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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: KyrosL who wrote (120258)	11/22/2003 9:12:03 AM
From: John Carragher	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 281500

"This essentially means that an attempt to occupy Iran or even Syria is out of the question" I do not believe this was ever anyone's intention nor is it possible even with a draft. I doubt anyone in U.S. would support occupation. If you look at the last decade we have been reducing troops not building up troops. I doubt there are plans to occupy a country. Perhaps bomb the crap out of Iran or Syria but not occupy.

To: KyrosL who wrote (120258)	11/22/2003 5:34:45 PM
From: Nadine Carroll	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

You are aware that we are spending less than 4% of GDP on the military currently?

To: KyrosL who wrote (120258)	11/22/2003 6:38:11 PM
From: Dennis O'Bell	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

In my view, the end of US hegemony is upon us, and the Iraq war has proven it beyond doubt. Iraq has essentially proved that, even though the US can easily defeat any country, with current levels of military personnel, it is unable to effectively occupy and control a midsize country, if the country has a population well supplied with small arms and even a relatively small percentage of its population is actively opposing US occupation. Iraq has nothing to do with it, and my point was that there was never really any "US Hegemony" that the European left wing keeps bleating about. This Hegemony rap is just the latest talking-point/bullshit-jive idea on the part of America haters is all. People fighting the last war, when in the future China is destined to become the true world economic leader. This essentially means that an attempt to occupy Iran or even Syria is out of the question. Unless we return to the draft and spend twice as much on the military as we do now -- which will further weaken our relative economic position in the longer term. We're not going to invade Iran despite any empty rhetoric, and Syria is a piece of shit runt state that doesn't matter (except to Israel, which is the only country that is at all threatened by that stupid regime.) The strongmen that run a state like Syria won't give groups like Al Qaeda any real rope for the simple reason it takes one to know one, and they're more interested in their own little power base (big fish in small pond) than anything else. Only rulers of a state like Saudi Arabia are so stupid due to inbreeding that they would consider it a good idea to even finance such people for so long a time. Long before 9/11 I considered that Islam would be the 21'st century "problem" that would replace that of Communism, and it's playing out right before us. But these fools have no chance long term, despite the piles of cadavers they'll leave in their wake. It takes a singular degree of delusions of grandeur to even think that murder of civilians here and there with truck bombs and rocket attacks will allow Islam to return the world 10 centuries back in time, to a mythical global caliphate. It isn't going to happen.