This statement is false … I’ve spent a lot of time there, this is not a fact.
No, I’m not advocating any action. I’m saying the fact that you didn’t (and also continue to buy PS3s and iPhones) means you’re not really doing much for security there. That’s OK (I don’t want you to), but then you can’t claim that you are (since “DRC” is a subset of the “World” the US is supposedly the policeman of).
I don’t do much about the situation in the DRC either (and I own a Wii), but I don’t claim to be enhancing world security. That would be kind of hypocritical of me.
NM
Worth noting in this context is that the bloodiest war in American history - by far - was the Civil War, which of course resulted in no border changes at all post bellum.
I’m no fan of American interventions abroad, but this is one place we’ve done a lot more good than harm-- life expectancy has gone from ~45 years to ~65 years since 2002. Of course, Afghanistan was such a basket case, it hardly had anywhere to go but up.
Still, the proof will be what life is like there 10 years after we exit.
Your posts are a good response to the idea that the US goes in and helps out with conflicts around the world; as others have said, what it looks like to me is that the US goes in and “helps out” (whether it is actually helping or not is highly debatable) when there is politics or resources that interest the US on the line. To go back to the dubious policeman analogy, that’s like having a cop who doesn’t care when anything happens in his neighbourhood except when the brothel he likes to visit gets robbed.
Can we hope for more? I can’t see any other country doing any better.
You seem to have a dim view of America in general. Aren’t you planning on retiring here?
Almost every country on the planet is doing a better job of not messing around in other people’s countries.
Nope, just snowbirding. I wouldn’t say I have an excessively dim view of the US; I just don’t think it’s the greatest country in the world, and it has some serious flaws.
Probably 91 during Desert Storm, a patriot battery detachment, until the Israelis got their own batteries online.
And again for security , im gonna guess on 82 for the Lebanon invasion, the US shifted some war stocks that went to Israel to cover what they used in shooting down half of the syrian airforce.
Declan
That, however, is due more to lack of ability than lack of desire.
Nice attempt at a gotcha, but remember, Sony is a Japanese company.
Forgive me for calling shenanigans but the only way you can make this assertion is with highly assumptive studies that are therefor subject to extreme manipulation or simple error. Also it doesn’t pass the smell test.
Nonsense. They don’t have the ability because they don’t want it. Other countries could spend disproportionately huge amounts on the military like we do; they don’t because it’s stupid. We keep trying to play quasi-empire in an era where empires are just an economic drain.
Its only an economic drain to most Americans, who are not the intended beneficiaries of the US empire. The US empire’s purpose is to benefit the rich in America and who are allied with America. Americans are just a captured population paying most of the costs. If someone covered 65% of the costs of my gambling I’d be at the casino every day too lol. It has a side synergy of keeping Americans radicalized that keeps them going a long with the whole shabang of course.
Iran dreams of empire and China of hegemony. Hussein dreamed of building a new empire in the Middle East. France still meddles quite freely in the affairs of its former African colonies trying to hold on to the last few shreds of its imperial glory. Russia still regards eastern Europe and the republics on her southern border as her rightful sphere of influence. Jihadists seek global power. How could anyone be so foolish as to believe America is the only nation playing the empire game?
I’m curious because I haven’t seen it in any history books.
When did the European nations (I’m assuming that is who is meant, if nations from other parts of the world practice colonialism it isn’t described as such, or for that matter, even mentioned) go out and systematically murder 50,000,000 people for political reasons ?
Which nation(s) supposedly did it, what methods did they use and who did they do it to?
I see no evidence that Iran “dreams of empire” - being a regional power isn’t “empire” - and the Chinese are not trying to build a military empire, they are extending their economic influence.
Which worked out so well for him.
:rolleyes: “Jihadists” are a ragtag, nearly powerless bunch of thugs; not COBRA or SPECTRE. They can seek global power all they want, they aren’t going to ever get it.
America as mentioned in this thread is the only country that really can “play the empire game” on anything but a regional basis, because it is the only one willing and able to waste that much money on an oversize military for so little return.