Culture wars

mrgybe · Joined: 01 Jul 2008 Posts: 5181

How has that non intervention policy worked out? I'm guessing that the hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing Syria, the millions killed, maimed or subjugated by ISIS and their cohorts, the Ukranian people, those in the territories adjacent to China and on and on, might relish a rather more robust approach from the country that used lead of the world. The globe is in the most chaotic state since WWII. There is a difference between keeping the peace and making war as our presence in Korea for decades has proven.

jp5 · Joined: 19 May 1998 Posts: 3394 Location: OnUr6

I do believe intervention is required there but I appreciate the fact that we have a president whose knee jerk reaction isn't to send in the troops. We are coming off 14 years of war at the expense of billions of dollars and thousands of lives lost or maimed for life and understandably the American public is reluctant to get into another conflict. Mrgybe I believe the world needs to intervene, not just the U.S.

mrgybe · Joined: 01 Jul 2008 Posts: 5181

Since WWII the world has looked to the US for strong leadership. If we lead, many will follow as has been shown in the past. Also, those who dislike us will tread very carefully before acting against our interests. That strong leadership has evaporated during this Administration and the consequences are on the front pages every day. Of course a President should be cautious before committing the military.......but equally, I don't want a president to take actions which contradict the recommendations of his expert advisers, merely to fulfill campaign promises. As for knee jerk reactions, I assume you are referring to GW. Too many forget the overwhelming sentiment in the country, and that of Congress, which strongly supported those actions following 9/11. Most of our knees were jerking.

jp5 · Joined: 19 May 1998 Posts: 3394 Location: OnUr6

JFK's expert advisers told him to invade Cuba, unbeknownst to anyone at the time the Russian troops there had battlefield nukes ready to repel the invasion. We would have responded in kind and maybe we wouldn't be here today! Prior to the Japanese attack in 1941 American sentiments were for staying out of the war. Some say Roosevelt knew about the attack ahead of time.

I get where you're coming from. I believe in a strong nation with a strong military and strong leadership. I believe that when the president draws a red line he'd better be prepared to back it up. Diplomacy yes and when that fails then hit them with everything you've got.

isobars · Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935

nw30 · Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2015 6:43 pm Post subject:

KGB-NP · Joined: 25 Jul 2001 Posts: 2856

swchandler · Joined: 08 Nov 1993 Posts: 10588

I'm thinking that mrgybe has forgotten about all the dictatorial regimes that the US has fomented and supported in the time since WWII. We as a country did a lot of incredibly stupid things, and the folks that we supported weren't the best by a long shot.

Any question about that, one only needs to point out that we supported Saddam Hussein at one point in time. That was before he gassed his own countrymen, and it can probably be argued that he won't have been able to do that if we were more focused and less interested in selfish and stupid BS originating from oil interests. There's a lot more, but thoughtful folks already know that if they have a reasonable knowledge of history.

nw30 · Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2015 7:52 pm Post subject:

swchandler · Joined: 08 Nov 1993 Posts: 10588

NW30, you're totally missing it. The point I was making is that Saddam Hussein was never a guy we should have supported. Did I suggest anything in what I said that we should have targeted Hussein?

You need to think a bit deeper. All the American Exceptionalism, and forgetful remembrances of our past actions over the years, is a poor strategy for accomplishing anything today. The way that I'm seeing it, mrgybe must really respect and honor a guy like Vice President Dick Cheney for what he's done, and more importantly, what he wants done right now.

Is that the way you see it?