Happened Today: Sad reality
I entered a coffee house to write and was waiting for service when the commercial ended on the television and CNN news came on. CNN was showing the live vote for whether or not the US should fund the rebels in Syria.
A young man, perhaps 20-21 walked in and was standing behind me. We talked a bit about the vote where I confided that this was a monumental mistake that would cost American lives globally. He agreed with a lot of concern.
In talking a bit more after we received our drinks he told me that he literally just joined the US Air force and still had 2 weeks before he was headed to boot camp. He confided the events of the last week as well as this vote (which passed by a 2-1 margin) made him very nervous. He wasn't so sure that he wanted to join the military anymore..
I told the boy that I am a veteran and that I was proud of him. That he was fortunate to have chosen the Air Force because turds like ISIS and most islamic countries have a near zero presence in the air and Air Force bases need not be on top of the action. I'm not entirely sure if anything I said helped to quell his nerves.
Reality: we live in an America gone mad. We have a leader and a Congress that treat the lives of those who volunteer to serve casually and toss their lives into danger frivolously. Sadly for this boy, once you sign the papers you are committed. He can run to avoid going but they will never stop looking for him for the rest of his life and when they find him he will go to jail.
I told him that he needed to find strength in his decision to serve his nation. I told him that his decision was honorable and that I respected him and appreciated his making the same decision I once made (even if it was the Air force and not the Navy).I gave him my email address and promised to correspond if/when he writes.
Its weighs heavily on my heart that our leadership has grown so pathetic that those patriotic souls looking to volunteer should find pause or fear serving the nation. It makes me angry.
This is the state of our nation.
A young man, perhaps 20-21 walked in and was standing behind me. We talked a bit about the vote where I confided that this was a monumental mistake that would cost American lives globally. He agreed with a lot of concern.
In talking a bit more after we received our drinks he told me that he literally just joined the US Air force and still had 2 weeks before he was headed to boot camp. He confided the events of the last week as well as this vote (which passed by a 2-1 margin) made him very nervous. He wasn't so sure that he wanted to join the military anymore..
I told the boy that I am a veteran and that I was proud of him. That he was fortunate to have chosen the Air Force because turds like ISIS and most islamic countries have a near zero presence in the air and Air Force bases need not be on top of the action. I'm not entirely sure if anything I said helped to quell his nerves.
Reality: we live in an America gone mad. We have a leader and a Congress that treat the lives of those who volunteer to serve casually and toss their lives into danger frivolously. Sadly for this boy, once you sign the papers you are committed. He can run to avoid going but they will never stop looking for him for the rest of his life and when they find him he will go to jail.
I told him that he needed to find strength in his decision to serve his nation. I told him that his decision was honorable and that I respected him and appreciated his making the same decision I once made (even if it was the Air force and not the Navy).I gave him my email address and promised to correspond if/when he writes.
Its weighs heavily on my heart that our leadership has grown so pathetic that those patriotic souls looking to volunteer should find pause or fear serving the nation. It makes me angry.
This is the state of our nation.
I wonder if ol' Potus and his cronies will form a group called Oathbreakers?
The Founders of this country had a profound distrust of expansive national agendas and the temptation into empire building that could be fueled by large centralized government and standing armies. Yet, going back at least to Teddy Roosevelt, if not before, we have had a nationalized hubris that the United States is divinely appointed to save the world from its various evils and stupidities -- and we need to pay, in blood and in taxes, to satisfy that appointment. And yet, time after time, we learn -- sometimes only much later, after files are declassified and the people whose stupidity and treachery cost us dearly have shuffled off this mortal coil, that the "values" we were dying to protect were those of crony businessmen protecting their investments and their relationships with corrupt dictators whose role in their own country was oppressor, not protector.
What are we sending our young people to protect? And how many new enemies will we create, when the collateral damage that war inflicts kills more non-combatants? Does anybody believe that we know, really know, the facts about this newest enemy, what this will cost us, and whether anyone in charge is telling us anything that approaches the truth?
Allowing them to grow larger and more powerful puts not only our allies at risk, but ensures that in the future, if we do nothing now, we will be engaging them here.
While I do understand where you are coming from, I do not think we can stand by and wait for them to grow more powerful and capable of bringing the fight to us. That, cranedragon, would be much more costly in all areas.
ISIS has nothing less than world domination in mind, at all costs to them or anyone who opposes them. These are fanatical zealots who care nothing for their own lives nor the lives of anyone else. Unlike any force the civilized world has dealt with in a very long time.
Unfortunately, the actions of the present administration set this up to happen by totally withdrawing our forces from Iraq and various other blunders in the area.
Over and out.
J.
ISIS is making great headway and is growing daily, even in the US. This administration is the most dangerous EVER to the sovereignty of this once great country!!!
Over and out.
J.
I do hope he writes.
He made a *very* adult choice by enlisting. You were there to give him the steel to honor his own commitment.
Don't be disheartened... be honored you had the chance to talk tot his young man, and give him the very support he needed to uphold HIS commitment. Sounds like he needed it, and you were there.
Excellent words. Bravo. Take heart in the fact that our present POTUS will not be his commander in chief indefinitely. His retirement can't come too soon.
Regards,
O.A.
What we have is an amateur wannabe emperor occupying the White House unConstitutionally, with every branch of the government, every department, even the military, and even people right here who whine about how terrible he is, complicit in keeping him there.
Article 2, section 1, clause 5. He can't be President.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BOQI-LA...
These men are patriots, demonstrated by voting with their lives. Politicians (particularly scum like Obama, Reid, Pelosi and Warren) are not patriots, but self-interested, misleading power-hungry, oligarchs, deciding the fate of the patriots in our overwhelmingly dominant military, used as a disposable police force.
I would love to learn that your narrative has appeared as a letter to the editor.
I was fortunate to serve under Reagan. I NEVER worried that my country didn't have my back.
On the other hand, I admire the youngster for his courage for signing up, and hope he has the fortitude to stand firm with his commitment and serve his country with honor and distinction.
After all - MANY have trod where he is embarking from... While it's true some have not returned standing, every one of them either washed out, or learned what Duty, Honor, Courage and Sacrifice is... traits that will, God willing, serve them through the rest of their years!
O has decimated this confidence and that is why this kid is justifiably concerned. Hell is too good for O and we'll have to wait too long for him to get there..
It's like that movie where the President is drugged and turns the country over to some evil dictator... except this is no movie...
Going into the service is one thing, but believing in this or any other administration of this government is another.
I think I was the beneficiary of the wisdom that came from Vietnam.Reagan saw what happened with Vietnam, how the American government lost the trust of the American people and how the American people turned on the government and military. Part of his appeal was that he worked to restore honor to the Oval Office and to revive a sense of pride in being American for the American people.
Thankfully, I never had to wonder if Reagan had my back if things went to shit. When I wrote that sentence Vietnam gnawed at me as the contradiction.
Although I know it probably not necessary, thank you for your service. Sadly, it seems that O is hell bent on repeating history.
If they have an accounting of who turns 18 then why is there a need for selective service in peace time? If we have a volunteer military than why the need for a call-up list?
With this pResident the idea of my son being on a list makes me very concerned.
Unfortunately, Johnson was a make believe naval officer and thought that he could run the war from his desk in Washington. And congress thought that a year rotation would be more "fair" and give the troops the motivation to fight hard and then get out - instead it just gave many the incentive not to get hurt and any that put them in harms way were the enemy.
I think someone should ask Senator McCain...
Machiavelli advised against auxiliaries and mercenaries as being unreliable and a dangerous luxury.
No way we should fund the Syrians.
And, for the record, waaay back in 2003, maybe even earlier, I objected strenuously with sharing our high tech military capabilities with our 'allies'. With the exception of 1st world countries like England, who can produce their own, and Israel, who always improve what they get from us, giving advanced hardware to our "allies" usually comes back to bite us in the end. Certainly it increases the odds of such hardware falling into the hands of our enemies du jour.
This is the state of our nation. "
Amen!
A few years ago I stopped into a fast food place on my way home from work and next to me, placing his order, was a young man (about 22). He was limping and in pain with a knee brace. With my background with football and knee injuries I asked what had happened. Well, he had just returned from Afghanistan and was full of shrapnel -from knee to back. He was in bad shape. I asked if he had gotten his disability yet. He replied, "No. I put in for it but I understand it takes a long time to get - a year or more." You know...I'm no wimp. I'm a tough S.O.B. but I had tears in my eyes over that, I was so angry. I did manage a "Thank you for your service." And he responded kindly before limping off down the road with a friend of his, walking toward a Motel 6 across the street.
I find this kind of thing very upsetting. I remember when I was a kid sitting on the floor of our kitchen. I was about 11 or so. I asked my mom something about the Vietnam War and she mentioned all the friends she and my dad had lost and started sobbing. My dad held her there in front of a confused and shocked me. I'll never forget it. You know...we haven't learned a damn thing. The general public remains an easy mark and simple source of revenue and not much else. Very upsettting. Wasn't it Kissinger who called the military "dumb animals"?
The Last of the Light Brigade
http://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/poems_br...
"They sent a cheque to the felon that sprang from an Irish bog;
They healed the spavined cab-horse; they housed the homeless dog;
And they sent (you may call me a liar), when felon and beast were paid,
A cheque, for enough to live on, to the last of the Light Brigade."
I'm going to assume you don't know what in the hell is happening over there, because if you did, and you still feel that way, I'm sorry for the rest of the world...
https://www.es.amnesty.org/uploads/media...
Let me get this straight... if this is just some spontaneous thing that's happening, and they're murdering people right and left like they are now (go ahead, read that report... that doesn't even begin to scratch the surface). If that was the case, it's "not our job", but it's our job. It's our FREAKING job to do what's right in the world, even if it costs us lives.
Was it our job to go into Iraq and/or Afghanistan, maybe, maybe not. But right now, what's happening over there, it's not our job, but IT'S OUR JOB.
Now, especially in this case, going over there to clean up this mess that we created by LEAVING A VOID (because, you know, we *had* to GTFO immediately)... in THIS case, it's our job, we essentially made this happen. It's already been done, and we need to finish it.
If you can read any one of those stories on what's happening over there, and tell me "no we should just leave them to keep doing what they're doing", then I hope I never meet you, because that's a despicable thought process.
There will never be an end to evil people who want to oppress, torture, and kill. As long as we say that it is OUR JOB to save the world from evil people, there will never be an end to our costs in blood and money. Are you willing to write a blank check, on someone else's life and someone else's bank account, because bad people are doing bad things? Do you think you have that right?
It's not a matter of being your responsibility to remedy. It's a matter of stopping them now before they are knocking on your door. Stomp them now (or better, 13 years ago), and we don't have to worry about fighting them in the cornfields of Iowa later.
There may never be an end to evil people want to oppress, torture and kill... is that an argument to disband the police forces? Is that an argument to give up on civilization, and law?
Because that's what you're arguing for when you say "oh, it's not our responsibility to destroy the philosophical enemies of our society".
How? How would you define when "it" is finished?
Regardless of whether one believes it was, or was not a mistake to go to war in Irag, it was a bigger mistake, once done, to leave without a peacekeeping force and a status of forces agreement. Our POTUS has not the stomach for what would be necessary.
Respectfully,
O.A.
That's the error in thinking that is allowed to exist because people won't correct it, probably because they're too stupid to think it's important.
WE WENT TO WAR IN THE MIDDLE EAST.
Iraq was one theater of that war. Afghanistan another. Every airport in the U.S., a third.
But because the left screamed from the gitgo that we mustn't persecute Moslems, they made it politically impossible to wage the war as it needed to be waged... in the middle east.
One of the tools the tools... I mean news media of the Vietnam era used to derail our war efforts was to whine and complain and create false "scandals" about us expanding the war into Laos and Cambodia... when the Viet Cong and NVA were already deploying there, and where most of the Ho Chi Minh trail existed. But the NVA and Viet Cong always referred to it as the "Indochinese War", never the "Vietnamese War".
Because we don't shoot reporters at their first lie (okay, hyperbole, but the sentiment is there), they're able to sabotage this war effort, too.
What I find astonishing is that Fox News supposedly has a far greater audience than the propaganda networks, and yet it's the propaganda networks that are still setting the narrative.
Then again, that lying, racist, murder-inciting sonofabitch who had to be booted out of Iraq for giving away privileged information, Geraldo, is a senior fellow at Fox...
I have a problem with committing our money and lives to ill defined and poorly executed campaigns.
I believe in humanity in that any people can learn, adapt, and thrive. Unfortunately, islam seems to retard that human strength and needs to mature or be eradicated.
We didn't literally "decimate" Germany. What we did do was turn half of them over to the gentle mercies of communism for the sake of international relations.
When you intentionally fund your industries to target specific markets in a foreign country, in order to drive the native industries out of business... that's economic warfare, and Japan, Inc did it in industry after industry, culminating in the decimation of the American automotive industry.
One tiny taste of the economic warfare initiated by Japan, recognized by one German immigrant, and fed back to them, thus saving the American computer industry for a decade or more:
http://www.zimmers.net/cbmpics/hvic.html...
The Japanese government intentionally funded their industries so they could operate at a loss.
Of course, our good and noble internationalist government wouldn't fight back by subsidizing our own industries, or slapping tariffs on the goods coming in for the targeted industry. Oh, no, can't actually defend the republic from an assault with as vicious an intent as Pearl Harbor.
Let see, they (islam) subjugate anyone that doesn't subscribe to their ideology, they decimate a conquered nations history and throw the conquered nation back 100 years in doing so, they attach bombs to their children, their elderly, their retarded, and their women to make political statement AND gain salvation, they are in the process of a Holocaust (killing Christians) that will likely make the Nazi's look lackadaisical, and they behead people to make statements that you have obviously missed or choose to ignore. I'm sure I left a lot out.
islamics REFUSE to mature past the 7C and are seeking by violence to establish a religious nation where all dissent will be killed if not converted.
Please draw the contemporary parallel between all of what they are doing now to ANY OTHER RELIGION on this Earth today (not isolated incidents but sustained strategy), that is not an arabic derivative.
I'd wager you can't.
just for fun http://toprightnews.com/?p=5932
That can’t be for real. On the screen is a picture of a soldier in an open casket, presumably killed in Iraq or Afghanistan. His wife is holding their 3 year old daughter on her hip, while the child is reaching with outstretched arms for her daddy. What would otherwise be a heart wrenching picture was obliterated by a caption mocking the child for reaching for her father, followed by an anti-war statement.
Jonas looked for a moment with unbelief, which quickly turned into disgust and anger. Within moments he was digging through various web pages trying to track down the creator of this revolting picture. It only took a few clicks to find the source, an anti-war activist with disdain for the heroes who fight for freedom across the globe. Whether one agrees with a war or not, this was not the way to voice your opposition. He began typing, attempting to use the miniscule amount of tact he could muster:
"I just saw the picture you posted online. How could you be so utterly tasteless and careless? You do know there are some people out there who would murder me, my kids, you, your kids, and everyone else simply because we refuse to convert to Islam? Being nice to them isn’t going to make them leave us alone."
He sent the message and went on looking for something to get his mind off those words. He had barely begun to take his mind off it when a reply to come back:
"That picture isn’t anti-war, the message is to tell people to live their life to the fullest, to love more, have more fun. And by the way I’m a Muslim, and I don’t want to kill you. Some of us just want to live in peace."
Not anti-war? He wasn’t sure if this person was being serious. The title of the picture was “War is never right”. The message of that picture couldn’t be more blatantly disrespectful of our military and their grieving families, even the most ignorant person couldn’t deny that.
"Regardless of what you say about that picture, it most certainly is about war, and is disrespectful of our soldiers and their families. Fortunately for you, that soldier died for your right to be able to do such tasteless and disgusting things.
You may be peaceful, as are all my Muslim friends; I wouldn’t associate with them otherwise. But you would be blind to deny the fact that there are a large number of people who would gladly murder and enslave people in the name of Islam. Even more frightening, there is a sizable percentage of Muslims (even in Western society) that are willing to accept suicide attacks against civilians as justified. You would be hard pressed to find even one percent of Christians, Jews, or atheists who would accept such things. It’s sad, but even in England, one fourth of Muslims approved of the London terror bombings.
An even scarier trend is that even in the United States, Men, Women, and Children are murdered for leaving Islam, and the murderers are sometimes sheltered by others who are sympathetic to their religious beliefs. Well known leaders have issued Fatwas calling for the death of people who have criticized Islam. And on top of that, very little is heard from most peaceful Muslims denouncing these acts. That’s not to say they’re not out there, but it would be utter foolishness to deny that a relatively large amount of people follow the Fundamentalist view of Islam, which very clearly supports actions that are wholly irreconcilable with a civilized society. Honor killings and horrific treatment of women are just a few of the actions that are regularly ignored and even in some cases supported."
Jonas could feel the disbelief building up inside; even though he spoke with people about this all the time, he never got used to the idea that people really believe these sorts of things. Within minutes, another reply came that shed some more light on the topic.
"I respect your opinion, but that soldier did not die for my freedom. That soldier died killing my people. Yet I hold nothing against him, because he believed in his cause, and I respect anyone who is willing to die for his cause. I am Middle-Eastern, I have never set foot in America, yet I support you in your plight to end terrorism. My picture was about violence in general."
“Great” Jonas thought to himself. “All you have to do is believe in something, and that makes it worthy of respect. No burden of proof, no evidence required, and certainly no basis on the foundations of moral truth. Just believe something is true, and magically it becomes true. What has this world come to?” His responses were getting more pointed:
"He died killing your people? You honestly believe that? You think he went to Afghanistan or Iraq thinking “I’d like to kill some innocent civilians”? No, he was over there because of some idiots who hold true to the fundamentalist view of your faith, who support murdering people, honor killings, and other disgusting things.
But, if you ask me, if you have to water down a religion, picking and choosing which parts of it to follow just so one can call themselves a “peaceful” follower of that religion, that makes me believe there’s either something wrong with me as a follower (because I am not willing to follow it strictly), or something is wrong with the faith itself.
Christians who do not believe the full teachings of Christ are foolish. Who are they to pick and choose what to believe is true? Either Jesus Christ was right or wrong, he left no middle ground. If everyone did that, we would have millions of different religions (one for each Christian), each calling themselves “Christianity”.
The same follows for every religion, including Islam. If one follows Islam, it’s foolish to not follow the strict teachings of Islam, because who are they to pick and choose what is true in Islam?
But then, if someone follows the strict, fundamentalist teachings of Islam, even you agree with me; they can’t honestly call themselves peaceful due to the inherently violent and dangerous teachings taught by the fundamentalist version of Islam.
So they’re stuck with a choice, either they follow a watered down version (which implies there is a problem with their religion at its core), or follow the fundamentalist version and admit that they are not truly “peaceful”."
Jonas hoped this would make sense to the person on the other end of the message. This is a premise he tried to explain to many Christians he meets. It is an absurdity to say “I believe what Jesus said about such and such, but think he was wrong about this and that…” Do they honestly think that God made a mistake? Do they not understand that Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, God with us, by his very nature is incapable of making a mistake? If he did, he wouldn’t be God. It is well and fine for someone to completely disagree with Christianity, that is their prerogative, but to say they believe a portion of it, and reject other portions of it, is to say that they are traveling both North and South on the interstate at the same time.
The message that came back next would change his life forever:
"Hey buddy… You want to know why I’m a Muslim? Because I would get f***ing killed if I actually renounced my given birth religion. Why don’t you try living over here for a week, then we’ll see if you still hold on to your ethics and beliefs. I do what I do to survive."
Jonas sat in shock. He knew there was oppression in the Muslim world, and even read stories about people who faced that oppression. But all of a sudden it became real; sitting here, talking to a real life person who appeared to violently oppose those fighting for freedom, and yet in her heart was yearning for freedom without realizing it. She had fought so hard all her life to suppress that yearning that she was beginning to believe it.
How many people, he thought, were living this life in oppressive societies today? How common was this person? Ten percent of the population in these countries? Thirty, Fifty, Eighty percent? It very well could be! Even more earth-shattering, what if all those people were suddenly united and infused with the courage to stand up to their oppressors and demand freedom?
Some years ago a friend of mine was walking in the capital of an Azerbaijan when he observed a man beating the crap out of a woman. Familiar with local customs, he respectfully approached the man and "politely" said to him that he should calm down because he can really hurt the woman. At that point, the beaten woman accosted my friend with those words: "how dare you interrupt when my husband is talking to me!?"
My point is this - protect our way of life, protect our interests, protect our people. But keep the Star Trek Prime Directive - do not interfere in other people's lives if it does not affect you.
No force of empire "for their own good" is needed.
My point in my response was that some who think rationally will want to leave for greener pastures, and the rest of the world can benefit from limited immigration with careful examination of intentions.
Don't start out with a straw-man argument, let's get our facts straight and we can go from there.
if y'all had had the testicular fortitude back in 2001 to appoint me Dictator (in the Roman republican sense) for the duration, the middle east would be pacified right now.
However, our foreign policy has been hard on the military, and bad for the American people for a LONG time. (I wonder if the UK will attack Scotland if it secedes?)
Mexican-American War, Spanish-American (Teddy Roosevelt) War (USS Maine BS), bungling involvement in Africa forever, non-declared action (for almost as long as the Middle East..) in Vietnam (Pueblo), aid the Taliban against the Russians, weapons of mass destruction invasions, etc. War on Drugs....
we do have an especially arrogant king in the white house now - but things have looked bleak for a long time to me.
Grenada benefited us. Of course, we can't count the number of lives saved by preventing the bomber field from being built, but we can measure the number of Americans rescued from captivity.
The Gulf War benefited Kuwait a helluva lot, and benefited israel; their Iron Dome system is derived from the Patriot missile system (salvaged by Dan Quayle) tested under fire during the Gulf War.
The Iraqi theater of the war on terror; not only did the Iraqi people benefit, but so did the countries, some of whom were coalition members, when we restored the oil infrastructure and made Iraq productive again.
The Mexican-American War was good for us, the Spanish-American war was good for us. The Vietnam War was about stopping the spread of communism, as was the Korean War. But, during Korea, the traitors were just getting traction, so even though we didn't win, we did hold the line.
We were on the wrong side in Bosnia (slaver President), we didn't belong in Haiti (slaver President). We were on the right side in Afghanistan, throwing the communists out.
Hey, I've always been in favor of going toe-to-toe with the slavers; but no way could any administration have survived sending American troops into Afghanistan to fight Soviet troops.
I love how jerks try to take on airs of wisdom by viewing the past as if the outcome of events was known before it started. "Losing" in Vietnam wasn't inevitable. But it took more political savvy and courage than existed in the U.S. at the time.
Had Walter Cronkite been pulled into the street and given a noodle at his first slanderous report against our troops, you can damned well bet the reporting would be a tad more beneficial to the nation (by means of being more truthful).
The Tet offensive effectively won the war for us; yet the commies in the media portrayed it as a disaster for us. The administration attempted to negotiate a peace with people we should have been slaughtering wholesale, because of the political climate created in the U.S. by the slavers, and as a result gave the traitorous slavers in the Congress the opportunity to turn limited victory and a halt to the spread of communism into a defeat and a bloody disaster.
The U.S. *has* been the world's police force since WWII. And while I still think God intended us to have a global empire at the end of the war, if it were *not* for our involvement on the global stage since WWII, you wouldn't be typing your snarky little message, being that you would consist of radioactive ash. Or wouldn't be allowed to own a keyboard by your slaver masters.
I will agree with you regarding Grenada, and thought about as I posed my question, but it was a rather small war, so I didn’t mention it; but I agree, it was a success for the good guys.
I will disagree with you with respect to Kuwait – Gulf I, although tactically successful, germinated a lot of new problems in the entire Middle East, not just Iraq. It left a power vacuum, emboldened Iran, gave rise to Al Qaeda, and we can go on and on. Again, good intentions, with no brains behind them… And you’re claiming that the Iraqi people benefited? How’s that, may I ask? Iraq was a secular state, modern (by Middle Eastern standards), far from religious fanaticism and, most importantly, kept Iran in check. Iraq has now reverted to the middle ages, in the middle of a civil war, costs us several thousand American lives (and perhaps hundreds of thousands of Iraqis), perhaps a trillion dollars – and to what end?
The Mexican and Spanish American wars did yield benefits to the US, but that was a different age (19th century mentality) when countries did what actually benefited them. The Bosnia affair was a long term disaster for the US, although most people don’t realize it. We were on the wrong side, arming and training our enemies (who have re-paid us well) and here’s an extra – 50 years of communist rule in Russia did not make Russians hate America; a couple of years of siding with the Muslim Bosnians and killing Serbs alienated all Slavs against America more than the Soviet government could have ever hoped.
Again, I am not denying the overflow of good intentions, but the results, in many cases, speak another story. Both Afghanistan and Iraq have been pushed back centuries and are much more hostile and dangerous to us than when we started. Now we are arming Syrian rebels – read – Moslem Brotherhood – that Assad senior and now Assad junior have been exerting all their efforts to keep under control. Again, to what end – so that bad Assad can be replaced with the Muslim Brotherhood and Al Qaeda? Really?
No. Initially the Viet Cong consisted of a variety of political interests, which the communists played against one-another until they were the ones left in power. That's according to a founding member of the Viet Cong.
The communist North Vietnamese invaded free S. Vietnam *after* the peace agreement, with 4 armored corps. Hardly people willingly embracing communism. Ask the boat people. Ask the people who found themselves in concentration camps if they chose communism.
" but it was the American policy. In fact, it was not much different from the Iraq affair. "
yes, I have often cited how *because of political pressures from the left*, history repeated itself. Macnamara was the biggest idiot we could hope to have run a war. He ran it on statistics, not on strategy. But even then, the political considerations that led to the result we got were themselves a result of the active sabotage of traitors in our midst, NOT a result of our involvement.
I agree we were on the wrong side in Bosnia.
Neither Afghanistan nor Iraq could be "pushed back centuries". A dictatorial, pseudo-theocratic oligarchy with rape rooms and using WMDs against ethnic minorities was hardly the cutting edge of civilization.
Again, the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan are NOT a blanket result of our involvement there, but a result of the necessities of politics here. Traitors in our midst, whose agenda calls for nothing less than humiliation and failure in all of America's foreign policy, are why the middle east is where it is right now. The invasion of Iraq would have been part of a brilliant strategy for pacifying the middle east if not for the efforts of domestic traitors to sabotage our efforts.
If we're ever going to be a free country again, we will first need to get back to the situation where the people are better armed than the military, as it was at the founding. Or more likely, we'll need to create that situation in some other country and move there.
In any case, what are we going to do when there are no more Generals? What are we going to do when there are no more volunteers? Will it take a real threat to our security, our future, to reinstate the draft? Have we defined any real threat to our security in the US? Obviously not, if we did we'd have Term Limits. The people making the decisions (and not making them) today are all psychos, and what do we do about it? We reelect them over and over. None of them can make a decision or tell us specifically what they think, they all think politically and they are only struggling for personal power. We need people representing us that are willing to do what it takes to resolve the issues or at least make them less critical. Even our top future candidates are playing politics, where are the leaders that can state out loud with some conviction, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down that wall.", or one that causes the bad guys to release their hostages because they fear (another word for respect) what he might do to make things right.
Instead we have elected officials that want to know, during a war, about how the military is promoting wind power in Iraq, fears of the island of Guam turning over, "You'll have to pass it to see what's in it", "Stand Down" when our people are under attack (who cares why, they were under attack, period. Remember who came up with that “period” nonsense?), you can keep your doctor/your insurance, the average family will save (yah, yah, the average family is on welfare today, they will get it free, that’s a big savings).
Where in the hell is this country going today? How long are we going to let it continue? Do you feel like me, too old to be able to do anything about it? Educate your kids/grandkids on politics, they are the ones that will have to put up with what we let get out of control. Fix our government and you fix the world, or at least as much of it as matters. Someone on this planet needs to lead or at least set the limits. I just think it might as well be us. Apparently our leadership thinks otherwise. What would this world be like under Putin? Probably very similar to what it would be like under Obama if he got his way.
Frustrated, and I'm going to go see my shrink at the VA, if I can get the appointment.
But America's current course is nowhere near noble or honorable. Follow the money: who gains from our non-stop wars? Why are we following irrational policies guaranteed to perpetuate the devastation? The greatest good would most directly be achieved through peaceful relations with all countries and beneficial trade among them. No one would initiate force or violence against anyone.
How many Middle East countries does the U.S. have to destroy to pay back for 9/11? And how many defenders in those countries have to be labeled "terrorists" to justify our killing them and their innocent civilians? Is it surprising that they would join in their common course to fight off their attackers? We are visiting collective punishment on millions of people who had nothing to do with the actions of 19 suicidal idealists from Saudi Arabia, the one country in that region that we're not bombing.
The unconscionable waste of our young people in uniform for causes neither noble nor honorable has devalued any merit we once might have had. And it is not entirely Obama's fault; he has been listening to bad advice. Continuing on our current path is a no-win proposition, since the only final solution is genocide. And that is a betrayal of everything good that America once stood for, and what deserved the dedication of idealistic young people to preserve and protect.
As for Patriotism, no country would exist anywhere had people not stood to protect its values. America has a honorable history and many men and women have stood to ensure that the tenants of the Constitution would be there for our children to live by. Like it or not trade is a nations lifeblood. America must protect its trade globally just as it must stand with its legitimate allies. The "legitimate" has become unclear and for some misbegotten reason recent administrations erroneously believe we can "buy" our allies.
"How many Middle East countries does the U.S. have to destroy to pay back for 9/11?"
All of them if it comes to it.
One American life is worth an entire population of people from anywhere else. It is US (America) against THEM (the rest of the world) on every level: trade, ideology,etc. We must be first concerned about us and our interests before anyone else. Blurring this view results in the mess we have now.
Harsh as it is, thats my 2 bits.
“The Objectivist Ethics,” The Virtue of Selfishness, 32.
Valuing one American life more than an entire population is a horrific distortion of ethics. And let's get the full context here: The U.S. has murdered hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis and other civilian populations in retaliation of what? 9/11? That was perpetrated allegedly by mainly Saudis? Before we condemn others to our genocidal execution, let's check how clean our own hands are. Whatever became of "...nor ask another to live for mine"? And not just live by die? And retaliating against only those who were guilty of initiating force? And what if we were the initiators? Your perverted patriotism is barbaric and ill serves our country in the long run.
In fact, 9/11 was a suicide mission: the men who carried it out all died. Even if those who provided logistical support and training could be identified, they were not the entire nation of Iraq, nor everyone in Afghanistan; though the Afghanistan conflict apparently has been more focused.
Christopher Hitchens stood apart from his comrades in supporting the war in Iraq on the grounds that Saddam Hussein was a horrible tyrant. Indeed, he was. It is obvious that the present situation is much worse. The same scenario played out in the former Yugoslavia: once Marshall Tito was gone, tyranny turned to chaos.
We do not live in a isolated world and, as our interests extend beyond our borders, cannot ignore the realities around us. War happens for a variety of reasons, many justified.
Standing and watching the annihilation of a people to cling to a value - Rand or otherwise - is grotesque, repulsive, heartless and irrational. Islam will not allow us to sit idle, to be impartial, or to ignore them. In time they will encroach on us. Better to face this now overseas than allow it here in this nation.
So says this Patriot.
There is no possible way that we can follow the events in the Middle East back to who threw the first punch. That way lies endless finger-pointing and insanity.
I like the way the Israelis have handled "payback" situations: drop warning leaflets for some time [I like 24 hours, but I've been called a hothead] and them bomb the area without mercy. Some bad guys will survive, but you will know that you took a step to avoid creating the type of endless historical problem to which you refer. And keep doing it, and invite your friends and family to the party.
Everything has a breaking point.
I also favor AJA's memorial for 9/11 - bomb the piss out of every terrorist site we know of. Make them fear the date. And anyplace in the world that we see them celebrating, bomb them as well.
As for the hold up man gaining a value and the victim not gaining wealth if he retaliates ... keeping our heads attached would be the value in not ignoring the truth.
There is no negotiating with them, reason is not their arbiter and I will not leave my gun at the door.
It's not bo's fault, he's just listening to bad advice???? I can't believe you're buying that idea.
How do YOU suggest dealing with a large, strong, well funded group of pure evil who wants nothing more then to kill us all in America (is that not genocide?) (once they're done with Irsrael, that is)...what are your ideas for stopping them from accomplishing their ultimate goal?? The time for 'peaceful relations" is over with them. They don't speak that language. And they are here....http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2014/09/16/brendan-tevlin-shooting-where-outrage-over-killing-by-self-professed-jihadist/
America still stands for being good (well, those of us who still believe in the principles of what America was founded on and still believe in fighting for freedom and not lying down whimpering) and all evil needs to succeed is for good men to do nothing. We're pretty much doing nothing to stop evil at this point...our pansy ass attempts at stopping them nicely is biting us in the ass. Please remove your rose colored glasses.
Lacking a consistent philosophy, people who condemn the Bush-Obama domestic policies approve of the Bush-Obama foreign policies.
You reminded me of the scene from "The Battle of the Bulge" where Telly Savalas begs Robert Ryan, his voice breaking in grief, "When are they gonna let us fight!?"