Feb 27, 2021 oh boy, then I am surprised of the mental gymnastics you are making to justify the bombing of the Middle East overall, Trump or not. The US needs to leave the Middle East alone, period, it is obvious they are in an endless cycle that has been causing countless deaths for decades. Very easy to say it is "complicated" when you are not the one who might die of a bomb on your roof.
Feb 27, 2021 What chance do they have when the majority of America cant even support the effort of treating their black citizens properly, or even simply wearing a mask during a pandemic whilst inside Walmart.
Feb 27, 2021 this is tough. I feel like after setting the red line & given Assad was already clearly committing human rights violations, it probably would have been best to send him that message early on & strike. However, politically, not taking action & pointing the finger at Congress for not giving him approval was probably best for him personally but not so much the Syrian people.
Feb 27, 2021 What's been forgot about Obama and the redline was that during the 8 years of Obama the Republicans only driving principle was "if Obama is fer it, were 'gainst it." when Assad crossed Obama's redline with human rights violations Speaker of the House John Boehner proposed retaliation... Obama agreed to those steps... then Boehner criticized his own legislation and voted against it to spite Obama. At the time it seemed really bizarre... but all the Foxnews and Talk Radio Zombies loved it because the Republicans were saying "no" to Obama again. It's a big reason why Republicans don't have an ideology anymore... during the Bush43 years the Administration would give Rush Limbaugh and Foxnews their talking points and marching orders... now the sociopathic audience is what is steering the dumb ship that is left of that Party.
Feb 27, 2021 Im saying it’s complicated because it is complicated lol. We can take out the morally charged arguments; war is always ugly. Period. I’m not arguing against that. I don’t “like” bombing or drone strikes. What I think a lot of you aren’t realizing is that the U.S. “leaving the Middle East alone” very well could lead to some of the bloody/gruesome consequences you want to avoid. The U.S. has been an actor in this region for decades, you can’t expect them to just leave & it be sunshine & rainbows. There would be a chaotic scramble to fill that power vacuum. Millions more would suffer & die in that fight. Look at what happened in Iraq when U.S. troops pulled out. ISIS filled the power vacuum & established a caliphate while terrorizing women, minorities, foreigners, journalists etc. I’m talking mass murders, rapes, beheadings etc. again, I don’t think there are any silver bullets to these issues but we have to acknowledge that no matter what, unfortunately, people will die & suffer. Like I said, it’s all pretty much damage control.
Feb 28, 2021 I get what you mean, I really do. But my point is when will this end? There will always be reasons to be there if you create them.
Feb 28, 2021 A lot of people aren’t even privy to the fact that Bin Laden was a previous CIA asset for the Afghanistan proxy war. NSA advisor to Jimmy Carter, Zbigniew Brzezinski, w/ the CIA, organised & funded Bin Laden’s (& other Mujahideen’s) attacks on the Soviet Union in Afghanistan w/ the Bear Trap, also known as Operation Cyclone. America have a rich history of funding & arming militias, sending economic hitmen to these countries & making unattainable demands, in turn forcing their hand. All the US cares about is upholding their Imperialist interests & making money at the same time, whether that’s through sanctioning countries or destabilising powers with alternative economic models or that are attempting expansion. Always has been. They have no right to act as the “world’s police” aka the world’s bullies. They have attempted over 80 coups in the last 100 years & is the only country with over 1000 foreign military bases (5000+ total.) Total psychopaths.
Feb 28, 2021 Just bomb both countries to the ground. No one cares about either. We could restart there and have America 2.0 in the Middle East. I would go visit.
Feb 28, 2021 i’m not just talking about the invasion: i’m talking the decades-long sanctions campaign that created what was generally considered a humanitarian crisis. look at the stats on malnutrition in iraq before and after. of course regions get destabilized when the most powerful empire in the world is committed to exacerbating existing tensions and creating new ones.
Feb 28, 2021 well, what’s your argument, then? what i see you saying is: these conflicts go back ages and are extremely complicated and messy; therefore complaining about specific u.s. actions or u.s. meddling generally is wrong or reductive or futile. the first part is obviously true. the second seems, frankly, absurd: it’s very very difficult to make an argument that america has not had a net negative impact on civilians in the middle east over the past 30 years. appealing to the “complexity” of the entanglements isn’t, to me, a persuasive way to insulate them from criticism.
Mar 1, 2021 No lol. Criticize U.S. interventionism all you want. That’s 100% warranted! I was addressing the point that the U.S. should take this isolationist approach to the Middle East (“leave the Middle East alone”) is a largely naive solution that would probably further destabilize the region more than it already is. You hear these huge oversimplifications, unfortunately mostly from the people on the left, that if the U.S. just stopped all military activities/aid in the Middle East, everything would be better off. I just don’t think “bombs are bad” is a solution to any of these problems.