# Why do liberals hate these countries so much they pretend they don't exist? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 15, 2003, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-liberals-hate-these-countries-so-much-they-pretend-they-dont-exist/219068 "2003-12-15T05:27:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-liberals-hate-these-countries-so-much-they-pretend-they-dont-exist/219068/81 "2003-12-15T17:59:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Coldfire \* > **Hell, the Belgians sent a submarine containing 200 paratroopers.** Tragically, all were killed when the screen door opened… ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-liberals-hate-these-countries-so-much-they-pretend-they-dont-exist/219068/82 "2003-12-15T18:38:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Brutus \* > **An important distinction, but not terribly so. Occupational duties are obviously of a different nature than traditional combat duties. A country may be able to make a usefull contribution, in terms of light infantry and whatnot, once the main fighting has died down. > But when we and GB are sending in however many of the world’s finest tanks (Abrams and Challengers), just what do we expect Eritrea to follow with? Our troops ride to battle in UH-60 Blackhawks and M-2 Bradleys; what will the Albanians ride to battle?** Back in 1991, the US was quite happy that France, Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf Cooperation Council and the UK each provided roughly a division worth of ground troops for the liberation of Kuwait. The equipment (M60A3s, AMX-30s, T-62s, etc) was not the equivalent of US units, but was still quite serviceable and very useful. If the criterion for useful contribution to a land battle is having the latest US MBTs, you might note that the US has sold a lot of [M1A1 and M1A2](http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ground/m1-intro.htm) Abrams to the region: > [@](#): > > Egypt has purchased 777 M1A1 tank kits. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia purchased and fielded 315 M1A2 Abrams tanks in the Royal Saudi Land Forces. The Government of Kuwait purchased and fielded 218 M1A2 Abrams tanks in the Kuwaiti Land Forces. All of these nations are considering additional orders or configuration upgrades. All three of these nations sent troops against Iraq in 1991, and all three declined to do so in 2003. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-liberals-hate-these-countries-so-much-they-pretend-they-dont-exist/219068/83 "2003-12-15T18:42:58Z")
And lest we forget our noble ally Spain… Who’s population was in excess of 90% opposed to Spanish participation and displayed thier ire in no uncertain terms. The Spanish leadership, apparently untroubled by such popular sentiment, leapt into the fray…well, sidled up to the fray…ok, extended a toe into the fray… In order to bring democracy to Iraq. Ignoring democracy in order to foster democracy. Such delicate irony, no? Which brings the question: of this list of stalwart allies, how many made this bold step with the full consent of the governed? ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-liberals-hate-these-countries-so-much-they-pretend-they-dont-exist/219068/84 "2003-12-15T19:05:22Z")
> [@](#): > > of this list of stalwart allies, how many made this bold step with the full consent of the governed? Full consent? Reckon that would be a big ol goose egg. Including the US. But fuck 'em. We have the Conch Republic on our side. With them, we don’t even need Sealand. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-liberals-hate-these-countries-so-much-they-pretend-they-dont-exist/219068/85 "2003-12-15T19:15:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Revtim \* > \*\*When did this “assumption of hate” tactic against liberals start? All of a sudden, you can’t be non-conservative with being full of hate. \*\* As a conservative doper, I have to things to say: - Yes, that’s unfair, I agree. It sucks. - Welcome to the club. Those of us on the other side of politics have been on the receiving end of that type of presumption for as long as I can remember. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Long\_Road](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5a626/32.png) [@The\_Long\_Road](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Long_Road)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-liberals-hate-these-countries-so-much-they-pretend-they-dont-exist/219068/86 "2003-12-15T19:37:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by elucidator \* > \*\* > Which brings the question: of this list of stalwart allies, how many made this bold step with the full consent of the governed? \*\* Can you name anything done by any nation which had the “full consent of the governed”? ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-liberals-hate-these-countries-so-much-they-pretend-they-dont-exist/219068/87 "2003-12-15T19:41:54Z")
What about Chad? Who’s side is Chad on? I’m siding with Pitcairn Island, just to be safe. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-liberals-hate-these-countries-so-much-they-pretend-they-dont-exist/219068/88 "2003-12-15T19:51:09Z")
“ **Government type:** parliamentary democracy tending toward anarchy” No need for the CIA to get sniffy about the Solomon Islands. After all, this description could fit most governments of the EU. 😃 And let us have no denigration of the military capabilities of the Macedonians, whose troops formed a key part of this Coalition: One hen. Two ducks. Three squawking geese. Four Limerick oysters. Five corpulent porpoises. Six pairs of Don Alberto’s tweezers. **Seven thousand Macedonians in full battle array**. Eight brass monkeys from the ancient sacred crypts of Egypt. Nine apathetic, sympathetic, diabetic old men on roller skates with a marked propensity towards procrastination and sloth. Ten lyrical, spherical, diabolical denizens of the deep who hall stall around the quo of the quay of the queasy all at the very same time. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-liberals-hate-these-countries-so-much-they-pretend-they-dont-exist/219068/89 "2003-12-15T20:12:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TheLoadedDog \* > \*\*As a conservative doper, I have to things to say: > > - Yes, that’s unfair, I agree. It sucks. > - Welcome to the club. Those of us on the other side of politics have been on the receiving end of that type of presumption for as long as I can remember. \*\* It’s an unfair tactic whichever way it’s used, on that I have to agree with my warmongering hawk bastard friend here. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-liberals-hate-these-countries-so-much-they-pretend-they-dont-exist/219068/90 "2003-12-15T20:23:30Z")
Are you a turtle? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-liberals-hate-these-countries-so-much-they-pretend-they-dont-exist/219068/91 "2003-12-15T20:24:32Z")
Chad is at Jeremy’s side, isn’t he? ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-liberals-hate-these-countries-so-much-they-pretend-they-dont-exist/219068/92 "2003-12-15T20:28:58Z")
Holy farging shnit, **Jackmanii**! I ain’t heard that since Junior High camp. Nice! ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-liberals-hate-these-countries-so-much-they-pretend-they-dont-exist/219068/93 "2003-12-15T20:31:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TheLoadedDog \* > \*\*As a conservative doper, I have to things to say: > > - Yes, that’s unfair, I agree. It sucks. > - Welcome to the club. Those of us on the other side of politics have been on the receiving end of that type of presumption for as long as I can remember. \*\* That’s certainly true, it’s a stupid tactic used against conservatives as well. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-liberals-hate-these-countries-so-much-they-pretend-they-dont-exist/219068/94 "2003-12-15T20:40:00Z")
> [@](#): > > _The Long Road said:_ > I worked with a guy from Eritrea who lost five brothers in the fight against Ethiopia. His family finally raised enough money to send him to the US so he would not be the sixth and final son to die in the war. Might not seem like shit to you but it was one hell of a war to them. hijack: I worked with a guy with similar history. Two things stick out in my memory. He had a t-shirt bearing a B&W pic of a guy firing an AK-47 with the words “Eritrea… NEVER KNEEL!”. Also he claimed/complained that most of the Ethiopia Drought aid was rerouted to the Ethiopian army during that civil war. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-liberals-hate-these-countries-so-much-they-pretend-they-dont-exist/219068/95 "2003-12-15T20:43:24Z")
There’s a basis of truth to that - warlordism certainly wasn’t uncommon in the Ethiopian/Eritrean war. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Long\_Road](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5a626/32.png) [@The\_Long\_Road](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Long_Road)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-liberals-hate-these-countries-so-much-they-pretend-they-dont-exist/219068/96 "2003-12-15T21:09:00Z")
Please excuse the posts dealing with facts and return to insulting small nations to make your political views seem more valid. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-liberals-hate-these-countries-so-much-they-pretend-they-dont-exist/219068/97 "2003-12-15T21:15:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Long Road \* > \*\*Please excuse the posts dealing with facts and return to insulting small nations to make your political views seem more valid. \*\* Woohoo! Dibs on Costa Rica, which doesn’t even have a standing army. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-liberals-hate-these-countries-so-much-they-pretend-they-dont-exist/219068/98 "2003-12-15T21:20:29Z")
I thought we were insulting small countries to compensate for our collectively tiny penises (peni?). In any event, I’d like to take this time to mock and vilify Rhode Island. Granted, not a tiny country, but a hilariously tiny state with an absurdly long name (Rhode Island and the Providence Plantations). RI, I salute you. And by “salute”, I of course mean “thumb my nose at you”. ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-liberals-hate-these-countries-so-much-they-pretend-they-dont-exist/219068/99 "2003-12-15T21:28:38Z")
The last time the Macedonians came to Iraq, they [kicked ass and took names](http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Workshop/3764/artic/gaugamela.html). ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-liberals-hate-these-countries-so-much-they-pretend-they-dont-exist/219068/100 "2003-12-15T21:28:40Z")
Oh I don’t doubt it **Coldfire**. The fog of war plus a natural disaster makes that kind of thing easy and commonplace. His was a slightly partisan telling of the story though he was a pretty good, earnest guy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-liberals-hate-these-countries-so-much-they-pretend-they-dont-exist/219068.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-liberals-hate-these-countries-so-much-they-pretend-they-dont-exist/219068.md?page=6)