How many wars is the US fighting right now? The answer is at least 4.
40 replies, posted
[QUOTE] The answer might seem obvious: one, at least since the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. But Harvard's Linda Bilmes and UCLA's Michael Intriligator argue that it's at least four:
[QUOTE] In addition to these two large-scale conflicts the US is also fighting a number of unannounced and undeclared “wars”. These unannounced wars are fought mainly with air power and increasingly with drones rather than ground troops. If we define war to include conflicts where the US is launching extensive military incursions, including drone attacks, but that are not officially “declared,” then the US is directly involved in at least three wars – in Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia – in addition to Iraq and Afghanistan. These unannounced wars follow in the tradition of many previous covert US military incursions, such as in Chile, Cuba, and Nicaragua. The difference is that advanced military technology now enables the US to fight such wars in a different way, which is far less transparent, and to sustain operations over several years.[/QUOTE]
As James Fearon notes at Monkey Cage, the article raises the question of whether a "war" requires that both sides experience casualties, or merely that both sides be involved in military activity of some sort.
The definition of war used by Bilmes and Intriligator may be so expansive that it's no longer particularly useful. If the U.S. is at "war" in Somalia, why not Uganda or Mexico?
It is true, though, that the relatively small portion of the U.S. population needed to participate in military action has blurred the line between peacetime and wartime. Even the official war the U.S. is fighting -- Afghanistan -- is hardly topic A for the U.S. government or media these days. Afghansitan isn't even the nation's most discussed foreign policy issue, something unthinkable in the era where a draft or at least mass mobilization were needed to fight wars.
When U.S. troops withdraw from Afghanistan, it probably won't feel like a major transition for most Americans. That certainly doesn't mean we should feel nostalgic for the days when wars involved nationwide mobilizations and massive casualties, but the new state of affairs certainly doesn't put much pressure on political leaders to end miltiary conflicts -- whatever you call them -- once they've begun. [/QUOTE]
[URL="http://ideas.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/05/03/how_may_wars_is_the_us_fighting_right_now"]http://ideas.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/05/03/how_may_wars_is_the_us_fighting_right_now[/URL]
We've always been at war with Eastasia...
Seriously, perpetual and unending war to justify anti-civil-liberties action at home has become the reality. Boston already has politicians crowing for more surveillance, more intrusive internet monitoring, more government and police powers...
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/xrpkley.jpg[/IMG]
love the source
this is why giving the government more power is a bad thing
Ahahaha, I adblocked the registry pop-up and then prevented the page from reloading. Websites that do that can go fuck themselves.
[QUOTE=fishyfish777;40521303][IMG]http://i.imgur.com/xrpkley.jpg[/IMG]
love the source[/QUOTE]
The source is okay for analysis, that is the only reason they can get away with such high prices.
What we don't know won't hurt us...right?
[QUOTE=ZenZill;40521376]What we don't know won't hurt us...right?[/QUOTE]
Except that everyone already knows this.
[QUOTE=asteroidrules;40521388]Except that everyone already knows this.[/QUOTE]
not a lot of people know about our secret wars in somalia and yemen.
[QUOTE=yawmwen;40521399]not a lot of people know about our secret wars in somalia and yemen.[/QUOTE]
Yemen I admit isn't heard about much but Somalia is pretty widely known around here at least.
i heard about yemen before somalia.
idk i think a poll should be done to determine how aware the populace is of these secret wars.
Wasn't there also a conflict going on in some African country, with boots on the ground that hardly nobody knows about?
[QUOTE=asteroidrules;40521413]Yemen I admit isn't heard about much but Somalia is pretty widely known around here at least.[/QUOTE]
I find neither is well known about. I mean, sure, everyone knows about Black Hawk Down and that sort of thing, but that's a separate conflict. How many people know we're conducting semi-regular drone warfare and occasional strategic bombings in conjunction with the Israelis?
[QUOTE=fishyfish777;40521303][IMG]http://i.imgur.com/xrpkley.jpg[/IMG]
love the source[/QUOTE]
i'd totally buy an FP magazine.
[QUOTE=yawmwen;40521429]i heard about yemen before somalia.
idk i think a poll should be done to determine how aware the populace is of these secret wars.[/QUOTE]
I do believe I heard about Yemen first as well, memory serving that's been going on longer than Somalia. Either way, my point is that these are not some type of conspiracy "secret wars", it's just that they're not getting as much coverage. Of these three Pakistan is probably the most widely covered.
Well it would be silly to think that the most powerful military force in the world wouldn't be doing various covert activities.
[QUOTE=Used Car Salesman;40521278]We've always been at war with Eastasia...
Seriously, perpetual and unending war to justify anti-civil-liberties action at home has become the reality. Boston already has politicians crowing for more surveillance, more intrusive internet monitoring, more government and police powers...[/QUOTE]
if there's any hope, it lies in the proles
[QUOTE=Lord of Ears;40521510]if there's any hope, it lies in the proles[/QUOTE]
We're fucked.
[QUOTE=Lord of Ears;40521510]if there's any hope, it lies in the proles[/QUOTE]
[IMG]http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2OrLwdH7f_Y/UQlfmlQ7IWI/AAAAAAAAEBs/-FhPDowLsWc/s1600/honey-boo-boo-june-284x212.jpg[/IMG]
I gots betta things to do than revolutions
But we almost forgot the most important one! [I]The War on Terror[/I].
[QUOTE=Lord of Ears;40521510]if there's any hope, it lies in the proles[/QUOTE]
This doesn't end well
[QUOTE=Liem;40536199]This doesn't end well[/QUOTE]
"Liem gazed up at the enormous face. Forty years it had taken him to learn what kind of smile was hidden beneath the dark moustache. O cruel, needless misunderstanding! O stubborn, self-willed exile from the loving breast! Two gin-scented tears trickled down the sides of his nose. But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved USA."
[QUOTE=laserguided;40521375]The source is okay for analysis, that is the only reason they can get away with such high prices.[/QUOTE]
Information should be free.
[QUOTE=Coffee;40536338]Information should be free.[/QUOTE]
It should be, but this information isn't free.
[QUOTE=Coffee;40536338]Information should be free.[/QUOTE]
Information's as "free" as water or electricity. You're offering monetary compensation for someone going through the effort of delivering a certain quantity and/or quality you yourself couldn't provide, be it because of time or territorial rights or something else.
If you can, no need to buy from them.
they forgot the WAR ON OUR FAITH and the WAR ON OUR GUNS
Implying the USA has not been in near perpetual conflict from it's dawn.
[QUOTE=laserguided;40521441]Wasn't there also a conflict going on in some African country, with boots on the ground that hardly nobody knows about?[/QUOTE]
hardly nobody knows about it, you say? :rolleyes:
We need to get back to that system we had where the President had to ask Congress for a declaration of war.
Not to stop from having wars, more to make sure the people promoting wars had to step into the spotlight and publically say that's what they wanted. This way everyone would know, without a doubt, who is to blame for what happens after that.
Right now, everything is done so secretly and quietly, with Presidential orders, that it's too easy for the Powers That Be to confuse the public on what is being done to whom and where it's being done and what the actual results of those actions are.
[QUOTE=laserguided;40521441]Wasn't there also a conflict going on in some African country, with boots on the ground that hardly nobody knows about?[/QUOTE]
Could you be thinking of Libya? A lot of conspiracy theorists were claiming we were boots on ground in there. Not that we were.
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