# Who will the next war be against? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 4, 2006, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-the-next-war-be-against/359361 "2006-06-04T07:05:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-the-next-war-be-against/359361/61 "2006-06-08T04:15:25Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Look, what they’ve got in Iraq (and in Afghanistan) now is what diplomats and political scientists call a “disordered state” – i.e., a state without effective government. Like Somalia. Or Lebanon in most of the '70s and '80s. **Rune** might think lack of effective government is a good thing by definition, but based on real-world history, a disordered state is never a good place to be. Its usually called a Failed State [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Failed\_state](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Failed_state) ---
**Author:** ![Ryan\_Liam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ryan_liam/32/3965_2.png) [@Ryan\_Liam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryan_Liam)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-the-next-war-be-against/359361/62 "2006-06-08T22:58:14Z")
> [@Wesley Clark](#): > > Its usually called a Failed State > > [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Failed\_state](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Failed_state) And look what happened, :eek: Lebanon got has now got an effective government due to (begrudgingly) the Taif Accords (Which brought about a political process) and Syrian occupation (which helped rebuild the armed forces of the state of Lebanon) for 30-odd years. Just because Iraq is in a bad situation now doesn’t mean a similiar or influenced situation which happened in Lebanon cannot come about. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-the-next-war-be-against/359361/63 "2006-06-08T23:24:09Z")
> [@Ale](#): > > I have a dandy idea, why the US doesn´t go through the whole secession thing again so they can keep waging war against each other and leave the rest of the world alone?.. > > Why, yes, I´m ranting here; the question “who´s next” rubs me the wrong way. > I´m trying to think of a period of more than two years since 1942 where the US hasn´t been on a open, covert or cold state of war with someone. Doesn´t that get tyring? Republicans gotta stay in office somehow … ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-the-next-war-be-against/359361/64 "2006-06-09T01:39:04Z")
> [@Ryan\_Liam](#): > > Just because Iraq is in a bad situation now doesn’t mean a similiar or influenced situation which happened in Lebanon cannot come about. I trust that Iraq will one day have a functioning government again, as will Somalia and Darfur. Someday. ## Still, it would have been better, if none of these countries had to endure extended periods of nongovernance. Again, some of the most murderous regimes in the world caved without an intervening spell of anarchy. I daresay that the Iraqi situation could have been handled better. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-the-next-war-be-against/359361/65 "2006-06-09T13:57:22Z")
> [@Evil Captor](#): > > Republicans gotta stay in office somehow … Don’t forget, it was the Dems who got us into 'Nam. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-the-next-war-be-against/359361.md?page=3)