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> I realize every country does this but it is as much or more about projecting power all across the globe as it is defense. I disagree that "every country" doe

by cyphar 9y ago

> I realize every country does this but it is as much or more about projecting power all across the globe as it is defense. I disagree that "every country" does this. Many countries in Europe and Asia do not use their defense forces as a tool for attacking other countries and getting involved in regional conflicts that were only affecting people in those countries. And countries that do it are usually just "helping" US-lead invasions of countries (an example would be Australia -- the single reason we were ever in the Vietnam War was because of the US). (While I may be a biased given that America bombed my home country and engaged in a "peacekeeping mission" when I was a child, for a civil war that had been going on for many years and had nothing at all to do with the US, I never understood how Americans can see invasion of other countries as being anything other than that.)

jacquesm 9y ago
> I disagree that "every country" does this. I meant that they call their armies/airforces/navies 'defense'. > Many countries in Europe and Asia do not use their defense forces as a tool for attacking other countries and getting involved in regional conflicts that were only affecting people in those countries. I wished that were true, but almost all deployments of EU troops over the last 4 decades fall into that category. And there have been a lot of those. > And countries that do it are usually just "helping" US-lead invasions of countries (an example would be Australia -- the single reason we were ever in the Vietnam War was because of the US). Ditto Iraq, Afghanistan. > While I may be a biased given that America bombed my home country and engaged in a "peacekeeping mission" when I was a child, for a civil war that had been going on for many years and had nothing at all to do with the US, I never understood how Americans can see invasion of other countries as being anything other than that. Agreed, they are invasions, and the worst ones are the ones under some kind of pretext. Where are you from originally?
walshemj 9y ago
There was a lot of EU and NATO forces involved in the Balkans not that long ago

by cyphar 9y ago

jacquesm 9y ago

> I disagree that "every country" does this. I meant that they call their armies/airforces/navies 'defense'. > Many countries in Europe and Asia do not use their defense forces as a tool for attacking other countries and getting involved in regional conflicts that were only affecting people in those countries. I wished that were true, but almost all deployments of EU troops over the last 4 decades fall into that category. And there have been a lot of those. > And countries that do it are usually just "helping" US-lead invasions of countries (an example would be Australia -- the single reason we were ever in the Vietnam War was because of the US). Ditto Iraq, Afghanistan. > While I may be a biased given that America bombed my home country and engaged in a "peacekeeping mission" when I was a child, for a civil war that had been going on for many years and had nothing at all to do with the US, I never understood how Americans can see invasion of other countries as being anything other than that. Agreed, they are invasions, and the worst ones are the ones under some kind of pretext. Where are you from originally?

walshemj 9y ago

There was a lot of EU and NATO forces involved in the Balkans not that long ago