, and more has by far been a net negative economic interest. We've paid dearly while Europe mostly enjoyed social welfare benefits.
Let's not confuse payments with loans (Europe is not Israel). Let's also not ignore the fact that there have been plenty of analyses showing that post-WWII Europe showed a natural recovery independent of US aid in several countries, and let's not ignore the shackles imposed by the winning powers on several technologies, not to be developed further. This statement is also incorrect when referred to several key places…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The problem is if there is a conflict between economic and and "ethical" interests the economic interest always won (let's not even get into all the political reasons why totalitarian regimes were supported). The US (and much of the west by extension) certainly has a very spotty history of supporting democracy, especially if it was in their economic interest to support the totalitarian regime.
The US supporting democracy (or atleast classical liberal enlightenment values that would eventually lead to a functioning democracy) in Vietnam, Iraq, Korea, Syria, Afghanistan, and more has by far been a net negative economic interest. We've paid dearly while Europe mostly enjoyed social welfare benefits.
EDIT: spelling
Does America's ex-military personnel really teach people to dismember bodies? Is that an actual course, or did foreign psychopaths (albeit with state department approval) get training in actual military stuff (shooting, ironing beds, polishing boots, logistics, etc.) and then go on all by themselves to butcher journalists with a carving knife? I don't see the link here, other than a bit or outrage and a wee dopamine…
I think the relevance of this news is generally that Murica trains agents of oppressive states.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Torture is/was definitely part of even standard military training ie prior to Vietnam deployment for common soldiers. Electric wires on genitalia for example. I would expect that if one dictator sends their spec-ops personnel for US training, the goal is not to improve their techniques of ironing beds or polishing boots, rather more practical topics useful to that dictator. I can easily see how an additional training…
Sure, but I just cannot for the life of figure me out, how adults (the Saudi operatives) needed to go on the American course to work out that they can kill someone an chop him up with a really sharp knife. You only need to have one barbeque at your home to work that out. If training → crimes, then surely we should be more worried about training Saudi butchers and chefs? The real and IMO only reason the crime occurred…
Is the post-killing truth part what matters. Everybody can kill, but killing in broad daylight in front of the entire planet and without consequences needs some planning and complicity. They didn't a great job hiding it the last time, so it seems that the little rascals need reinforcement private classes.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Let's not confuse payments with loans (Europe is not Israel). Let's also not ignore the fact that there have been plenty of analyses showing that post-WWII Europe showed a natural recovery independent of US aid in several countries, and let's not ignore the shackles imposed by the winning powers on several technologies, not to be developed further. This statement is also incorrect when referred to several key places…
What technologies aside from nuclear weapons are you referring to?
Germany and Japan, though, got heavily de-industrialised and there was a conscious plan to bring the living standards to a much lower level than they used to be. Patents also got seized, and in general Germany and Austria did not recover their pre-WW2 prestige, even, for instance, in terms of the "new Heisenbergs and Schrödingers", which never came.