Kbg wrote: ↑Mon Aug 22, 2022 10:34 pm
Mark Leavy wrote: ↑Mon Aug 22, 2022 9:46 pm
Kbg wrote: ↑Mon Aug 22, 2022 6:39 pm
We are waiting I Shrugged...being against something without something you are for is generally not all that helpful in life.
At least in my life time I think, with the exception of the 2nd Gulf War and staying in Afghanistan WAY too long, US politicians of both parties have made good calls on the use of force.
So, you are younger than Vietnam? Interesting.
Nope, as a little kid I remember Vietnam and astronauts on TV constantly.
The two are nothing alike, but in one way I think Vietnam and Afghanistan are similar. Good idea initially, and stayed there way too long.
My basic take on Vietnam is that it was a product of the times and those times were the Cold War which was the context (right or wrong) for literally everything when it came to international relations.
I'll admit to two deep biases relevant to this stuff...I am rabidly anti-communist/Russian leftovers and Islamic extremist. Evil does exist and to turn a phrase of Lenin's there were (and are) a lot of useful idiots.
I also think there is quite a bit of hubris that has gathered over the years we've been a super power. I completely agree with the anti-neocons that there should be a cold hard appraisal of American interests in whatever we are contemplating getting ourselves into and where it isn't there we shouldn't get involved.
Where I disagree is they seem to have a presumption that engaging in "moral based" foreign policy/conflicts is bad or wrong. This would be a far more jacked up world if that was how the US behaved.
The Civil War, WW 2 and the Cold War I think are pretty tough to argue against as not having been worth it...and they all had a high degree of morality as a reason for getting engaged. Of course those are the poster children for "the good war" and we all know we've gotten into wars that didn't have much of that going for them. Mexican, Indian, most of the imperialist wars of the early 1900s, Gulf War 2.
Still waiting for an answer to my question, anybody?
Korean War (Conflict?) not on either of your lists?