Feb 26, 2021 I’m not saying oil isn’t a factor but again it’s more complicated than that. We have allies in the region who depend on U.S. military assistance. Our geopolitical influence in the Middle East is important to countries like Israel & India especially with China expanding in the South China Sea. The U.S. would be burning a lot of bridges if they just completely washed their hands of the region. Obviously I want the U.S. to take a lesser role in the Middle East but it has to be done the right way. I don’t want to further destabilize the region or hurt our allies by recklessly leaving.
Feb 26, 2021 our only key ally in the region is Israel, every other ally in the region is used to prop them up. India could obviously be a future ally but they are just playing us and China off each other in the meantime. And if we want power projection in the SCS, we should continue growing our ties with Vietnam who is scared shitless of a chinese invasion. The only way for stability in the middle east is to leave the region entirely. I don't want our government beholden to Egyptian and Saudi interests just so we can prop up Israel against Russia and Iran.
Feb 26, 2021 Israel, India, allies on the ground who’ve been fighting along side U.S. special forces like the Kurds are pretty essential U.S. allies. I’m very pro-coalition building & it’s extremely difficult to do that when nations don’t trust you. That’s why Trump’s foreign policy in particular was so disastrous—our closest allies in Europe began to doubt us & even now still do. Actions like threatening to leave the NATO, leaving key UN councils, abandoning the Kurds, leaving Iran deal etc. this all hurts your ability to form strong coalitions & alliances to address global issues. It’s going to take a long time to mend the damage Trump did & the U.S. can’t afford to further burn bridges with allies.
Feb 26, 2021 it is very funny to me to be like “we have to maintain a presence in the middle east to protect israel” when israel’s primary geopolitical function is to justify america’s constant presence in the middle east
Feb 26, 2021 right: you were talking about betraying the kurds as if that’s something the u.s. didn’t do habitually long before trump, lol.
Feb 26, 2021 Which is bad...? I used the Kurds because they are a common example. There are others such as in Somalia where U.S. military was assisting the government fight al-qaeda affiliates. Trump abruptly pulled out of the country & left them out to dry. I understand the want of Americans to wash their hands of all this but it’s just not that simple. I genuinely don’t think there are any good foreign policy answers to the Middle East. It’s literally all just damage control.
Feb 26, 2021 lol no i’m just saying it’s not as simple as pinning the deep distrust many factions of people in the region feel toward the us on trump. america’s been playing both sides of conflicts and selling out “allies” since ww1!
Feb 26, 2021 Definitely not & I wasn’t try to insinuate that but Trump certainly made conditions worse. Especially in regards to Europe & other allies. It just really makes you wonder whether countries will be willing to engage in diplomacy & work out deals like the Iran deal again if they don’t trust the U.S. will abide by its commitments.
Feb 27, 2021 If Trump did that you wouldnt write this bs. Save this speech for the Syrian children my man.
Feb 27, 2021 I supported Trump’s strike in Syria lol. Hi @hargydon @Donkey Kong Country @Chrollo @Sign Language @Guma i see y’all.
Feb 27, 2021 this was all reverse psychology to get you to admit you love drone strikes. that's my story and im sticking with it
Feb 27, 2021 Surprised there’s anything left of Syria... place has been getting bombed for as long as i can remember.
Feb 27, 2021 Don’t remember you saying you supported Trump’s strike but I believe you. Do you think Obama should’ve taken more action after his “red line” declaration? Not asking this as a gotcha question, I’m legitimately curious.
Feb 27, 2021 nah but @Enigma I hope you know that in general I do respect your opinions even if we don't always agree. It's hard for me personally to justify drone strokes ever because I'm mostly a pacifist but I also know that the world obviously is not that simple. Have you ever seen the documentary Bitter Lake? You prob know more about this stuff than me in general but I thought it was a good overview of how how badly the USA/UK/Russia f----- up Afghanistan/the region in general and gave extremism a chance to thrive unchecked.
Feb 27, 2021 Americans are islamaphobes. Possibly the biggest in the world. Spent your entire lifetime bombing third world Muslims and laughing about it while 1st world China f---s the entire world. Imagine if you guys bombed them half as much as yo udid the middle east. There wouldn't be a fucken global pandemic running around I tell ya what
Feb 27, 2021 Psychiatrists and human behaviour experts say that drone strikes are target less and have no consequence of revenge for the victims, so they will gras onto the thought process "this country did it... We hate this country!" and in middle East where terrorist and IS cells are a thing these victims will go sign up almost immediately.