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PaperclipPerfector  1yr ago (text post)   28734 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of August 28, 2023

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What conflicts since WWII would lead someone to believe that America is a reliable ally?

It’s almost conventional wisdom at this point that America will ride in with guns blazing, then fight a war of attrition until they don’t want to fight it anymore, and on top of that will forsake the indigenous that put their lives and families at risk to work with America.

I mean, they spent 20 years in Afghanistan for no reason. I reckon Ukraine can get at least 30 years of US support, and if the war can't be won in that time, it can't be won at all.

I want to say the Balkans are better off now than they would have been without NATO intervention. Don’t get me wrong, Kosovo is still a shitshow, but we headed off some ethnic cleansing.

Ask South Korea and Kuwait.

Korea? South Koreans seem to be doing pretty decently. Also, Japan. Also, to some measure, all of Western Europe, which has been relying on US military coverage for decades. Also, Israel (not without caveats, but there has been sustained support).

I'd love if we could get their health coverage in exchange for our military coverage.

What conflicts since WWII would lead someone to believe that America is a reliable ally?

The first Gulf War was pretty cool.

But, arguably, this is the wrong question: what conflicts haven't happened because the US is a reliable ally? Territorial conflicts in East Asia, for example, have probably been suppressed by the US. Would people like Mao take such a genteel approach to Taiwan without needing to come to terms with America?

And I'm sure people took a lesson from Saddam's first spanking.

What conflicts since WWII would lead someone to believe that America is a reliable ally?

The Korean War would qualify, I’d argue. South Korea is likely our most significant and closest partner in the region after Japan, and we absolutely still have major, ongoing security commitments there that we’ve held to for the better part of a century now.

Good point, we haven't abandoned the South Koreans.

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