# Our Christian war machine **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 7, 2014, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-christian-war-machine/695047 "2014-08-07T18:21:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-christian-war-machine/695047/21 "2014-08-08T00:12:24Z")
I don’t think anyone important was waiting until it was Christians, but if pointing out they are also killing Christians motivates a few lazy people no harm done. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-christian-war-machine/695047/22 "2014-08-08T00:13:03Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > They won’t point out that it’s Congress and not the President who have the power to declare war. They also won’t point out that there hasn’t been a declaration of war from the US Congress since 1941. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-christian-war-machine/695047/23 "2014-08-08T00:27:29Z")
Last I heard there were a few Republicans who said “go for it” and went on vacay. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-christian-war-machine/695047/24 "2014-08-08T01:51:32Z")
Well, I just watched the president’s news conference and, indeed, it appears Christians being threatened with violence has spurred the US to military action, where no action appears to have been planned before. What makes this situation in Iraq different from, say, the situation where genocide was being committed in Darfur in recent years? Why did we not invoke “our humanity” as the president stated, when Sudan was being ripped apart? It appears that the lack of Christians, in part, in that conflict prevented us to act. I don’t mind the US jumping in on some of these things, but I wish we were more consistent. Were the victims in Darfur less than human, Mr. President? ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-christian-war-machine/695047/25 "2014-08-08T02:16:14Z")
I don’t think the US just happened to have cargo planes loaded with supplies and fighter jets sitting around armed and ready just waiting for the magic word “Christian.” ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-christian-war-machine/695047/26 "2014-08-08T02:18:18Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#): > > They also won’t point out that there hasn’t been a declaration of war from the US Congress since 1941. True. But Congress has issued six resolutions authorizing the use of military force since 1941. So that options still on the table if Congress wanted to take action. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-christian-war-machine/695047/27 "2014-08-08T02:57:01Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > The articles I’ve been reading [(example linked)](http://www.voanews.com/content/obama-considers-airstrikes-against-islamic-state-in-iraq/2406146.html) say that although some Christians are involved, the main concern is for a Kurdish population who identify as Yazidis. I have to confess I never heard of a religion by that name before today, although it’s apparently been around for quite some time. This is pretty much exactly what I saw and read today as well. Although the news articles and segments never came out and said it, the implication was clearly that there’s a lot of concern with ISIS doing some sort of ethno-religious cleansing, hence the airstrikes. And I suspect after Clinton’s fuck-ups with respect to genocide and ethnic cleansing in Rwanda and Bosnia, the last thing a Democrat president wants to do is follow in his footsteps. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-christian-war-machine/695047/28 "2014-08-08T03:04:57Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > The world has stood by and pretty much ignored what’s been happening in Iraq. That is, until the victims are Christians. All of a sudden the U.S. war machine is revving up into action. > > I’m not specifically anti-Christian in this context, but it does seem like more than a coincidence. I hope I’m wrong. Did you not notice the Yezidis in the headlines too? And our past record of intervention shows no such bias-we intervened to defend the Moslem Bosnians and Kosovans but not the Christians of South Sudan. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-christian-war-machine/695047/29 "2014-08-08T03:12:55Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > It’s like that time when those Serbian Muslims massacred some Bosnian Christians. Immediately the Christian War Machine revved up and bombed those Serbian Muslims back to the Stone Age until they finally caved. > > Again and again you see it happen. Can’t all be a coincidence. Wait, weren’t most of the Bosnians Muslims? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-christian-war-machine/695047/30 "2014-08-08T03:13:19Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > Well, I just watched the president’s news conference and, indeed, it appears Christians being threatened with violence has spurred the US to military action, where no action appears to have been planned before. > > What makes this situation in Iraq different from, say, the situation where genocide was being committed in Darfur in recent years? Why did we not invoke “our humanity” as the president stated, when Sudan was being ripped apart? It appears that the lack of Christians, in part, in that conflict prevented us to act. > > I don’t mind the US jumping in on some of these things, but I wish we were more consistent. Were the victims in Darfur less than human, Mr. President? > [@levdrakon](#): > > I don’t think the US just happened to have cargo planes loaded with supplies and fighter jets sitting around armed and ready just waiting for the magic word “Christian.” This seems like a humanitarian mission to help the Yazidis trapped on a mountain, and a need to protect Americans in Erbil. “Christians” are secondary, at best. But one does wonder how this humanitarian “crisis” is more immediate than what has been going on in Syria for 3 years. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-christian-war-machine/695047/31 "2014-08-08T03:35:40Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > I’m not sure why you’ve appointed yourself as spokesman for another poster. I didn’t; I am speaking for myself and as many others who agree with me as may choose. In case you haven’t noticed, this is a free-for-all discussion forum. We get to stick our oars in, when and where we want. If you have an actual substantive rebuttal, bring it. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-christian-war-machine/695047/32 "2014-08-08T03:37:48Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > Well, I just watched the president’s news conference and, indeed, it appears Christians being threatened with violence has spurred the US to military action, where no action appears to have been planned before. . . . I think, instead, it’s because the violence is approaching a city where we have a number of advisors in residence. If we didn’t act to protect them, it’d be Benghazi all over again. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-christian-war-machine/695047/33 "2014-08-08T03:45:44Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > This seems like a humanitarian mission to help the Yazidis trapped on a mountain, and a need to protect Americans in Erbil. “Christians” are secondary, at best. > > But one does wonder how this humanitarian “crisis” is more immediate than what has been going on in Syria for 3 years. I think Syria is more complicated and we can’t just bomb something. The Yazidis trapped on a mountain with no water is simpler, and we can do something hopefully without bombing civilians in the process. ---
**Author:** ![nani](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/58956e/32.png) [@nani](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nani)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-christian-war-machine/695047/34 "2014-08-08T03:49:28Z")
Yes, if anything US action seems more in response to the threat to the Yezidis than to the Christians. France offered asylum to Iraq’s Christians recently, I heard, and this sparked some commentary about France’s history in the Middle East being involved in the affairs of Christians. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-christian-war-machine/695047/35 "2014-08-08T03:53:16Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Wait, weren’t most of the Bosnians Muslims? That was the joke. The U.S. aided the Muslim side in a conflict with Christians, thus proving that the OP is far from correct. I suspect that our OP has a view of world events that is filtered through some personal prejudices. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-christian-war-machine/695047/36 "2014-08-08T03:54:02Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > The world has stood by and pretty much ignored what’s been happening in Iraq. That is, until the victims are Christians. All of a sudden the U.S. war machine is revving up into action. > > I’m not specifically anti-Christian in this context, but it does seem like more than a coincidence. I hope I’m wrong. Not really true, the outcry is over Yezidis being slaughtered. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-christian-war-machine/695047/37 "2014-08-08T04:26:33Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > I think, instead, it’s because the violence is approaching a city where we have a number of advisors in residence. > > If we didn’t act to protect them, it’d be Benghazi all over again. I was watching Obama’s announcement and I couldn’t tell if the Yazidis were our excuse to move in to protect our personnel or if our personnel were our excuse to help Yazidis and just do something. Seems like for once everyone wants to do something, i.e. blow some IS up and in this case, just let them give us the chance. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-christian-war-machine/695047/38 "2014-08-08T04:52:19Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Is this people on Facebook or something? If so, then no wonder I’m not seeing it. I’m the only person in the world not on Facebook. I go on Facebook maybe once a month; It’s certainly not where I get my news. Actually, today, I’ve had CNN on all day, while I work. So I admit I haven’t been paying attention 100% of the time. > [@armedmonkey](#): > > That was the joke. The U.S. aided the Muslim side in a conflict with Christians, thus proving that the OP is far from correct. I wasn’t referring to a war that happened 20 years ago. > [@](#): > > I suspect that our OP has a view of world events that is filtered through some personal prejudices. Actually, I dislike Christianity and Islam fairly equally. And who among us does not have “a view of world events that is filtered through some personal prejudices”? ---
**Author:** ![buddy431](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6a8cbe/32.png) [@buddy431](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddy431)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-christian-war-machine/695047/39 "2014-08-08T04:53:04Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#): > > They also won’t point out that there hasn’t been a declaration of war from the US Congress since 1941. The last time the U.S. Congress [declared](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_declaration_of_war_upon_Bulgaria) war was June 5, 1942. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-christian-war-machine/695047/40 "2014-08-08T05:41:04Z")
> [@](#): > > I wasn’t referring to a war that happened 20 years ago. You never said or implied that you were limiting the scope of your claims to the last few years. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-christian-war-machine/695047.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-christian-war-machine/695047.md?page=3)