The UN is at war with North Korea? That's strange considering NK is actually part of the UN.Just as a point of clarification, the United States is not at war with North Korea, the United Nations is. The US is involved in the war as a part of the UN, along with most other UN nations. Not sure why the Korean War is being painted as an "American war".
Well, he does have some good points. On a death for death ratio, the Japanese got off a lot easier than they should have. They deliberately killed millions of civilians in China, Manchuria, the Philippines, Korea, and Indochina. The US fought a total war against them until they were defeated. Then we stopped killing them and helped them rebuild their country while leaving their government more or less intact. It's been a while since I checked the numbers, but we could have killed something like a million more of them before their deaths were equal to the deaths they caused. But because we are not bloodthirty killers, we only fought until they gave up, rather than trying to pay them back in an eye-for-an-eye fashion. Add to that the fact that the Japanese started the war, both in China and against America, and it was a pretty clear case of what the Catholic Church classifies as a Just War.My sentiments exactly. I was taken aback how he spoke of both horrific atrocities the United States committed so nonchalantly and then shamelessly resorted to the lame excuse of "Other countries have done worse," as if that even remotely dismisses or justifies any of the atrocities this country has committed during its jingoistic and tyrannical history. I think what was said in that post is an ideal example of how American patriotism, nationalism, and exceptionalism is way out of hand.
That doesn't seem to get us off the hook for the Indian wars, slavery, the A-bombs, etc.Well, it has been over 70 years...
Insofar as the Korean War was never concluded. Only an Armistice was enacted. I have no doubt that the UN would do nothing if NK resumed the war against the South. Russia and the PRoChina would keep the UN out. But during the War, it was a UN alliance that fought for the South against the North. I still have my grandpa's UN Service Medal he got for fighting in Korea.The UN is at war with North Korea? That's strange considering NK is actually part of the UN.
The point is that the USA is still involved in wars and has been for over 90% of it's history.That doesn't seem to get us off the hook for the Indian wars, slavery, the A-bombs, etc.
It's the double standard that gets under my skin more than anything. America is not immaculate by any means. But Europeans pointing fingers about us being war-mongering is pretty Ironic.
Thanks to the PRC who bullied it through. But they also bullied through the resolution that the ROC/Taiwan cannot be admitted to the UN in anyway that is separate from the PRC. The UN shows it's flaws in these sorts of cases.NK is actually part of the UN.
I starts this thread on the basis that I saw a headline about the USA "anhilalating" North Korea, and I pointed out that the US, a country I love, has been responsible for too many conflicts.
This thread was nothing about Islam, I've visited several Muslim countries and encountered nothing but hospitality and friendship. I'm going to IRAN next year and I bet I encounter the same.
Demonising an entire faith group is just plain wrong.
Having a discussion about the US employing more restraint on its huge military, and using diplomacy more is fair enough.
Only using a very loosey-goosey definition of "war" that seems to be anytime a US bullet is shot in a country counts as a declaration of war. Using such a broad-brush lowest-common-demonimator definition, very few countries are going to have much better stats than the US in this regard. If for no other reason than we typically only get involved in foreign conflicts as part of an international coalition. So if Kosovo counts against us, it counts against all of NATO as well, which renders specific criticism of the US moot.The point is that the USA is still involved in wars and has been for over 90% of it's history.
The point is that the USA is still involved in wars and has been for over 90% of it's history.
I thought I would repost this article and information because you mentioned this again. As I said in my original post, this article lists every war America has ever been in since its inception and it is a long and very extensive list. This article is over two years old, so we will need to add those two years to the overall total.
America Has Been at War 93% of the Time – 222 out of 239 Years – Since 1776
"Polls show" is a pretty meaningless thing. Easy to manipulate polls. Hence the "lies, darn lies, and statistics" phrase.Here's a short excerpt from the article.
Indeed, most of the military operations launched since World War II have been launched by the U.S.
And American military spending dwarfs the rest of the world put together.
No wonder polls show that the world believes America is the number 1 threat to peace.
I'm glad we are spending money on defense to stay technologically and operationally ahead of other nations. I'm not sure how this is a bad thing? As a percentage of GDP, Russia runs neck and neck with us on military spending, is just a lower total number since their economy isn't as strong as ours.Reposting information on the United States military spending compared to other nations. The site is called Military Spending. There are a few charts available on this site. Here is one of the charts:
Reposting information on the United States military spending compared to other nations. The site is called Military Spending. There are a few charts available on this site. Here is one of the charts:
Or the F-22. Billions of dollars in research and development and Congress killed the program after only making about 120 of them.If you look at programs like the F-35 it isn't hard to see why the US spends so much on the military
Using the same sort of logic that "one soldier counts as a war/invasion", Britain isn't doing much better than the US:
British have invaded nine out of ten countries - so look out Luxembourg
Pink countries have been invaded by Britain.
Sounds to me like you're country is getting fleeced by congress and the military industrial complex.Or the F-22. Billions of dollars in research and development and Congress killed the program after only making about 120 of them.
Iran has not invaded another country, has not used its military to destroy the legal regime of another country. I'll judge Iran more after my visit.The title of this thread stating "America loves war.....", is hardly a rational title choice, bit strange to now act all indignant over it, claiming its just about debating Americas combat deployment.
Ah, Iran, the home of Shia hardliners who lock up apostates, do you complain much about what they're up to as much as you complain about the USA?
The revolution cannot be a war, by definition you weren't a country till you won that one, so that counts in your favour.Only using a very loosey-goosey definition of "war" that seems to be anytime a US bullet is shot in a country counts as a declaration of war. Using such a broad-brush lowest-common-demonimator definition, very few countries are going to have much better stats than the US in this regard. If for no other reason than we typically only get involved in foreign conflicts as part of an international coalition. So if Kosovo counts against us, it counts against all of NATO as well, which renders specific criticism of the US moot.
Under the US constitution, only Congress can declare war and that has only happened five times in history (1812, Mexican, Spanish, WW1, WW2). Using the more common "blood and treasure" standard that would make an unofficial action more apt to be called a "war", there's:
Revolutionary War (7 or 8 years depending on what is considered the starting point)
War of 1812 (3 years)
Mexican War (2 years)
Civil War (4 years)
Spanish War (3 months)
WW1 (1.5 years US involvement)
WW2 (3.5 years US involvement)
Korean War (3 years)
Vietnam War (depends how you count it. 19 years max)
Iraq 1 (7 months)
Afghanistan (ongoing, 15 years so far)
Iraq 2 (8 years)
So totalling that up gives 67 years roughly, but some of those were concurrent, so knock off Iraq 2 since all it's years happened during Afghanistan so that makes it 59 years at war if we give Vietnam a full 20 and start the Revolution based of the British counting of 8 years. So 59 years at war divided by 241 years since the Declaration of Independence gives us a percentage of 25% of our time being at war.
If we only count from the ratification of the Constitution in 1788, then we get just over 22% of our time spent at war (not counting the Revolution because it predated the Constitution).
I'm glad we are spending money on defense to stay technologically and operationally ahead of other nations. I'm not sure how this is a bad thing? As a percentage of GDP, Russia runs neck and neck with us on military spending, is just a lower total number since their economy isn't as strong as ours.
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