1-2-3, What are we Fighting For...

[B.I.G]

Why not Russia?

They were being sarcastic.

 

[Humberto]

I am a dickhead. So are you and most others on here. We're all at the mercy of fate, which can mean war if you're in an unfortunate location.

Many past generations of our fellow dickheads have died in wars they had no say in whatsover. Loads of them fought and died without having the slightest idea why.

Which is not what you said in the OP.

 

[RD2003]

Which is not what you said in the OP.

That's because I hadn't yet seen any posts in this thread from you. Seeing as I was in the process of creating the thread you have subsequently replied to me in.

 

[RD2003]

The US Has Been at War My Entire Life. Will the Wars Ever End?

Reflections from a lifetime at war.

www.thenation.com

'The United States has been at war, or at least in armed conflicts of various sorts, often in distant lands, for more or less my entire life. Yes, for some of those years, that war was “cold” (which often meant that such carnage, regularly sponsored by the CIA, happened largely off-screen and out of sight), but war as a way of life never really ended, not to this very moment.'

'In a sense, future V-J Days became inconceivable. There were no longer moments, even as wars ended, when some version of peace might descend and America’s vast military contingents could, as at the end of World War II, be significantly demobilized. The closest equivalent was undoubtedly the moment when the Soviet Union imploded in 1991, the Cold War officially ended, and the Washington establishment declared itself globally triumphant. But, of course, the promised “peace dividend” would never be paid out, as the first Gulf War with Iraq occurred that very year and the serious downsizing of the US military (and the CIA) never happened.'

'Consider it typical that when President Biden recently announced the official ending of the nearly 20-year-old American conflict in Afghanistan with the withdrawal of the last US troops from that country by 9/11/21, it would functionally be paired with the news that the Pentagon budget was about to rise yet again from its record heights in the Trump years. “Only in America,” as retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and historian William Astore wrote recently, “do wars end and war budgets go up.” '

'WAR IN OUR TIME​

In these years, one key to so much of this is the fact that as the Vietnam War began winding down in 1973, the draft was ended and war itself became a “voluntary” activity for Americans. In other words, it became ever easier not only to not protest American war-making but also to pay no attention to it or to the changing military that went with it. And that military was indeed altering and growing in remarkable ways.'

 

[RD2003]

The Permanent War Economy

"Permanent war has cannibalized the country. It has created a social, political, and economic morass. Each new military debacle is another nail in the coffin of Pax Americana."

www.commondreams.org

'The permanent war economy, implanted since the end of World War II, has destroyed the private economy, bankrupted the nation, and squandered trillions of dollars of taxpayer money. The monopolization of capital by the military has driven the US debt to $30 trillion, $ 6 trillion more than the US GDP of $ 24 trillion. Servicing this debt costs $300 billion a year. We spent more on the military, $ 813 billion for fiscal year 2023, than the next nine countries, including China and Russia, combined.'

'We are paying a heavy social, political, and economic cost for our militarism. Washington watches passively as the U.S. rots, morally, politically, economically, and physically, while China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, India, and other countries extract themselves from the tyranny of the U.S. dollar and the international Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), a messaging network banks and other financial institutions use to send and receive information, such as money transfer instructions. Once the U.S. dollar is no longer the world’s reserve currency, once there is an alternative to SWIFT, it will precipitate an internal economic collapse. It will force the immediate contraction of the U.S. empire shuttering most of its nearly 800 overseas military installations. It will signal the death of Pax Americana.'

'Democrat or Republican. It does not matter. War is the raison d’état of the state. Extravagant military expenditures are justified in the name of “national security.” The nearly $40 billion allocated for Ukraine, most of it going into the hands of weapons manufacturers such as Raytheon Technologies, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin, and Boeing, is only the beginning. Military strategists, who say the war will be long and protracted, are talking about infusions of $4 or $5 billion in military aid a month to Ukraine. We face existential threats. But these do not count. The proposed budget for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in fiscal year 2023 is $10.675 billion. The proposed budget for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is $11.881 billion. Ukraine alone gets more than double that amount. Pandemics and the climate emergency are afterthoughts. War is all that matters. This is a recipe for collective suicide.'

 

[RD2003]

From the previous article. Who can argue with the bolded bit, as it becomes increasingly clear that US society is at war with itself?


'Since all we do is war, all proposed solutions are military. This military adventurism accelerates the decline, as the defeat in Vietnam and the squandering of $8 trillion in the futile wars in the Middle East illustrate. War and sanctions, it is believed, will cripple Russia, rich in gas and natural resources. War, or the threat of war, will curb the growing economic and military clout of China.

These are demented and dangerous fantasies, perpetrated by a ruling class that has severed itself from reality. No longer able to salvage their own society and economy, they seek to destroy those of their global competitors, especially Russia and China. Once the militarists cripple Russia, the plan goes, they will focus military aggression on the Indo-Pacific, dominating what Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, referring to the Pacific, called “the American Sea.” '

 

[spring-peeper]

Please don't start in on the US and their wars.

Read an article about the 22 countries that y'all (Britain) have NOT invaded.

The 22 countries that escaped Britain’s invasion are Monaco, Mongolia, Marshall Islands, Mali, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Kyrgyzstan, Ivory Coast, Andorra, Bolivia, Belarus, DemocraticRepublic of Congo, Burundi, Central African Republic, Guatemala, Chad, Paraguay, Vatican City, Tajikistan, Sweden, Uzbekistan and Sao Tome and Principle.

Which Countries Were Never Invaded By Britain?

www.worldatlas.com

Pot, kettle, black

 

[RD2003]

Please don't start in on the US and their wars.

Read an article about the 22 countries that y'all (Britain) have NOT invaded.

Which Countries Were Never Invaded By Britain?

www.worldatlas.com

Pot, kettle, black

The Ukraine situation gives little Britain another chance to posture on the world stage. A Mickey Mouse world power, complete with a Mickey Mouse PM and a Foreign Secretary and Home Secretary who arem't even fit to be local councillors. No wonder the Kremlin takes the piss.

 

[krtek a houby]

 

[RD2003]

There's no need for us to be still up at this time, Krtek baby

 

[two sheds]

This whole thread is nonsense

It was 1-2-3 What are we Fighting For ....

1-2-3-4 doesn't work it doesn't scan

 

[RD2003]

This whole thread is nonsense

It was 1-2-3 What are we Fighting For ....

1-2-3-4 doesn't work it doesn't scan

Sorry, might have remembered it wrong. I wasn't at Woodstock as I was 6 at the time.

 

[krtek a houby]

There's no need for us to be still up at this time, Krtek baby

It's almost noon, RD hahay

 

[spring-peeper]

It's almost noon, RD hahay

???

where are you posting from?

 

[krtek a houby]

???

where are you posting from?

One of these excitable foreigner places that the OP has mentioned in the past

 

[rubbershoes]

One of these excitable foreigner places that the OP has mentioned in the past

Isle of Wight

 

[cupid_stunt]

I am a dickhead.

You should have left that post there, then enjoyed most of the posters agreeing with you, for the first time.

 

[RD2003]

You should have left that post there, then enjoyed most of the posters agreeing with you, for the first time.

Sadly but inevitably, future generations of dickheads simply won't appreciate the lengths the likes of me and you went to, how we sweat blood even, to maintain our levels of dickheadedness.

Sadder still is the probability that they are likely to surpass us in the dickheadedness stakes. The signs are already there, alas.

 

[Ax^]

tankies gotta tank

 

[RD2003]

tankies gotta tank

I wish I was a tankie. From what I've read on here, the latterday version seems quite good fun.

 

[Ax^]

so just a russian apologist hmm maybe being a tankie would be better

 

[Yossarian]

9-10-11-12 into the bin i delve.

13-14-15-16 its proper home should be the latrine

 

[RD2003]

so just a russian apologist hmm maybe being a tankie would be better

 

[Dystopiary]

17-18-19-20 Threads like this, well there are plenty...

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

It's still evening.

Not in my time zone.

 

[RD2003]

Not in my time zone.

I never did get the CB radio thing, but I imagine it was a bit like this.

I might start taking my laptop to the shed to get the full, authentic experience.

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

I never did get the CB radio thing, but I imagine it was a bit like this.

I might start taking my laptop to the shed to get the full, authentic experience.

To get the full CB radio experience you'll need an 18-wheeler and a chimp.

 

[RD2003]

To get the full CB radio experience you'll need an 18-wheeler and a chimp.

I'd really like to piss the neighbours off with one of those big fuck-off aerials.

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

I'd really like to piss the neighbours off with one of those big fuck-off aerials.

Somehow, I can see you doing your best to irritate the neighbors.

 

[RD2003]

Somehow, I can see you doing your best to irritate the neighbors.

When we moved here last year, I decided to be all things to all people. I'm Woke with all the Wokies and reactionary with all the reactionaries. I both support Ukraine and sympathise with Russia depending on who I talk to, and with the eco-couple with solar panels I'm a lifelong pacifist. It's quite good. You get to be able to take offence on behalf of all and sundry, but also indulge in 'Damn society's gone crazy,' talk.