Why can't America ever finish their dam wars?!!

originally posted by: Khenubal
a reply to: seasonal
To "protect" the worlds biggest opium agriculture ?

Let's not forget lithium and other natural resources

a reply to: makemap

I'm going out on a limb, here--you're conflating "ending wars" with destroying ideas.

It's not the same--you can never kill ideas.

At the same time, being allies is not tantamount to "British Imperialism;" black-market, illegal human trafficking is not the same as state-endorsed slavery; One country's choice of government is not (or, should not be) the decision of the victor of a war.

You really need to get a grip on what the difference between a war is and what ideals are--you will never kill racism by pointing a cannon at it, or destroy the black market (human trafficking, drug trade, etc.) by firing an M4 in its direction, and you will never destroy tyrannical governments by placing them in the crosshairs of a drone's camera. There will always be this type of behavior in humanity, and if you think that war--which is just another plague like the rest of them--will fix this, you're nuts.

War is about money and power, coupled with who has the biggest...pentagon, so to speak. It's not about making the world a better place. War very rarely fixes anything for the long-term, if ever.

a reply to: makemap

None of the wars the mentioned are any of the US wars I assumed you'd mention. Vietnam Iraq War Afghanistan korea were the ones I was thinking would be mentioned.

a reply to: SlapMonkey

War very rarely fixes anything for the long-term, if ever.

I'd take this sentence even further and say that war also creates grudges which ensure that long term fixes are out of the question. Eventually the "loser" will gain strength and attempt to "right" the "wrongs" of that previous war, be it a few years or a few centuries later. Even if the losing side is completely annihilated, its memory and/or ideals will stoke the flames in someone else.

a reply to: enlightenedservant

Yup...I just didn't want to get that deeply into the point

a reply to: SlapMonkey

It's one of the reasons I'm so anti-war. It provokes a cycle of pain & retribution that few people are willing to let go of.

a reply to: enlightenedservant

Yeah, it's one of those pesky human-nature things...it can't be eradicated from our nature, so all that we can do it try to minimize its frequency and effect on the innocent.

Historically, all war has ever effectively accomplished is laying a foundation for yet another war.... The answer lies in the answer given.