Well you certainly are not. That would be my relatives doing the fighting and dying. Your perspective would be different if you had skin in the game. Since nobody you love is being sent into harms way, you are perfectly fine sending other peoples children. There is nothing I loathe more than the cavalier attitude the chicken hawks have towards our troops. If you vote for a meaningless war, it should be your children on the front line. That was the way civilization worked throughout most of it's history.
We need to bring back the draft that way we can spread the population that had skin in the game. I also dislike chicken hawks. They come from both political parties.
That might help explain why you have chosen not to make common cause with someone who spends most of his time on this forum denying the holocaust & posting anti-semitic propaganda - you have actually had 'skin in the game' fighting tyranny. Fascinating how easily others fall into line with a holocaust denier who attacked Biden as a 'Zionist' in the OP. Might be time for a few folk to ask themselves if this is a thread where they really want to be agreeing with the OP.
I tend to concur with historians who think it was a proxy war for geopolitical dominance. I don't agree with the historians who claim that it was white supremacist. If you think the Vietnam War was about fighting tyranny, I can't help you.
Remember when I told you that you and I arguing about history was like you bringing a knife to a nuke fight? This response pretty much nails my point. I literally have a wall full of Vietnam history books sitting behind me. I'm not aware of one of them claiming it was 'white supremacist', let alone multiple 'historians' claiming that. Personally I'm betting you haven't actually read a book that claims that either. You probably saw someone on Fox or some similar outlet tell you that, and you just believed it because...well...reading actual books is very hard work. If you think that fighting a communist party that had already created a totalitarian state in the Democratic Republic of Vietnam would go on to extend that state to South Vietnam and would also support the creation of totalitarian states in Laos & Cambodia was not 'fighting tyranny' then you clearly don't understand what tyranny is. That might also explain why you find yourself supporting a holocaust denier.
I never served in combat, but I, too, technically, am a late Viet Nam era vet - Army, 74-77. More importantly to my perspective, however, is that my son was a Marine, 2005-2009, who was in combat in Anbar Province, Iraq, and Helmand Province, Afghanistan, in 2007 and 2008 respectively. We nearly lost him, but his life was saved by the battlefield wound care given by his fellow Marines and squad medic. While he was on his deployments, we attended multiple funerals of Marines from his unit. We experienced a gnawing, relentless worry every day, afraid to come home for fear of a vehicle with men in uniform waiting for us, afraid of a knock on our door. So these experiences color my perspective. And I have come around to judging a war by asking a question. If you lose a son in XYZ war, would it be worth it? The question isn't "would you grieve". Of course you would. But would you believe that the cause was worth it? We were told that the mission was to crush ISIS. I supported that mission. But I did not then, and I do not now, support the deepening of that mission - the mission creep. I want our troops out of Syria and Iraq. I think the Kurds should withdraw to their traditional areas. Furthermore, I think the U.S. should tell the Syrian government that we're leaving, but we will be watching, and that the Syrian government may not persecute the Kurds or make war upon them once they retreat to their traditional areas. I would warn the Syrians that that is a serious threat and not to test it. Privately, I might tell Assad that if he goes after the Kurds, we will go after him, personally. Remember Soleimani? And then I would pull our troops out. We don't owe those countries one more drop of blood shed by our troops. We did not raise our children to get killed in Syria, having taken a side in a thousands years old tribal war. I want them out. Seth
The real threat to the Kurds isn't Syria but our NATO allies the Turks. The stupidity of deepening our involvement in a conflict that pits us against a NATO ally is fairly mind blowing.
That's true, and there is responsibility and accountability for all. The Syrian Kurds need to drop all support for Kurdish terrorism in Turkey. All support, all sanctuary. If they want to be left alone, they need to make that commitment and hold to it. If they don't, that is not our problem.
this does not appear to be religiously motivated, America needs good paying jobs in the fossil fuel industry. Israel is a military ally of America.
From what I've read, Biden wants to draw down America's overall troop presence in the Mid-East but keep special forces in the region(1), (2). You're right in that the orange man wanted to do the same thing and it's easier to expand a war than to get out. One thing is for certain, Biden will continue to do whatever the Israeli lobbies tell him to do. One doesn't spend decades in political life without appeasing AIPAC and Biden has already declared: "I am a Zionist." as I noted in the OP. (1) "Biden endorses lower troop levels in Iraq, fight against IS in interview" https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/or...troops-middle-east-iraq-is.html#ixzz6kZLlhojD (2) "Biden Wants to Keep Special Ops in the Mideast. That Doesn’t Mean More ‘Forever Wars,’ His Adviser Says" https://time.com/5890577/biden-middle-east-special-operations-forces/
Only a cowardly little man would engage in lies and gossip in a cheap attempt to derail a thread with baseless off-topic slander. I dare you to show even one instance in which I denied that the holocaust happened or engaged in "anti Semitic propaganda". Meanwhile, if you really want to discuss the holocaust you are free to use any of the existing threads relating to that topic.
The issue is that Biden promised to draw down US Troops in the Mid-East not simply move them around or build them up. The Syrian government contacted Biden on 20 January 2021 asking him to withdraw all American troops on Syrian soil: “The American occupation forces continue to plunder Syria’s wealth of oil, gas, and agricultural crops, burning and destroying what it cannot steal,” he said." (1) (1) "U.S. forces choppered into Syria 24 hours after new commander-in-chief takes power" https://www.bizpacreview.com/2021/0...IL&utm_content=Newsletter&utm_campaign=bizpac
Oh eventually these special ops people will get taken out in an ambush or suicide attack and that will be justification for putting more troops down range. The only way to be out, is to be out. Otherwise it is just a prelude to a war on somebody or something for some reason.
How many have been refused communion because they were not practicing their fate? "On Inauguration Day, Archbishop Jose Gomez, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, issued a damning statement about the new president, which angered the more liberal factions of the U.S. church and reportedly ruffled feathers in Rome. “Our new president has pledged to pursue certain policies that would advance moral evils and threaten human life and dignity,” he wrote. “Most seriously in the areas of abortion, contraception, marriage, and gender. Of deep concern is the liberty of the church and the freedom of believers to live according to their consciences.” https://news.yahoo.com/bishops-war-over-biden-second-133119362.html
You would think Feinstein would he questioning whether his dogma would interfere with his ability to do the job. But then his practice and adherence to his faith, in spite of his photo ops, is questioned by many of his moral beliefs.
