Quote (thesnipa @ 4 Sep 2019 21:06)

pro military? meh. pro jobs numbers from massive spending on MIC projects domestically, 100%.

its a fine line, perhaps even semantic, but i think important.

Quote (Black XistenZ @ Sep 4 2019 02:12pm)

eh, Trump really leans heavily into a muscular foreign policy, at least verbally.
yes, he's all bark no bite, but he still needs a well-funded military for the 'bark' to be credible.
and a strong military is also an important ingredient for the idea of a "strong america" that his presidency is built on.

Quote (thesnipa @ 4 Sep 2019 15:23)

disagree. he's barked at North Koreans, whom we could beat with 20 year old tech without trying. the tech with NK has never been the issue, innocent loss of life in SK/Japan is and always will be the issue until we can credibly stop a few thousand soviet era conventional artillery missiles all fired simultaneously. which i think will be some time.

his bark at China (an actual military rival) has been economic, not militaristic.

in reality there's maybe 1 nation on earth that can even hang with year 1995 USA, China. all other nations we could take out with Top Gun era shit, even being outmatched we have 10x more and could Zerg any Protoss down.

i'm a firm believer that "we need to be cutting edge" is mostly a lie used to sell the public on insanely expensive projects. maybe some day the Chinese will attack or aliens will invade, but most of it is just an expensive dick measuring contest imo. its used to pump up job numbers.

Quote

U.S. to withdraw 5,000 troops from Afghanistan, close bases: U.S. negotiator

KABUL (Reuters) - The United States would withdraw almost 5,000 troops from Afghanistan and close five bases within 135 days under a draft peace accord agreed with the Taliban, the chief U.S. negotiator, Zalmay Khalilzad, said on Monday.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani meets with U.S. special representative for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad in Kabul, Afghanistan September 2, 2019. Afghan Presidential Palace/Handout via REUTERS
The deal, reached after months of negotiations with representatives from the insurgent movement, must still be approved by U.S. President Donald Trump before it can be signed, Khalilzad said in an interview with Tolo News television.

“In principle, we have got there,” he said. “The document is closed.”

In exchange for the phased withdrawal, the Taliban would commit not to allow Afghanistan to be used by militant groups such as al Qaeda or Islamic State as a base for attacks on the United States and its allies.

Quote (thesnipa @ 4 Sep 2019 21:23)

disagree. he's barked at North Koreans, whom we could beat with 20 year old tech without trying. the tech with NK has never been the issue, innocent loss of life in SK/Japan is and always will be the issue until we can credibly stop a few thousand soviet era conventional artillery missiles all fired simultaneously. which i think will be some time.

his bark at China (an actual military rival) has been economic, not militaristic.

in reality there's maybe 1 nation on earth that can even hang with year 1995 USA, China. all other nations we could take out with Top Gun era shit, even being outmatched we have 10x more and could Zerg any Protoss down.

i'm a firm believer that "we need to be cutting edge" is mostly a lie used to sell the public on insanely expensive projects. maybe some day the Chinese will attack or aliens will invade, but most of it is just an expensive dick measuring contest imo. its used to pump up job numbers.

Quote (ofthevoid @ Sep 4 2019 07:23pm)

To add to the above theme.



#winning

Quote (Skinned @ Sep 5 2019 04:14pm)

Sounds like the Taliban are still in charge there after we invaded with the goal of removing them from power.

Am I reading this wrong? Sounds like this terrorist group has a seat at the table.

Quote (CarsV @ Sep 5 2019 04:19pm)

No, you're reading it right. Turns out ~20 years of chasing goat herders in the hills with modern technology solves absolutely nothing. Thanks Bush. But at least he's cool with Michelle Obama now.