> Cry no tears for the slaughter of imperial troops
This comment from the same account above is dead so can't reply to it, but you must understand that the troops themselves do NOT want this. They are not clones genetically engineered for war. A very large fraction of them have been effectively conscripted due to economic pressures and lack of other opportunities.
As a data point, I happened to have a couple of brief but very candid conversations with students in the ROTC program just as the Afghanistan war had broken out. Their chances of getting deployed to the frontlines after graduation were suddenly spiking. Despite each conversation being very fleeting, each of them expressed consternation of their prospects and some regret at signing up just for the chance to get a free college education. They all acknowleged that they knew the risks when signing up, of course, but they had taken the chance at a time when the country was not mobilizing for war.
The US is not a democracy. The majority did not want this war.
Though the majority will help bear the costs, and several family members will grieve dearly for the sacrifice of entertaining some brutal geopolitics that do not serve America first.
This war is completely on Trump since he didn't get Congress' approval or even justify it to the American public. I wonder if the "no new wars" voters will condemn him?
I can sort of see his position. When there were mass protests around Jan 2nd he said to the Iranian government don't kill them or else:
>US President Donald Trump has warned Iran's authorities against killing peaceful protesters, saying Washington "will come to their rescue". In a brief post on social media, he wrote: "We are locked and loaded and ready to go," but gave no further details. (bbc)
And the Iranian government are now in the find out stage.
Wow, browsing the comments with showdead=1 gives me the highest ratio of flagged vs normal comments ever. Surprised the whole thread is not flagged, yet. I mean, can we expect that more insights come out of this?
One massive risk that I don’t hear anyone in the West talking about is the risk of giving Sunni populist rage over Gaza the spark it needs to overthrow US-aligned partners all over the Middle East. This could backfire really badly for Israel and the US if they suddenly lose all of their friends in high places in these countries. 98% of the non-elite Sunnis all over the world are enraged at Israel over Gaza. All of the surrounding countries (Egypt, Jordan, or Saudi Arabia) currently employ brutal authoritarian methods to suppress any pro-Palestinian sentiment beyond thoughts and prayers. If the regimes fall, all hell will break loose, and all of the hate will be directed towards Israel.
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[ 3.5 ms ] story [ 37.6 ms ] threadThis comment from the same account above is dead so can't reply to it, but you must understand that the troops themselves do NOT want this. They are not clones genetically engineered for war. A very large fraction of them have been effectively conscripted due to economic pressures and lack of other opportunities.
As a data point, I happened to have a couple of brief but very candid conversations with students in the ROTC program just as the Afghanistan war had broken out. Their chances of getting deployed to the frontlines after graduation were suddenly spiking. Despite each conversation being very fleeting, each of them expressed consternation of their prospects and some regret at signing up just for the chance to get a free college education. They all acknowleged that they knew the risks when signing up, of course, but they had taken the chance at a time when the country was not mobilizing for war.
Though the majority will help bear the costs, and several family members will grieve dearly for the sacrifice of entertaining some brutal geopolitics that do not serve America first.
I can sort of see his position. When there were mass protests around Jan 2nd he said to the Iranian government don't kill them or else:
>US President Donald Trump has warned Iran's authorities against killing peaceful protesters, saying Washington "will come to their rescue". In a brief post on social media, he wrote: "We are locked and loaded and ready to go," but gave no further details. (bbc)
And the Iranian government are now in the find out stage.