B0ycey wrote:Wooooaaaahhhhh there. International law does work like that and the only reason it doesn't is because powerful nations such as the US break international law.
Yes. And the US and other large powers enforce it on smaller countries. You get props for honesty and consistency there.
B0ycey wrote:The idea the West is in the ME to retain peace is frankly laughable. Perhaps they have a moral duty in Iraq now, but considering the Iraqi government voted to kick them out when Soleimani was killed means they may well outstay their welcome even there.
They also voted not to give the US a status of forces (sofa) agreement, precipitating Obama to pull troops out of Iraq, leading to the vacuum filled by ISIS.
late wrote:Foreign affairs are beyond the intellectual reach of most, and that includes presidents.
Ah... So you agree with me, but won't admit that the State Department endeavors to make policy without the direction of the president, because they think they are smarter than the president...
B0ycey wrote:Not only did the UN say Americas involvement was illegal, it wasn't even a conflict zone until the West sent weapons to the Kurds. America thought there was enough movement to topple Assad and once Russia backed him the opportunity was over.
Again, for you avid readers out there, "Zero Footprint" provides a bit of insight into the Obama administration's thinking. They thought not having a US weapons footprint would offer some kind of deniability as to the types of people they were backing. It not only led to the worst humanitarian crisis since WWII, it also led to Benghazi. Benghazi led to a number of things. First, it showed Putin that Obama was a paper tiger--and in Obama's second term, Putin seized Crimea without so much as firing a shot--strategically brilliant. Second, it led to Republicans inquiring about Hillary Clinton's security measures. In trying to gain access to her State Department emails, they discovered that she ran her own email server for the Secretary of State in her home in Chappaqua, NY--a pretty serious security violation by itself. When they requested her emails, she denied them access. Similarly, as a matter of law, she was required to turn over emails to the State Department. She ended up deleting about 30k emails, which she claimed were personal. She claimed that she hadn't sent classified information over that email system, when in fact she had. Then, the FBI itself helped her destroy her communications devices--an act that if done by anyone else would have been considered destruction of evidence and obstruction of justice. Arguably, in addition to her dislikability, this scandal led to the election of Donald Trump.
As Sir Walter Scott wrote in a very Shakespearian way:
Sir Walter Scott wrote:Oh what a tangled web we weave
When first we practice to deceive
jimjam wrote:Worship him, do a lot of screaming and flag waving and show up dressed like this at one of his peaceful free speech riots:
You are still misunderstanding it after all these years. They are doing what the left used to champion doing: questioning authority.
I'll give you a completely unrelated anecdotal example: in taking a short trip this weekend, I decided to drive to the airport because my flight was leaving at 7:00 a.m., BART is sometimes slow, and I'd be cutting it short. So I drove to SFO. I thought about paying the toll, because I only had $100 bills. Then, I thought, "They aren't taking the tolls now, because of Covid." Which got me thinking--like a systems engineer. If they can photograph my license plate, use OCR to get my license number, look up my address, and then send me the bill--not only do they not need toll takers generally, they don't even need the FastTrak transponder system either. That has been true for many years. Yet, rather than using that approach in the public interest, they hired toll takers at top dollar, and used criminal law to prosecute "toll evasion". Much of what passes for government these days is nothing more than a scam pulled on tax payers, and frankly they are tired of a professional class of politicians constantly lying to them. That's not just US presidents, that comes down to toll districts for bridges too.
Want to build something like open air, hop-on-hop-off cable cars in your city? Can't do it. Why? It's not safe. So why is it safe in San Francisco? Grandfather clauses. Preserving history, etc. It's all 100% bullshit. It's about constraining who can supply a service to the tax payers, and safety, longevity in the market place, capitalization, etc. are all created as barriers to entry to help big companies at the expense of smaller more efficient companies and at the expense of taxpayers. After awhile, after years and decades of life, you come to the conclusion that everything politicians say is a lie, the media is just amplifying the lies, and you have to figure out what's really going on yourself. Some people don't have the appetite for that either, and they pick up weapons. Right now, you can look at this as cosplay, but there is a deeper reason it is happening.
JohnRawls wrote:Trump has discredited himself enough.
That's an establishment phrase, and it means nothing to Trump supporters. It only works on people who get their information and views from the media--in a country where 75% think the media is political propaganda and mostly dishonest.
JohnRawls wrote:It would be great if he runs again against Biden which is almost 100% defeat for Trump
Do you really think Biden is going to finish out his term? The establishment has wanted a female president for a long time now. I don't think they can resist pushing Biden out in a year or two.
Rancid wrote:Old white people that want to play commando.
Cosplay for now. However, as larpers (and like a a lot of Antifa types who have their 'medic' at the ready), many of them have military training. So for this "armed insurrection", where few if any brought weapons to the Capitol, the FBI is paranoid about their QRFs and so forth. The reality is that the US government isn't popular anymore, because it rules against the interests of the people and without their consent. A veneer of democracy is not a democracy. Just listen to what late said about foreign policy being too intellectually demanding for mere elected presidents.
late wrote:Syria is a failed state.
There was a big struggle over a gas pipeline. We wanted one route, and the Russians and their pals wanted a different route. The tug of war wound up ripping the country apart.
It sounds like a self-serving description proffered by energy interests.
late wrote:So if I was running the show, I would build a huge refugee camp in Turkey.
Violating the boarders of yet another sovereign state, and a NATO ally no less. See how smart you are, and yet you don't understand why the US government is hated around the world and by its own citizens.
"We have put together the most extensive and inclusive voter fraud organization in the history of American politics."
-- Joe Biden