OK. Let me put it to you this way. Is the war in Syria a world war? Russia was in there fighting. Iran had their proxies. So did the US and we had our own soldiers in there too. So did ISIS and the Kurds. Bashar Assad was fighting to stay in power and everyone lined up for and against. In fact, Russia and Iran's presence in Syria was an effective counter to US forces and those of our allies. So was Syria a world war?
If you answered yes, then we can simply agree to disagree. I view battles like Syria to be regional conflicts. They almost always end in stalemates and accomplish nothing but killing and displacing hundreds of thousands of people, while emptying the treasuries of all the participants in the conflict. But a world war? Uh no. World wars are when major super powers fight each other directly. For example, in WW I & II, we had major super powers like the US, England, France, Russia, China, Korea, Japan, and many smaller European nations fighting. In short, those were truly world wars and tens of millions of people were killed. A WWIII among today's super powers would end in the killing of hundreds of millions of people, if not billions.
Regional conflicts with countries like Syria or Iran are large sources of human misery for us and the people in those countries, but they don't come close to being anything as devastating to all of humanity as world wars.
In short, YOU and I will directly be impacted by a world war. Most Americans will not be impacted by a war with Iran. Mostly, we'll watch the debt sky rocket and we'll watch the Fed monetize the debt and we'll watch thousands of American kids come home dead or maimed. And in the end, we know Iran won't survive the experience. They will be wiped out like Iraq and Afghanistan. But for most Americans it will be an emotional abstract. They'll moan about it, but then go on about their daily lives.
This is why in modern times, we need to be so careful not to get into wars. We're too big, rich, and powerful, and we have a volunteer armed services. It's too easy for us to wipe out countries and for most Americans to go about their lives as if nothing has happened. I wish there WAS a draft that included all of the kids of our Congress, Exec, and Judicial branches. Then maybe we'd think twice about getting into wars of any kind. |
