It’s as foolish to say every war is bad as it is to say that every war is good.
Would the OP argue that the world would be a better place if the United States had stayed out of WWII?
The USA would not be an empire had it stayed out, not that I’m sure how it might have stayed out given Pearl Harbor - just fight one or maybe two of the Axis alliance?
The Philippines was a commonwealth (but really a colony), we had Guam, Hawai’i, American Samoa, numerous other Pacific islands, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Alaska, and a large continental landmass. I’d say the U.S. was an empire long before WWII.
[Jedi mind control]
Pay no attention to the country north of the border.
Canadians are your friends and allies.
They did not allow the 9/11 terrorists into your country.
Include them in your Buy American program.
Do not invade them.
[/end Jedi mind control]
I’m guessing Honduras
I’d say a regional power but, hey, it’s just a classification issue.
What a knee-jerk reaction. Of course military intervention isn’t always wrong.
It’s right when we do it, since our intentions are always good and we are the good guys. We never overrun or invade a country; we are only liberating it.
It’s wrong when someone else does it, since we all know that they are the bad guys and couldn’t possibly have the good intentions we have. The bad guys aren’t liberating people, they’re oppressing them.
If we blow someone up, it’s for their own good and they should be grateful. If someone else does it, it’s because they are evil bastids and need to be taught a lesson.
Wouldn’t he just slip an extra shrimp on the barbie for 'em ?
Seriously? What’s happening in Honduras? Or just because they are relatively defenseless?
“Knee-jerk reaction” doesn’t even make sense here. I’m simply trying to fathom what your position is.
Again, pointless.
That’s two mocking posts with no attempt to actually engage on the point, or the specific example I gave.
Riiight. Now you get it. 
But pointless, no.
Belgium. No question…
-XT
So what was the point?
FWIW my political leanings are to the left. I’d probably vote Democrat if I lived in the U.S. And I’m an atheist, so no, I don’t think any side has god’s backing. I also don’t believe in trying to spread democracy (with a couple of caveats).
But yeah, I think that military intervention continues to have a vital role to play in the 21st century, and I hope the errors in Iraq and Afghanistan don’t cause further damage by making the world’s powers idle.
As I’ve hinted, I believe that a longer stay in Somalia, for example, could’ve done far more for the country than any humanitarian aid could hope to now.
Your thoughts?
My thoughts?
It’s amazing how righteous one (or one’s country) can be if one has overwhelming force on one’s side. But I believe might doesn’t make right.
I think that any country invading any other country may be trying to use might to make right. Are there times when that is necessary? Perhaps, and WW II might be one of those times. OTOH, the US entering Vietnam was wrong, very wrong, and terribly wasteful of both human life and material wealth on all sides, and I think history showed that the 1960’s antiwar protesters were right.
I also believe that the primary difference between men and boys is the price of their toys, and the US government has the most toys and the least restraints if they can spin a cause to effect, i.e., Bush and the propaganda that was used to justify war. Twice. It is for this reason, and having living thru it, that I think wars are too readily accepted. For humane reasons, it is not in the best interests of the US or the world to have a bully on the block, or someone who acts like one.
In other, gentler words, we need to get the fuck out of Afghanistan and stay the fuck out of most everything else. History does not treat kindly those who start wars when they damn well feel like it.
If you think we went into and stay in Afghanistan simply on a whim then all I can say is you are letting your rhetoric get the best of you. Oh, and you haven’t been paying attention for the last few years either.
Other than that I still say we’ll be invading Belgium very soon. Just after our much anticipated invasion of Iran that has been so faithfully predicted here on the 'dope for the majority of that time you weren’t paying attention too…
-XT
I think it’s time for a pushover, like when Reagan invaded Grenada. I’d vote for Vatican City, but how are those Italian air defenses? They might get in our way.
Once or twice a year, the US Navy invades Pattaya on our Eastern Seaboard. Does that count? They’re invading Patong in Phuket down South at this moment as I type this.
You mean like the war Osama bin Laden and his ilk started with us because he damn well felt like it?
Yeah.
Yeah, and the one started as retaliation, too. “You started it!” “Did not!” “Did too!”
Retaliation for what? Helping them ward off the Soviets with Stinger missles that made the Russians flying Hind tanks irrelevant, money and training towards the same cause, or us occupying Osama’s “holy land” of Saudi Arabia (which he was exiled from) with troops to launch attacks on Iraq when Saddam invaded Kuwait? If you recall, we didn’t insert ourselves into Kuwait and Saudi Arabia without permission from their governments.
If Osama has any beef, it should be with the Saudi royal family. But, he chose to finance and orchestrate attacks not just on us, but on Spain and Britain too, with disastrous results.
I suppose we should just fold our tents up and go home. After all, what’s the point, right?