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Well to be fair that was the Barbary wars, and the Barbary Pirates were attacking our ships, restraining our trade, and making our sailors slaves. It was justified.
The USA claims ALL of the stuff we do overseas has to do with our trade. That has been the reason for most everything - going into Japan, etc.
We needed "coaling' stations to fuel ships and also forced the world to help us in case a ship got lost, damaged, etc.....when Japan resisted, we shelled a couple villages and they changed their mind.
I’d like to hear someone try and justify why this is good, if someone actually has a good explanation then I’m all ears, but I’ve NEVER heard a convincing argument for it.
If you enjoy your current Standard of Living and Life-Style, then it is incumbent on the US as an empire to continually expand into new Markets to gain control of resources. That generally requires the use of force to achieve such an expansion.
If, on the other hand, you don't mind being a 2nd World State with a lower Standard of Living and lesser Life-Style -- living like Russians or Romanians -- then by all means, beat your swords into plowshares.
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Originally Posted by Pilot1
Well to be fair that was the Barbary wars, and the Barbary Pirates were attacking our ships, restraining our trade, and making our sailors slaves. It was justified.
The US paid an annual tribute to the Barbary States beginning in 1788.
So, fighting terrorists on their turf somehow means we live in fear?
No, but people who want to take away privacy rights and who agree with the government spying on US citizens and monitoring their phone calls, emails, etc in the name of "fighting terrorism" ARE THE REAL TERRORISTS! They're doing the terrorists job for them by allowing the government to get away with such blatant violations of the bill of rights, and they're too stupid to realize it. People live in fear of being attacked by terrorist when the likelihood of that happening are so small that it's not worth worrying about. But the fear-mongering media would have you think otherwise, and people are gullible enough to believe it.
But fighting them on their own turf still doesn't make sense because THEY HAVEN'T DIRECTLY HARMED US! Like I said, if ISIS is killing people in Pakistan, that's Pakistanis problem, not ours.
Military-Industrial complex at its finest! It's sick that we live in a country where people make a profit off of war, just like there's people who profit off of people being in prison (private prisons). So they lobby for more laws, harsher sentences and more prisons. Same thing with the companies that make weapons, ammo, military vehicles, etc. War is a BIG BUSINESS for them, and it's in their best interest to constantly be at war.
Definitely. We cheer about an "all volunteer" military without the mention that it is costing us vastly more than before and also end up paying 3X as much for "contractors" who do much of the work now.
The entire thing is a giant cash generating machine.
Back in NJ I lived in an area where Lockheed Martin was the biggest employer. Not only did they spend unlimited money (and free jobs) to influence politics (from the smallest town to the state)....but the ex-military who acted as "Lords of War" and worked as lobbyists, etc. would buy 100K cars, 600K Yachts and Beach Houses with just a single years bonus.
The big money isn't in the military itself (although vast sums of those "pallets" probably went in American pockets), but after the brass retire they get the real $$$.
If you enjoy your current Standard of Living and Life-Style, then it is incumbent on the US as an empire to continually expand into new Markets to gain control of resources. That generally requires the use of force to achieve such an expansion.
If, on the other hand, you don't mind being a 2nd World State with a lower Standard of Living and lesser Life-Style -- living like Russians or Romanians -- then by all means, beat your swords into plowshares.
Sounds like some sabre-rattling, war-mongering nonsense to me. We need to worry about our own territories and our own problems instead of trying to police the world and solve all of its problems while ignoring our own. We should be bringing our troops home and fortifying at home instead of planting military bases all across the world as part of the "US Empire".
You seem to think its the US's job to "take over the world", but how are we supposed to do that when we neglect the country WE ALREADY HAVE!!!
Power loves a vacuum.... and if we don't assume that role, then someone else surely will.
And frankly, I'd rather be the police than the policed
Trying to overthrow governments we don't like and put in place leaders we do inevitably creates more problems than it solves. I understand we'll never leave the middle east because we want control of the oil, but if it was up to me I'd bring all the troops home and basically tell the other countries "Figure it out for yourself, it's not our problem, and you're not going to MAKE it our problem".
No, but people who want to take away privacy rights and who agree with the government spying on US citizens and monitoring their phone calls, emails, etc in the name of "fighting terrorism" ARE THE REAL TERRORISTS! They're doing the terrorists job for them by allowing the government to get away with such blatant violations of the bill of rights, and they're too stupid to realize it. People live in fear of being attacked by terrorist when the likelihood of that happening are so small that it's not worth worrying about. But the fear-mongering media would have you think otherwise, and people are gullible enough to believe it.
That is an entirely different topic.
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But fighting them on their own turf still doesn't make sense because THEY HAVEN'T DIRECTLY HARMED US! Like I said, if ISIS is killing people in Pakistan, that's Pakistanis problem, not ours.
At their peak, some three years ago, they were quite influential and managed to recruit many people to do harm to Americans in US. Their influence has fallen significantly now that they have lost their 'caliphate' thanks to US influence and help, especially in Iraq. So, yes, it is paying off and US casualties have been very limited.
At their peak, some three years ago, they were quite influential and managed to recruit many people to do harm to Americans in US. Their influence has fallen significantly now that they have lost their 'caliphate' thanks to US influence and help, especially in Iraq. So, yes, it is paying off and US casualties have been very limited.
There will ALWAYS be people trying to overthrow/undermine the US government. Remember Timothy McVeigh? If we spent all our time fighting the people that don't like us, that's all we would ever get done. But that seems a-okay to you, for some reason.
There will ALWAYS be people trying to overthrow/undermine the US government. Remember Timothy McVeigh? If we spent all our time fighting the people that don't like us, that's all we would ever get done. But that seems a-okay to you, for some reason.
All our time? How about we dedicate some resources fighting terrorism, and other resources working on other things? Wouldn't that make sense? Accountants doing accounting, road workers fixing roads, and military carrying the rifle.
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