This Thread Might Not Be Popular

[UglyGreed]

but I'm gonna post it anyway. I remember when the U.S.A. used to mock the Soviet Union about their praise of their military. Constant war is not good for the country nor it's people.

[cali]

1. why would you think this wouldn't be popular. This is a sentiment that virtually

everyone here agrees with. I've written much harsher critiques of military adulation and gotten 100+ recs.

[UglyGreed]

2. I just feel

these days one can not question the military with getting the stink eye. Glad to see you have had great results.

[cali]

5. have no fear about questioning the military on DU.

[UglyGreed]

9. Good to know

thanks cali!!!!

[Major Hogwash]

12. Most of the real veterans who post here would agree with you.

But, I just gave you the skunk eye anyway.

[UglyGreed]

27. Hey that's not

nice

[Major Hogwash]

30. Well, most of them would. But, probably not that one guy . . .

. . . named Analyst With A Pair of Dice.

(he sounds like a real killer, watch yourself around him)

[UglyGreed]

35. Thanks for the

warning Major, I will take it to heart.

[Brigid]

29. We need a smilie for that.

[Major Hogwash]

31. I know! Well, at least Skinner has one for the Democratic Party.

[BP2]

28. Well, it's the CIA that controls the Drones, and Obama controls the CIA. eom

[Art_from_Ark]

3. Well, we still don't parade tanks and rockets through the streets...

...yet

[UglyGreed]

4. Oh yes we

do. It happened in my town on Long Island. Right down main street in a parade.

[Art_from_Ark]

6. Holy crap

If that happened in my hometown, it would freak me out.

[UglyGreed]

8. It started a few years

back with two tanks. Of course it was not the type of display that the Soviet Union had but it was a real sight to see IMO. Besides we can always look to sporting events for the flyovers and such.

[nxylas]

17. Reminds me of an old Spitting Image sketch

Spitting image was a satirical puppet show that was popular on British TV in the '80s and '90s. One of their sketches featured two old Soviet leaders watching the annual May Day parade, going:

"I spy, with my little eye, something beginning with T."
"Tank."
"Correct. Your turn."
"I spy, with my little eye, something beginning with A."
"Another tank."

And so on....

[UglyGreed]

36. I loved Spitting Image

Here's a blast from the past...

[lob1]

7. It was close to that in Fergeson. Maybe it still is.

[UglyGreed]

10. Sad but true

The police put on "parades" all the time it seems.

[BlueMTexpat]

14. We do, however,

send armored vehicles and other military equipment to schools and communities. http://online.wsj.com/articles/federal-program-supplies-surplus-military-gear-to-schools-1410884584

Nothing like instilling a hawk mindset from the get-go.

Needless to say, I do support veterans' benefits and anything that benefits them and their families while and after they serve. IMO, nothing "disses" their service more than voting against these - as most GOPers do.

[Chemisse]

11. Tell it to McCain.

He's never seen a war opportunity that he didn't like. And now he will be in a more powerful position.

[Baclava]

13. "The Military" doesn't decide to go to war - It's Commander in Chief does

you think Obama is a warmonger?

[imthevicar]

15. Yes.

[saintsebastian]

16. Let's Unpack That Question

Maybe "warmonger" is strong. But then, would you have called George W. Bush a warmonger? Now consider that Obama has bombed nearly twice as many Muslim nations as Bush did. Consider too that Obama has vastly expanded upon Bush's drone program; then consider that these drones have killed scores of civilians including hundreds of children. Again, "warmonger" may be strong terminology to you, but several international human rights monitors have actually taken it a step further by implying that some of our president's policies may constitute actual war crimes.

[kelliekat44]

18. Yes, the US human rights monitors have labeled Obama's actions as war crimes, and so have some of us

They also have labeled Israeli actions against the Palestinians as war crimes and even went further to name Israeli officials as war criminals.

I don't think anyone here like the idea that this President has presided over drone killings but a warmonger he is not. I don't think this President lies awake at night trying figure out which new ME country he can destabilize and bomb to smithereens. He is not a member of the PNAC. Unfortunately he has to play the hand that has been dealt. He tried to re-deal the hand by pulling troops out of Iraq..a promise he kept..and for that he has been roundly criticized by the very people who illegally got us into the invasion of that country which has spawned a destabilized ME that will hardly recover. He is not a warmonger. He is and has done what he feels is in the best interest of protecting Americans and many here would be the first to criticize him if took no action against the powerful militants rising in the ME and Arab countries. No, no wait...we already criticized for that. Now we are criticizing him for taking action. Whatever action he takes, he will be criticized and unlike Republican Presidents he will not have the luxury of his own party standing together to support him. We will continue to push the self-fulfilling meme that he is all at once a "warmonger" "weak leader" "a dictator" "lazy" "ineffective" "guilty of inaction" "a failed President" "a divider" but "too compromising" "an appeaser" and on and on. We can thank ourselves for what the President has become in our own eyes.

[Bluenorthwest]

38. Wednesday you were blaming LGBT people for the election losses.

So your opinion is seen in that light.

[truedelphi]

25. I am seconding yr post. Along with a K & R. And also,

Welcome to DU.

[DeSwiss]

22. Without a doubt.

- It's kids and babies.



U.S. airstrike that killed American teen in Yemen raises legal, ethical questions

[Rex]

34. The point was lost after America went ho-hum over bombing wedding ceremonies imo.

Or just another day of dead children's body parts - but not in America (and not our children), somewhere else far away - where the mainstream media can control the message to the zombie hordes that sit back at home - in front of the TV waiting for their next orders.

[UglyGreed]

24. Well I believe Obama

has retained most of the military leaders as Bush....the beat goes on I imagine. Plus the drones are flying high.

[randome]

19. Things don't happen in a vacuum. Especially with the United States.

Technology and trade have resulted in the different hemispheres of the world coming closer together, resulting in a clash of cultures. This is the Information Age, and it's a rocky ride, to say the least.

If the United States is responsible for 'warmongering', then we must also be responsible for The Arab Spring, right?

All these things, the rise of ISIS, Arab Spring, 9/11, the invasion of Iraq, are part of a long arc of historical change. To put the sole blame on America is seeing things through a narrow filter, IMO.

I'm not saying we should sit back and let things happen -in fact, you could say that's why we're so involved in the Middle East in the first place, because we don't sit back and ignore it. I don't subscribe to the single theory that only a lust for oil is behind our engagement in the rest of the world.

But to say that only America is calling the shots is short-sighted, I think.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]You should never stop having childhood dreams.[/center][/font][hr]

[saintsebastian]

21. Totally Disagree

Last edited Fri Nov 7, 2014, 01:13 AM - Edit history (1)

Technology and trade have resulted in the different hemispheres of the world coming closer together, resulting in a clash of cultures. This is the Information Age, and it's a rocky ride, to say the least.

I actually don't buy into the clash of the cultures/they-hate-our-way-of-life narrative. I think the "rockiness" may stem instead from decades of violence, both economically and militarily, that Western imperialism has wrought upon the people of the Middle East.

I'm not saying we should sit back and let things happen -in fact, you could say that's why we're so involved in the Middle East in the first place, because we don't sit back and ignore it. I don't subscribe to the single theory that only a lust for oil is behind our engagement in the rest of the world.

Since when does peaceful diplomacy amount to sitting back and doing nothing? Peaceful, diplomatic measures, like sitting down with Iran to talk about ISIL, were off the table even for President Obama. We seem to reflexively gravitate towards bombing campaigns and sanctions which, aside from making life miserable for millions of innocent Muslims, have not seemed to stunt the growth and/or spread of terrorism.

And while America isn't calling all of the shots, as the world's only so-called superpower, we certainly call a lot of them.

[Rex]

32. It is funny hearing people beat their chest over the Middle East, yet not a peep about North Korea.

They just want you to forget this is all about profit over human lives. Their excuses are epic.

[randome]

39. I don't subscribe to 'they hate our way of life', either.

Most of the truly horrible things going on in the Middle East are what Middle Easterners are doing to themselves. Some groups search for a way to gain power by focusing the gullible on resenting someone else. For Hitler, it was Jews.

That doesn't mean they truly hate our way of life. They're impoverished and cruel and long term, that breeds all sorts of atrocities.

Who says Obama isn't talking to Iran about ISIL? Not sure what Iran has to do with that, anyways.

And sometimes bombing campaigns are the right thing to do. I don't know if sanctions are ever the right thing to do but I'm no expert on wielding influence in the world. I think if Obama could reach his goals some other way besides violence, he would -and probably is- trying to do so.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]I'm always right. When I'm wrong I admit it.
So then I'm right about being wrong.[/center][/font][hr]

[DeSwiss]

20. But we're so good at having them.....

- Not always winning them. But it's the ''having them'' that counts. Really count$.

List of wars involving the United States

We like War! - George Carlin

K&R

[UglyGreed]

26. Yup

I hear ya, we got to do something since we do not manufacture goods anymore.

[Doctor_J]

23. check out the eleven symptoms of fascism

Rec

[woo me with science]

33. I deem this

a very popular thread.

And an important one, too. Thank you.

K&R

[UglyGreed]

37. I'm glad I was

wrong