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Ask HN: Is USA at war with the rest of the world now?
- l8283 6mo agoI think Trump is a madman
- nephihaha 6mo agoI think Trump like most politicians is the shiny object to distract us, while most decisions are made in boardrooms and conferences. Most of the US presidents this century have been clown figures apart from Obama and he was a war monger, so did what the military industrial complex wanted.
- cosmicgadget 6mo agoObama inherited a couple of wars and was famously dovish on Russia. He made a deal with Iran. His rhetoric was always diplomatic. In the context of American presidents or historical empires he was absolutely no war monger.
- nephihaha 6mo agoObama's government dropped at least 20,000 bombs on other countries, and mounted several special operations in Africa that were not wisely publicised. His government killed many people, but because they were foreigners, they don't count in the US press. That is war mongering. Domestically, his handling of the Standing Rock Native American protests was also questionable, and he allowed the police and military to harass them. He put a pause on it just before the election, and naturally it renewed after the election when a new president came in. He isn't the saint some people think he is.
- cosmicgadget 6mo agoDidn't say he was a saint but limited operations, continuing occupations he did not initiate, and domestic protest responses aren't war mongering - both by an ordinary read of the term and considered against his peers.
- nephihaha 6mo agoThe record says otherwise. People like to give Obama a free pass. He is probably the best public speaker of all 21st century POTUSes, but he too was a war monger. Trump is an odd one. In his first term, he was pretty good in terms of his war record. In recent times he has completely undone that.
- cosmicgadget 6mo agoWhich wars did Obama start? I am not asking for drone strikes, I am asking for wars. How many ground troops? How long?
- nephihaha 6mo agoObama bankrolled wars in much of the Middle East including Syria and Libya. Europe had to deal with the consequences such as large waves of refugees and the growth of Islamic extremism in the region. He was the first president to order a drone strike against US citizens (albeit outside the USA).
- cosmicgadget 6mo agoYou seem to be explaining why you are mad at Obama rather than answering my questions. For example, drone striking a citizen of your own country is pretty much the opposite of warmongering.
- jjgreen 6mo agoSenile rather than mad.
- jfengel 6mo agoPossibly both, but the madness is more relevant than the senile. Senility would be purposeless, but the madness has a passionate and malignant intensity. Senility would be progressive. He has been acting the same way since coming into the public eye. We see it somewhat more now than in his first term, where he had to hire experienced hands to execute things, and they put a damper on some of his worst ideas. In his second term, he feels beholden to nobody, and his friends are happy to do exactly as he wants.
- whatthesmack 6mo agoWhat does he do that convinces you he is “a madman”? What would the ideal leader—from your perspective—be doing instead?
- cosmicgadget 6mo agoNot threatening the extinction of a civilization?
- bigyabai 6mo agoHere's a few of the low-hanging fruit: - Avoid blatant idolatry and make peace with the Pope - Stop threatening civilization-scale collapse and assent to ICJ investigations - Prosecute Ghislaine Maxwell and end the DOJ's shell game with the Epstein files
- bigyabai 6mo agoHow complex of an answer do you want? I typically flag posts like this for lacking curiosity and substance, as much as I abhor war. In a broader context, the Cold War was already America's Mexican standoff with "the world" and they won by default. You live in a hegemony where America gets the first and final say in trade, warfare, nuclear deterrence, missile defense and surveillance. You don't have to get jingoist about it, but maintaining that hegemony is the goal and it will eventually end with a standoff against China, probably focused on the First island chain. With that info, you should be able to generally extrapolate from [YOU ARE HERE] and "Invasion of Taipei" if you've got a loose understanding of geopolitics. If not, start here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monroe_Doctrine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monroe_Doctrine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphere_of_influence https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphere_of_influence
- nephihaha 6mo agoNo. Most countries are not. However, they have managed to get into tense situations with Russia, China, most of the Middle East, parts of Africa and Latin America. Most of Europe and Canada are in a difficult situation with the USA right now.
- timonoko 6mo agowhen Ronald Reagan was president, 87% of Swedes said that USA is greatest threat to world peace.
- whatthesmack 6mo ago[flagged]
- bigyabai 6mo ago> When the status quo has been the US being taken advantage of by the whole world The US chose this status quo. America can forfeit it at any time, and give up the reigns to a country like China if they want. Nobody is forcing them to be the guarantor of global security. Looking at a brushfire conflict like Iran, it's plainly obvious that America was wrong to instigate violence. The Strait closed, America's Navy is not getting support from bluewater vessels that actually matter, billions of dollars worth of US-owned munitions were expended, no Article 4 was ever declared, and the rest of NATO isn't chasing around blockaded tankers like Trump wanted. Until something changes, this is a net-negative conflict being gussied up in "well if we fight long enough then the debt goes down" platitude. In truth, if we keep this war up for long enough then Americans will come home by the score in bodybags. And people like you will moan about how "America was taken advantage of" by all the countries that didn't want to kill their citizens for a Likud political objective.
- mostlysimilar 6mo ago> The American people (myself included) are done working half the year to earn money to pay taxes to make the world function and get none of the benefits, while the rest of the world puts their taxes towards benefits for their own society (social safety nets, paying for unlimited migration, etc). You are utterly delusional if you think Trump and the Republicans are interested in scaling down military spending in favor of social safety nets.
- fragmede 6mo agoWhich President added $10 billion to the budget for an internal police force that didn't previously exist? Could that money have gone to healthcare or schools? Hmm...
- rstuart4133 6mo agoThe rest of the world is well and truly over being bullied and screwed over by Trump. Notably while they went along with the previous wars the USA fought (even when they thought they were dubious) they refuse to help Trump is his wars. If Trump made the mistake of actually attacking Greenland of Canada, they would probably go to war with him. Fortunately, that doesn't seem like something TACO would do. He is currently getting his nose bloodied by Iran, and he doesn't any appetite for pain - even in the very short term. From the rest of the world's perspective, it's apparent 60-70% of USA citizens share the same view. Unlike Trump, we are patient. We will wait it out, and then gladly re-unite with 60-70% of the USA who are our friends. This friendship has worked out very well for both sides for a long while, and after this blip passes will likely continue to work out.