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As a non US person I don't see anything different between the current administration and the last. Just this one isn't polished behind good speaches and fooling

As a non US person I don't see anything different between the current administration and the last. Just this one isn't polished behind good speaches and fooling the world that their foreign policy is any different. No one was held accountable, secret prisons continue and drone usegae was normalized. The wars continue and new ones are started.

totalZero 6y ago
> The wars continue and new ones are started. What new wars have been started under the current administration?
- dbtc 6y ago
  I think maybe there aren't new or old wars anymore, just a single continuous amorphous conflict, against terrorism or whatever.
  - totalZero 6y ago
    To my knowledge Trump hasn't stepped outside the conflicts engaged by his predecessor. According to Bolton's book, Trump called off a strike on Iranian military facilities after a US drone was downed by Iran, because he didn't believe that the US should kill Iranians over the loss of a robot. Even the killing of Soleimani took place in Baghdad, where Soleimani (himself a commander of insurgent forces) was meeting with an Iraqi commander of insurgent forces. Hard to argue that this act fell outside the confines of the Congressionally authorized war in Iraq.
    - dbtc 6y ago
      Are Yemen and Somalia part of the congressionally authorized war in Iraq? It's not Trump's endless war, it's America's.
    - dragonwriter 6y ago
      > Hard to argue that this act fell outside the confines of the Congressionally authorized war in Iraq. Congress didn't authorize war “in Iraq”, but to protect against threats from Iraq (in context of the resolution, pretty clearly the State not the geographical area.)
- Zenst 6y ago
  > What new wars have been started under the current administration? Many an internet flame-war, that's for sure. But then - how do you define war. The stage of official declaration all to arms type wars seem to be less clear-cut. Economics has and always will be the biggest weapon of wars these days.
  - totalZero 6y ago
    I'd probably refer to Obama's actions in Syria as an engagement of war. (I'm not saying he was right or wrong to go there, because I don't know all the facts about the Syria conflict.) I probably wouldn't refer to Trump's twitter commentary as warfare, inflammatory and counterproductive though it may be.
boudin 6y ago
I'm not sure people in Iran will agree... The economical crisis caused by trump's government and the impossibility of any other country to invest in the country anymore is a big shift.
- minimuffins 6y ago
  That certainly did not start in the Trump administration.
  - boudin 6y ago
    Sanctions as they are now are quite different from what they were with the nuclear deal. That didn't start with trump yes, but saying there's no difference is insulting to all the people who are actually paying the price.
    - minimuffins 6y ago
      Good thing I'm not saying there's no difference then.
post_below 6y ago
As a US person I appreciate the clear view that US foreign policy has been evil even under popular administrations, and every one of them were complicit in that evil. But tread lightly when comparing this administration to any other in the history of western democracy. It's a horror show up close.

totalZero 6y ago

> The wars continue and new ones are started. What new wars have been started under the current administration?

dbtc 6y ago
I think maybe there aren't new or old wars anymore, just a single continuous amorphous conflict, against terrorism or whatever.
- totalZero 6y ago
  To my knowledge Trump hasn't stepped outside the conflicts engaged by his predecessor. According to Bolton's book, Trump called off a strike on Iranian military facilities after a US drone was downed by Iran, because he didn't believe that the US should kill Iranians over the loss of a robot. Even the killing of Soleimani took place in Baghdad, where Soleimani (himself a commander of insurgent forces) was meeting with an Iraqi commander of insurgent forces. Hard to argue that this act fell outside the confines of the Congressionally authorized war in Iraq.
  - dbtc 6y ago
    Are Yemen and Somalia part of the congressionally authorized war in Iraq? It's not Trump's endless war, it's America's.
  - dragonwriter 6y ago
    > Hard to argue that this act fell outside the confines of the Congressionally authorized war in Iraq. Congress didn't authorize war “in Iraq”, but to protect against threats from Iraq (in context of the resolution, pretty clearly the State not the geographical area.)
Zenst 6y ago
> What new wars have been started under the current administration? Many an internet flame-war, that's for sure. But then - how do you define war. The stage of official declaration all to arms type wars seem to be less clear-cut. Economics has and always will be the biggest weapon of wars these days.
- totalZero 6y ago
  I'd probably refer to Obama's actions in Syria as an engagement of war. (I'm not saying he was right or wrong to go there, because I don't know all the facts about the Syria conflict.) I probably wouldn't refer to Trump's twitter commentary as warfare, inflammatory and counterproductive though it may be.

boudin 6y ago

I'm not sure people in Iran will agree... The economical crisis caused by trump's government and the impossibility of any other country to invest in the country anymore is a big shift.

minimuffins 6y ago
That certainly did not start in the Trump administration.
- boudin 6y ago
  Sanctions as they are now are quite different from what they were with the nuclear deal. That didn't start with trump yes, but saying there's no difference is insulting to all the people who are actually paying the price.
  - minimuffins 6y ago
    Good thing I'm not saying there's no difference then.

post_below 6y ago

As a US person I appreciate the clear view that US foreign policy has been evil even under popular administrations, and every one of them were complicit in that evil. But tread lightly when comparing this administration to any other in the history of western democracy. It's a horror show up close.