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Anyone else uncomfortable with the fact that America is conducting military ops in 120+ countries
- Thread starter dust1n
- Start date
Alceste
Vagabond
Do they ever! Not only did they get the lion's share of the no bid war contracts, they also got the post-Katrina clean-up contracts. Plus they're making money from practically every fracking operation in the US. OTOH, Dick Cheney was on a leave of absence from directly running Halliburton when he made all those decisions, so there's no conflict of interest or profit motive there. No sir. Just sensible gub'mint making thoughtful, intelligent geopolitical decisions, and anybody who thinks different is a tinfoil hat calibre conspiracy nut!
Alceste
Vagabond
When I went to Belgium and the Netherlands I was actually surprised to learn it was liberated by Canadians. They're still grateful to us for it. I didn't realize that even though my grandfather was there at the time. (He never talked about it). That's how much American "history" leaks across our border. They tend to just take credit for everything. (That rescue of Iranian hostages Ben Stiller made a movie about? Also us.)
Funnily enough, so do the British. Even Dr. Who waxes poetical from time to time about how good old fashioned English gumption defeated Hitler.
Personally, I think Russia was the deciding factor.
I'm not an American, but I find it disappointing and unfortunate that the U.S. spends so much money and energy on military operations in other countries that don't pose a threat to it. I frequently see the effect that has on people's opinions where I'm from, too, and it often leads to very negative opinions that sometimes extend to American people rather than just the U.S. government.
To be honest, I'm kind of ambivalent on the U.S. as a country. I respect a lot of things about it; I respect the United States that landed the first human on the Moon, the United States that has one of the largest numbers of immigrants in the world and many of the best universities in the world, and the United States that manages to contain all of these people from different backgrounds under one flag, even if it doesn't do that perfectly (and realistically, no country does). No matter how media outlets in different countries sometimes demonize Americans as warmongering, ignorant people, I believe a country that has taken in so many people from other countries for so many years and that has achieved such progress in only about 300 years must be doing something right.
On the other hand, however, I think there are many things that make negative feelings toward it understandable: unnecessary wars, meddling in other countries' affairs, empowering dictators, and invading countries for their resources, among other things. Such things only waste lives and money and result in hatred against the U.S., and they are also sometimes used to justify violence against American people like the 9/11 attacks, unfortunately.
As an example of said negativity, I often hear people wish for the fall of the U.S., but in all honesty, I wouldn't want that to happen because it would consequently harm many good, peaceful people whose only "fault" is that their government has done a disservice to them by abusing its powers. I can see how it would be relatively easy to abuse power in a country with a two-party system that basically places an invisible barrier between people and their ability to effect any real changes, so I hope that those who are pushing for change can manage to accomplish it and stop the needless military operations carried out in different parts of the world by the US Army.
So, yeah, I find the mentioned statistic alarming and disappointing despite not being an American myself, mainly because the effects of the United States' interventionist policies certainly extend far beyond its own land. One can only hope that changes happen and peaceful people can actually manage things instead of an elite of dishonest warmongers.
To be honest, I'm kind of ambivalent on the U.S. as a country. I respect a lot of things about it; I respect the United States that landed the first human on the Moon, the United States that has one of the largest numbers of immigrants in the world and many of the best universities in the world, and the United States that manages to contain all of these people from different backgrounds under one flag, even if it doesn't do that perfectly (and realistically, no country does). No matter how media outlets in different countries sometimes demonize Americans as warmongering, ignorant people, I believe a country that has taken in so many people from other countries for so many years and that has achieved such progress in only about 300 years must be doing something right.
On the other hand, however, I think there are many things that make negative feelings toward it understandable: unnecessary wars, meddling in other countries' affairs, empowering dictators, and invading countries for their resources, among other things. Such things only waste lives and money and result in hatred against the U.S., and they are also sometimes used to justify violence against American people like the 9/11 attacks, unfortunately.
As an example of said negativity, I often hear people wish for the fall of the U.S., but in all honesty, I wouldn't want that to happen because it would consequently harm many good, peaceful people whose only "fault" is that their government has done a disservice to them by abusing its powers. I can see how it would be relatively easy to abuse power in a country with a two-party system that basically places an invisible barrier between people and their ability to effect any real changes, so I hope that those who are pushing for change can manage to accomplish it and stop the needless military operations carried out in different parts of the world by the US Army.
So, yeah, I find the mentioned statistic alarming and disappointing despite not being an American myself, mainly because the effects of the United States' interventionist policies certainly extend far beyond its own land. One can only hope that changes happen and peaceful people can actually manage things instead of an elite of dishonest warmongers.
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