Results 1 to 7 of 7

Thread: 2020 Politics

  1. #1
    Administrator Ezee E's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Denver
    Posts
    30,597

    2020 Politics

    Iraqi Parliament votes to expel US Troop Presence

    Well, that'll be an exit strategy that I didn't predict, and seems quite scary really.

    Barbarian - ***
    Bones and All - ***
    Tar - **


    twitter

  2. #2
    Moderator TGM's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Posts
    3,819
    My immediate thought upon seeing this new thread pop up: do we have to? lol XP

  3. #3
    Quote Quoting Ezee E (view post)
    Iraqi Parliament votes to expel US Troop Presence

    Well, that'll be an exit strategy that I didn't predict, and seems quite scary really.
    Scary for whom precisely? After all, it's not legally binding, and it's unlikely the US would heed it even if it were. Moreover, the US withdrawal from Syria was bad for the Kurds (and good for Iran, Russia, and Turkey), but there seems to have been no significant cost to the US besides a small dent in its "credibility" on the world stage (as if the US didn't already have a long history of treating the Kurds as disposable allies).

    For me, the major takeaway of the last few days has been that US foreign policy toward Iraq has long ceased to be based on any rational cost-benefit analysis, if it ever was. There isn't enough oil on the planet to justify an unending military presence in the country, yet all these supposedly rational US senators from both major parties keep blathering about the "blood and treasure" the US has sunk into Iraq over the last seventeen years, as if the country were a tech startup that's always just about to start turning a profit. In other words, the US government's desire to prevent Iran from gaining access to Iraq's oil reserve seems to far outstrip any real benefit the US would derive from those same oil reserves if they were able to pacify the country.
    Just because...
    The Fabelmans (Steven Spielberg, 2022) mild
    Petite maman (Céline Sciamma, 2021) mild
    The Banshees of Inisherin (Martin McDonagh, 2022) mild

    The last book I read was...
    The Complete Short Stories by Mark Twain


    The (New) World

  4. #4
    Replacing Luck Since 1984 Dukefrukem's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Posts
    37,786
    Quote Quoting baby doll (view post)
    For me, the major takeaway of the last few days has been that US foreign policy toward Iraq has long ceased to be based on any rational cost-benefit analysis, if it ever was.
    Not shocking at all considering who's currently in office. Trump talks about foreign countries and leaders like he's talking about some rival college fraternity.
    Twitch / Youtube / Film Diary

    Quote Quoting D_Davis (view post)
    Uwe Boll movies > all Marvel U movies
    Quote Quoting TGM (view post)
    I work in grocery. I have not gotten sick. My fellow employees have not gotten sick. If the virus were even remotely as contagious as its being presented as, why haven’t entire store staffs who come into contact with hundreds of people per day, thousands per week, all falling ill in mass nationwide?

  5. #5
    Quote Quoting Dukefrukem (view post)
    Not shocking at all considering who's currently in office. Trump talks about foreign countries and leaders like he's talking about some rival college fraternity.
    It's not just Trump that's irrational. Contrary to what I keep hearing on cable news about this being the potential start of a "new war," it's actually a continuation of the old war against ISIS, which started under Obama. In that war, the US and Iran were unofficially on the same side since they both had, or believed they had, an interest in destroying the Islamic State, and now that they have, they've started fighting with each other over who gets to control Iraq's oil reserves. If Hillary Clinton had won the election, she probably wouldn't have assassinated Soleimani, but she would've found some other way of retaliating against Iran for the attack on the US embassy (which was a retaliation against an earlier airstrike on Iran's proxies which was a retaliation for their attack on US soldiers).
    Just because...
    The Fabelmans (Steven Spielberg, 2022) mild
    Petite maman (Céline Sciamma, 2021) mild
    The Banshees of Inisherin (Martin McDonagh, 2022) mild

    The last book I read was...
    The Complete Short Stories by Mark Twain


    The (New) World

  6. #6
    collecting tapes Skitch's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Neo-Ohio
    Posts
    16,583
    If Hillary had won, Soleimani would've committed suicide.

  7. #7
    Here till the end MadMan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    A land of corn and technology
    Posts
    20,076
    This whole mess started in 1953 when the US and UK overthrew Iran's elected government.
    BLOG

    And everybody wants to be special here
    They call your name out loud and clear
    Here comes a regular
    Call out your name
    Here comes a regular
    Am I the only one here today?



Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
An forum