I get what you're saying, and, as usual, you raise....
by Marine Domer (2024-02-05 13:55:37)

In reply to: There, does everyone feel better?  posted by BeijingIrish

Cannot Reply Return to Political

a number of really important points. But someone killed some of our people. That should never, EVER, be acceptable. We should never, ever, walk away from that with our tail between our legs. A response was mandated. Frankly, I'd have hit Iran more directly.

So, we can and absolutely should have the discussions you raise. Geopolitics and "war is a racket" are difficult things. I reject any notion that we withdraw from the world and focus only on our own narrow interests. But yes, we absolutely can and should handle our moral mission better.

In 2000, the USS Cole was attacked in Aden,
by BeijingIrish  (2024-02-05 15:51:20)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Cannot reply

just around the corner from the Bab-el-Mandeb where, 24 years later, Houthi rebels launch rockets and drones at our ships. Over two decades, and nothing has changed, certainly not the behavior of people committed to do us harm. We have bombed them, we have captured them and put them in Guantanamo, we have issued stern warnings. I guess one of my first questions is, what can we do to modify behavior we don’t like? At the same time, what requires that we continue to put our people at risk? In Yemen of all places, a treeless desert shithole. We know they want to kill us. We sure do give them easy shots.

Just for the record, I do not say in the post, nor have I ever said, that “we [should] withdraw from the world and focus only on our own narrow interests.”

All true, and good, but vague, questions.....
by Marine Domer  (2024-02-05 16:09:03)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Cannot reply

I agree with the premise that safety of our forces should be a very high priority. I cannot say it is the only priority, because that is not the nature of service or warfare. There will always be risks. So I don't know what you mean by "what requires that we continue to put our people at risk?" I would assume you'd add the modifier "unnecessary" in there somewhere. Otherwise, why have a military.

There are economic measures that can be taken, or at least tried, to keep people from hating us. They are not always successful. But that doesn't mean we are then required to stay away from the area. Sometimes force, or at least a show of force, is required to modify behavior.

Yemen may be a treeless shithole, but it sits in a rather important neighborhood.

I still don’t know what to think
by airborneirish  (2024-02-05 18:02:34)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Cannot reply

But my wife sent me this link a couple of weeks ago and I sobbed after watching it. Even 3 years ago I thought there was no way I would go back there. But this instagram reel gave me hope and made me consider that perhaps something good may come from our time there yet.

I am glad we continue to have a presence in Iraq. I would seethe with anger if we had another Afghanistan in Iraq. But these are the feelings I try to tamp down and bubble up at times… and others get caught in the crossfire of that misplaced anger.