functor
6mo ago
The rest of the world is 75% of GDP and 85% of the global GDP ppp. If the US wants to become genocidal and increase its reputation as extremely aggressive it will accelerate the shift away from the US globally. Most middle eastern countries trade more with China as they haven't invaded middle eastern countries.
functor
6mo ago
Blockading food and water to civilians is a war crime. Also Israel's illegal blockade along with their recent attacks provide Hamas with more than enough justification for fighting back.
https://casebook.icrc.org/case-study/water-and-armed-conflicts
functor
6mo ago
Israel is a major proponent of chaos in the region and Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian migrants aren't that uncommon. The national rally in France isn't even pro Israel. The neocon love of war in the middle east and religious worship of jews isn't really a thing in Europe. Most of the right doesn't care about the conflict at all. The only groups that are really animated by it is a small group of leftists and the immigrant population.
functor
1yr ago
The Iran deal, the US expanding right into Eastern Europe after Russia pulled back and the long list of self proclaimed US exceptionalism gives the rest of the world strong reasons not to trust the US.
functor
2d ago
While consuming far more diesel than ever, far more artificial fertilizers, degrading soil faster than ever and using enormous amounts of antibiotics. Modern agriculture isn't sustainable, it is built on using slowly replinishing resources at a high rate.
functor
1mo ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union%E2%80%93Ukraine_Association_Agreement#Trade
This would have turned Russia's biggest trading partner and a deeply integrated part of the Russian economy into a state with the same rules for trade with Russia as EU countries. Effectively the idea was to bribe Ukraine into chosing the west by promising mountains of tax money from northern Europe in exchange for taking an anti Russian stance.
Several million Poles have moved west to work and western European companies are major employers in Europe. It is effectively a wage dumping operation.
functor
1mo ago
These guys missed that the Afghan military was 225 000 man smaller than they said when they had thousands of people on the ground.
As for Ukraine I think they massively misscalculated it. Their goal was to provoke Russia to invade and then turn Ukraine into Russia's Iraq war. The idea was sanctions against Russia while Russia is forced to integrate Ukraine's basket case pension system into the Russian system while they have to deal with riots, terrorism and stinger missiles shooting down choppers. Ukraine was supposed to be a repeat of the Soviet-Afghan war. Instead, they have to be the logistics and training for a Ukrainian force 4 times the size of the US Marine Corps including their reserves fighting a high intensity war. Russia didn't collapse and if anything their arms industry is producing at a record pace.
functor
1mo ago
Iran hates Iraq
Iran has good relations with Iraq's shia population and has offered Iraq both help with rebuilding and military aid. Iranians definitely don't get along with Baathist and the Sunnis, but there are strong ties to groups living near Iran. Parts of Iraq are ethnically similar to Iran and the current Iraqi government enjoys good relations with Iran. Regardless, when Iran's neighbour is attacked by an aggressive power that could very well invade Iran it makes sense for Iran to offer support.
there was a revolution. Which is where we are now, with an implacably hostile religious theocracy in charge as a result of our earlier "alliance" with them.
I wonder why the Iranians revolted against a corrupt foreign puppet who siphoned off natural resources to British petroleum. British petroleum was the most profitable British company in the beginning of the 1900s. Iran had been invaded in 1941 and then had a dictator installed in 1953. There was good reason for supporting revolution. Despite sanctions and despite living in a continuous state of semi war Iran has managed to create a stable state that produces few refugees.
You seem to have a thesis ("American imperialism is the root of all evil") to which you are attempting to fit every conflict in the world.
Americans have an exceptional ability to get involved in every corner of the planet. If there is a village in Afghanistan that isn't ruled by them, they will bomb it for 20+ years. The US is in a league of its own when it comes to starting wars and meddling in other countries. Not all problems are caused by the US but the US is a driving force behind instability.
functor
1mo ago
The China threat doesn't really make much sense. China hasn't had any real colonial amibitions throughout its history, and is on the other side of the pacific. China isn't really a threat. A growing China is a large market for American products and the elite don't want to lose that market.
The working class hates China because of wage dumping. The military industrial complex is using the China hate for a military build up that aims to protect the wage dumping that caused the recruits to hate China. Rust belters are joining the marines to take revenge on the Asians for dumping wages by defending a wage dumping chip factory on Taiwan.
A more nationalist policy of bringing industry home doesn't jive well with America as a financial empire. The US can't have real estate speculation as a cornerstone of its economy while being a manufacturing center. If rents for apartments are at extortion levels, there is no way fridges can be manufactured in a major American city. American workers cost a fortune as they require expensive housing, expensive medical care and a car for commuting. Manufacturing toasters is incompatible with an economy built on finance, real estate and insurance.
functor
2mo ago
It is nobility for the non nobles. Effectively, middle class people wanted to give themselves a noble title as elect without having the responsibilities of being a noble. They didn't actually want to fight in a war or take responsibility for society, they wanted to be special individuals with no real obligation to the people and rest of society. There isn't really chivalry, there is just being special by being born special.
functor
2mo ago
Navlny never seemed to have any ideology and seemed like a perfect example of a CIA stooge. Usually when there is an opposition, there is a much clearer agenda. The actual opposition groups have more policy that they want to implement. Navalny had no real ideology, he was just generally anti regime while being the darling of the western media. Color revolution leaders seldom seem to have an actual agenda before they take power. They will at best be "pro freedom" or some other empty epithet in order to get broad support.
functor
4mo ago
Pro-Israel lobby says 250 activists will meet with their senators and representatives in Washington in a bid to win support Congressional support for military action in Syria.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/israel-gives-secret-aid-to-syrian-rebels-1497813430
Not to mention regular bombing and missile campaigns against syria.
I do know that most Israelis would rather Europe not accept any Muslims, as it makes Europe less welcoming to Jews
Not the view of ADL, AIPAC, jewish internet defence league or any other mainstream jewish organisation.
functor
5mo ago
The reality is that Israel has created millions of refugees, is creating havoc in the region and waves of migrants toward Europe. They are expanding and clearly have ambitions to grow their country. The Palestinians are well within their rights to fight back. Israel is a permanent threat to its neighbours, who aren't going anywhere. There is no guarantee of peace for Israel's neighbors as long as Israel is a militarized and aggressive nation. As long as Israel is blocking Gaza, killing hundreds of civilians a year and conducting air strikes on Gaza they have every reason to continue fighting. For us in Europe it would be a major win to not have Israel stir up chaos on our border.
The Palestinian population is approaching the population of Algeria in 1960 with Israel having a population that has a large component of religious fanatics who can't fight and combined with one of the scrawniest populations around. There is absolutely strong reasons to believe an insurgency could win.
functor
6mo ago
I never said they were soley responsible. I said they have been a main factor. WIth that said israaid is helping them accross the Mediterranean while Israel NGOs are actively pushing for diversity in Europe. Also most of the refugees have come from wars in the middle east pushed by pro zionist neocons. Israel is actively destabalizing Palestine, Lebanon, Iran and Syria which is an absolute disaster for Europe.
functor
6mo ago
Funny how most of the migrants have come from wars against Israels enemies brought about by radical Israel firsters. Israel has promoted massimmigration extensively through NGOs such the jewish internet defence force and israaid while actively working to destabilize countries in the middle east.
functor
7mo ago
It is about ensuring global liberal hegemony. A hegemony that comes with a globalized labour market, global homogeniety and Americanized values.
Russia's nukes are fine, their submarines are fine and their airforce is lightly attrited. Their army is still mostly intact, even if it has been greatly weakened.
The US military is the smallest, oldest and least trained it has been since before WWII. The US nuclear triad is absolutely ancient, submarines are old, the US doesn't even make cruisers any more, B52s are going through another upgrade cycle. The US military manufacturing sector was hit bad by the wars in the Middle East. The US has largely kept Reagan's military in order while fighting peasants in the middle east for the past 20 years. Apache and black hawk helicopters are old.
The US has now become the patron for the Ukrainian military, which is about the size of the US Army. The Ukrainians are rapidly expending the mountain of equipment left behind from the Soviet era and will need to be supplied with western gear. The Ukrainians barely have any bases left, minimal military infrastructure is left, they have an extreme shortage of officers. Training and equipping Ukraine is going to be massive black hole for decades to come. Ukraine has already drained vast quantities of ammunition, spare parts, training capacity and basic military equipment.
The US isn't competing with Russia, the US is trying to establish global hegemony. Borrowing money at 5% interest to try to keep the largest military in Europe outside of Russia in a high state of readiness is going to swallow tonnes of resources.
While the US is expending more ATGMs, artillery shells, short range air defences in a week than they manufacture in a month, China is producing at a level comparable to all of NATO. In the 50s the US had fighter jets while much of the world was in the 1800s. Today the world is catching up, and US exceptionalism is harder to defend. France outclassed Vietnam and Algeria, yet they defeated the French empire.
The US made a big mistake of not establishing Limes. The US hasn't gone for natural and easily defensible borders, instead it pushes to the end of the Earth. The US therefore gets stuck wasting trillions defending villages in Afghanistan, will soon be spending a hundred billion a year defending Taiwan and will have to finance 1.5 times the French military to defend Europe's worst backwater.
functor
18d ago
The Russian steel industry is more or less at American levels. Meanwhile the US has to fight a bunch of wars in the middle east and compete with China. It isn't that Russia is an insurmountable problem, it is that the combined weight of all problems is greater than the capacity to deal with them.
functor
1mo ago
It doesn't make sense to spend hundreds of billions a year to defend a 30 billion dollar factory. While building a fab is exorbitantly expensive, building a navy to defend it is slower and more expensive.
functor
3mo ago
Sanctions, Israeli bombing of Libya and Israeli support for jihadist groups did not help at all. Israel has clearly seen Syria as an enemy and has done its best for decades to undermine and destroy Syria.
Why do these rebels end up with air support and expensive weapons? Who trains these militias? How did thousands of mercenaries show up in Libya and why was Libya bombed to pieces from the sky? The countries in the middle east that haven't been bombed are more stable, more peaceful, don't have massive outflows of refugees and are far better to live in than the ones destroyed by interventionists who attend AIPAC conferences.
Jordan, Egypt, the UAE and Saudi is stable. Iran is unusually stable for a country that has fought a major war and has had a neighboring country invaded three times in the past decades.
functor
5mo ago
Not if the population of Israel largely consists of people who migrated from Eastern Europe.
Why would it be practical to genocide millions of people and piss off the entire middle east? Israel provides little benefit at an enormous cost. The sensible solution is to dump Israel and befriend the arab states.
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