The draw of arguing with somebody so obviously a thick-as-pigshit bigot is slight, so I thought we’d have some fun instead.
“Don’t let’s be beastly to the Muslims
Now the war on terror looks like being won
Let us remember it’s very few of them
that want to blow us up
We might say the same of certain christians
who drink whiskey from a cup…”
I’m sure therajraj sees himself as Will Smith in the Muslims-take-over-the-world sequel to “I, Robot”
Close. It’s actually the sequel to “I am Legend”.
I am sure they do, but I am still talking in terms of using it as cyber warfare, i.e. not giving them the choice of when or how it shows up or where. It doesn’t have to be just porn, it could be anti-islamic propaganda, anything to rattle their cages and make them mad. People do stupid things when they are mad.
Outside U.S. territory, the Constitution does not apply. And it’s war, do what it takes to win it. Cyber war is at least bloodless and extremely frustrating to the recipient.
I am not. Knowing the history and that raj used to be a card carrying liberal and changed his mind over time, gives me hope, not despair. You may dislike his opinions, but he has demonstrated the ability to change his mind in the face of evidence. That’s a good thing, not a bad thing. You don’t have to agree with him, but I give him props… He’s more open minded than most people.
The poster was talking about shutting off access to the internet for indoctrination and recruiting purposes. My question is how do you do that, within the United States, and not violate the 1st.
Outside the U.S. is another matter where sovereignty comes into play. I can’t remember if we are or aren’t the world’s police?
I’ve got no problem with using conventional or cyber warfare against enemy combatants.
We cannot and should not do that in the U.S.
We have been for a long time in some way or another. It’s the role you take on as a super power and it’s better we have it than most other nations. We’re not perfect but we are more than fair most of the time.
Agree on point one.
To your second point, it seems to me like the current administration doesn’t agree.
I figure we eat them… Dual purpose. Pet. Food.
I love Noel Coward. But you are somewhat changing the meaning of that tune to an opposite conclusion. 
I know, it’s kind of not the sense in which the song was intended, but I was bored.
I am willing to wait and see what actually shakes out. He’s made points I do agree with, we’ve been holding the torch for too many for too long for free. Allowing them to build their countries with virtually no military spending and no compensation for the protection the U.S. provides. That’s a point I have agreed with going back to when I was a kid during the Cold War, long before Trump said anything.
Each of our allies should have a military that can do more than hold off an enemy until the U.S. arrives. England and France are ok, but many nations are not. I am fine with providing a proxy defense for Germany given their fairly recent history, but they should pay their fair share. I don’t find it as much isolation as it is, contribution.
There are other countries doing a lot of good in the War, who have gotten little support from us and our allies.
Places like Ethiopia have kept Somalia from becoming a full blown terrorist nation. But to continue their efforts they need money, materials and intelligence. The U.S. of course has been their largest provider, if not sole provider. Somalia is a bigger threat to Europe than the U.S., Europe should be helping. Ethiopia is committed openly to fighting terrorism on their continent and doubled down on it. They have done a good job with what they have, but it’s still a poor nation and needs resources. Europe contributing to the effort is not to much to ask, it’s their ass Ethiopia is protecting after all. That’s just one example where Europe could be doing more…
This type of policy is over due in my opinion. I think asking our allies to provide a little more for their own investment is over due. After all when the shit hit’s the fan in Europe, it will be American planes, ships, land vehicles and personal doing the heavy lifting. Contributing to the prep is not a lot to ask…
I was speaking more to the fact that Trump has indicated he’d be more than happy to hand Russia the reins regarding oversight/command of the various wars in the Middle East.
I’m not sure where I stand on the NATO spending issue at the moment.
If you are making the claim that we have funded the countries these organisations hail from (Saudi Arabia, for instance) then we can cut this short, because I completely agree with you that that is despicable.
A direct funding of these organisations, however, will require a more serious evidentiary burden. Even the Taliban (who were never directly funded by even the US (that was the Mujahedeen)) have only been funded with at least one country’s degree of separation from the UK. More recent rebel funding may be the most obvious example of money falling into the wrong hands, but there is a large difference between incompetent side-picking and direct funding of hostile actors.
It was a passable effort.
First of all, what exactly should Germany pay? US bases and US troops on German soil are there because the US wanted them there, not the other way around. The same situation is in Italy. You do know Germany has its own army, the Bundeswehr and that German soldiers were deployed in Afghanistan?
Baltic states and Poland requested US troops but more as a token presence - we’re talking about a dozen APCs and several hundred troops, not much of a financial burden.
As far as US foreign military aid, you can pretty much guess where it goes - and its not NATO.
From 2003 to 2007 Iraq was the largest beneficiary of FMF, since then it is Afghanistan. Until 2003 it was Israel. Other countries in the Middle East and Greater Middle East (including Pakistan, Jordan, and especially Egypt) are among the other major recipients of FMF funds.
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United States Foreign Military Financing - Wikipedia
Also, when looking at NATO one mustn’t just look at conventional military power - small countries with puny conventional armies posses formidable intelligence agencies that punch well above their weight when it comes to counter terrorism. Estonian and Latvian intelligence agencies have been instrumental in discovering and tracking Russian-speaking jihadists from the Caucasus. The same situation is in the Balkans.
Thousands of US and European lives have been saved due to coordinated actions of NATO allies.
Uhuh, tell me again, which branch of the military did you serve in?
With your track record you’d roll the red carpet for invaders
