Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Some people should not waste their money - or their parent's money - on studying at Harvard. Or any other institution of higher learning beyond junior college.
A threat is comprised of ability and intent. Being big does not necessarily make you a threat. Intent does not necessarily make you a threat. If you are big enough to cause damage and have intent, you are a bigger threat than someone bigger with no intent. Yes, the US could have a change of heart but the question was about current times. If you want to consider all possibilities, you would have to consider if ISIS became much bigger and got more powerful weapons.
Intent and ability are important, but ability must be weighted higher. Think about it. I'd bet the White House gets terror threats once a day. But if a gang in who-care-where India says their gonna nuke the white house, are we gonna assume they're our biggest threat? Of course not. Because they don't have the ability to. But what if that threat came from Russia? They could do that. Lucky for us, they won't and likely never will. Bu that doesn't change the fact that we are statistically more likely to be nuked by Russia than we are to get nuked by some group of loons in some random Middle Eastern country.
The US could do serious damage. ISIS can't. They can make a mess of the Middle East (it's apparently not that hard to do over there) but they can't do a whole lot to anywhere else. If they're lucky, a few sporadic attacks but history has shown that when that happens, every nation on Earth that's buddies with the US unleashed the fury of extremely effective and powerful military force.
So let's say ISIS sets a bomb of in DC. That's bad, but realistically, that's all they'd be able to do before the US and it's coalition drives them back to where they came form and hammers them into submission. The inevitable fate of ISIS is that it will become Al Queada; nothing but a bitter tasting memory that hasn't actually done anything to anyone outside of the Middle East and Africa for quite some time. Point is, even if ISIS successfully attacks something in the US or Europe, the war that ensues will be contained to where every other war has been fought by the Western world for the past 30 years. But if the US dropped a missile on Moscow (which we easily could if we really wanted to), the war that would follow that would be a bloody mess and it would be wherever we want it to be. Europe, America, Asia. That's WAY more than ISIS will ever be capable. Thus, how can ISIS actually be more of a threat to anyone that the US is. We have morals. But if we didn't, things could look pretty bad if one poor choice is made.
Quote:
Originally Posted by texan2yankee
As much as I’d like to be angry at the ignorance of these kids… How much can you really blame them? They have been brainwashed by the progressive education system their whole lives. That’s tough to undo, even if they eventually develop critical thinking skills.
Read above.
Also, critical thinking should always take precedence over nationalism. The US is capable of FAR more destruction that ISIS is. Remember, the question wasn't who WANTS to end world piece, but who could. Again, this video was presented as conservative propaganda, so of course the question was worded as vaguely as possibly to it could easily be twisted into whatever they want it to be. Had an academic or otherwise non-partisan source asked this question, it would have been more clear what was actually be asked. Or rather, how the answer would come about. Perhaps this source is actually as stupid as it seems and they honestly believe what they're saying. But surely the knew these students wouldn't just pull an America flag out of their arse and call their eagle to their shoulder and scream "STOP ISIS." They were going to answer using logical reasoning. ISIS can't destroy the world, the US can. Regardless of intentions, the US is capable of being a threat to the world while ISIS is not.
This display shows us where we are going wrong as a society. Too many people think everything is America's fault, but they refuse to know what real evil, in its purest form, is all about.
If you are a dictator that's about to be invaded by a nation, because you've been aggressive, what nation or organized force would you prefer to invade you??
This display shows us where we are going wrong as a society. Too many people think everything is America's fault, but they refuse to know what real evil, in its purest form, is all about.
We technically made ISIS possibly by making some poor choices.
Also, because apparently I haven't made this clear, none of the students are justifying ISIS or claiming they have a moral high ground. While it's true ISIS was more likely to exist because of US foreign policy, it could have happened or not happened regardless of circumstance. The Us was a key playing in creating ISIS, but there's a lot more to it.
Either way, again, the question is not who WANTS to destroy the world but who CAN. ISIS can't; the US can.
Quote:
Originally Posted by citizenkane2
If you are a dictator that's about to be invaded by a nation, because you've been aggressive, what nation or organized force would you prefer to invade you??
We technically made ISIS possibly by making some poor choices.
Also, because apparently I haven't made this clear, none of the students are justifying ISIS or claiming they have a moral high ground. While it's true ISIS was more likely to exist because of US foreign policy, it could have happened or not happened regardless of circumstance. The Us was a key playing in creating ISIS, but there's a lot more to it.
Either way, again, the question is not who WANTS to destroy the world but who CAN. ISIS can't; the US can.
ISIS.
America, Russia, and China have massive armed forces and are capable of doing serious damage that ISIS wouldn't be capable of doing.
ISIS is gaining more and more territory.........they're doing very well right now.......you ARE reading the news aren't you??
Intent and ability are important, but ability must be weighted higher. Think about it. I'd bet the White House gets terror threats once a day. But if a gang in who-care-where India says their gonna nuke the white house, are we gonna assume they're our biggest threat? Of course not. Because they don't have the ability to. But what if that threat came from Russia? They could do that. Lucky for us, they won't and likely never will. Bu that doesn't change the fact that we are statistically more likely to be nuked by Russia than we are to get nuked by some group of loons in some random Middle Eastern country.
The US could do serious damage. ISIS can't. They can make a mess of the Middle East (it's apparently not that hard to do over there) but they can't do a whole lot to anywhere else. If they're lucky, a few sporadic attacks but history has shown that when that happens, every nation on Earth that's buddies with the US unleashed the fury of extremely effective and powerful military force.
So let's say ISIS sets a bomb of in DC. That's bad, but realistically, that's all they'd be able to do before the US and it's coalition drives them back to where they came form and hammers them into submission. The inevitable fate of ISIS is that it will become Al Queada; nothing but a bitter tasting memory that hasn't actually done anything to anyone outside of the Middle East and Africa for quite some time. Point is, even if ISIS successfully attacks something in the US or Europe, the war that ensues will be contained to where every other war has been fought by the Western world for the past 30 years. But if the US dropped a missile on Moscow (which we easily could if we really wanted to), the war that would follow that would be a bloody mess and it would be wherever we want it to be. Europe, America, Asia. That's WAY more than ISIS will ever be capable. Thus, how can ISIS actually be more of a threat to anyone that the US is. We have morals. But if we didn't, things could look pretty bad if one poor choice is made.
You aren't actually considering intent when you say if the US dropped a bomb on Russia, because we have no intent of doing it = there is no threat of that happening. However, 19 Al Qaeda members killed thousands in NYC after a series of smaller attacks and ultimately sparked a war.
As for the two domains of intent and ability, you could create a graph with each on one axis and where they intersected would equal their threat level. The US has zero intent on doing the things you mention so there is no threat. ISIS has taken over towns in Iraq and Syria and by doing so have pulled people into a war (if we can call it that). This threat is greater than the threat of the US attacking Russia because one is going to happen and the other is not.
When evaluating a level of threat, you can't draw equivalence and leave out intent simply to knock size and power. To bring it to a smaller level of the same equation, my neighbor with a shotgun is not a threat to me, but a 16 year old kid intent on sucker punching me and knocking me out might be.
If you are a dictator that's about to be invaded by a nation, because you've been aggressive, what nation or organized force would you prefer to invade you??
As many have pointed out, the question is about who is a greater threat to "world" peace. I would assume that question is more about which of the world's countries has the ability to destabilize and cause conflict in the largest proportion of the world.
The answer to that question is more assuredly "America". ISIS is a regional problem only affecting a relatively small area of the world. And ISIS could actually be defeated pretty easily without help from the United States(and possibly even more easily without America's help).
Keep in mind, the total area of Iraq and Syria combined is smaller than Texas. The total area that ISIS actually controls, or wants to control, is about half the size of Texas.
ISIS numbers what, a few thousand? The only reason why ISIS exists is because they are getting support in Sunni majority areas. Without support from the local populations, they would have nowhere to hide. They can't invade any country other than the two countries which there are already a significant number of Sunni's who are unhappy with their current government. In truth, if we were to overthrow their governments, or give the Sunni's in general more autonomy/independence. The support for ISIS would effectively disappear.
Basically, if the Sunni's in Iraq and Syria weren't being dominated by Shiites governments, ISIS wouldn't exist.
As many have pointed out, the question is about who is a greater threat to "world" peace. I would assume that question is more about which of the world's countries has the ability to destabilize and cause conflict in the largest proportion of the world.
The answer to that question is more assuredly "America". ISIS is a regional problem only affecting a relatively small area of the world. And ISIS could actually be defeated pretty easily without help from the United States(and possibly even more easily without America's help).
Keep in mind, the total area of Iraq and Syria combined is smaller than Texas. The total area that ISIS actually controls, or wants to control, is about half the size of Texas.
ISIS numbers what, a few thousand? The only reason why ISIS exists is because they are getting support in Sunni majority areas. Without support from the local populations, they would have nowhere to hide. They can't invade any country other than the two countries which there are already a significant number of Sunni's who are unhappy with their current government. In truth, if we were to overthrow their governments, or give the Sunni's in general more autonomy/independence. The support for ISIS would effectively disappear.
Basically, if the Sunni's in Iraq and Syria weren't being dominated by Shiites governments, ISIS wouldn't exist.
You did not answer my question............ Which country would you rather be invaded by.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
