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Could we completely remove ourselves from ME conflicts? (1 Viewer)

Could we completely remove ourselves from ME conflicts?

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  • Poll closed .
radcen

radcen

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Could we completely remove ourselves from ME conflicts?

Presuming we wanted to, of course. And, if so, how could we do it?

For the purposes of this thread, forget everything about how we got here and whose fault it is. Today's reality is that we are still heavily involved, militarily, in the Middle East. This thread deals with today and going forward.
 
No matter what we do there will be unintended consequences that will leave us second guessing our decisions. The real world is messy that way. That said, sure, we could pull out. Completely. All military forces brought home or sent to bases in Europe or Asia. The ME would have to deal with its own affairs.
 
No. If we were to stop all ME "involvement" then Israel would be in serious trouble - it relies heavily on US help simply to exist. We could stop pretending that we can buy peace (often called the diplomatic solution) or that a continuous US military "presence" will eventually work. Unlike conventional war, the "war on terror" does not seek to take, hold and control any defined territory - making it impossible to achieve a ME military victory.
 
We invaded Libya. We invaded Iraq. We de-stabilized Syria. We enbargoed Iran. We de-stabilized Egypt. If all of these actions have had a positive impact on the MidEast, then we should continue current policy. If these actions have had a negative impact on the MidEast, then we should reverse our current policy. We seem to be responsible for millions of dead people and that should be a matter that gets some recognition, because even if we pull out and some negative consequences result, the millions of dead will still be the score card determining if the situation is better or worse for the local inhabitants, not US Military or US Corporatism or US permanent war as a business.
 
Sadly, I had to vote no.

We have made such a mess it would take two things to undo it. One, a massive effort to unwind all of that military intervention all over the greater Middle East area and into Africa as well. There is so much chaos across the region that some quick exit would be invite even more mess. Two, establishing enough trust and respect with other nations to handle their own backyard. And that would mean acceptance of nations gunning for Israel (active or passive.)

I don't see it happening.
 
OrphanSlug said:
Sadly, I had to vote no.

We have made such a mess it would take two things to undo it. One, a massive effort to unwind all of that military intervention all over the greater Middle East area and into Africa as well. There is so much chaos across the region that some quick exit would be invite even more mess. Two, establishing enough trust and respect with other nations to handle their own backyard. And that would mean acceptance of nations gunning for Israel (active or passive.)

I don't see it happening.
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I voted "I don't know", but "No" was very tempting.

I agree that, if we did, it would have to be slow and methodical. And I didn't always think that, but I do now.

One thing we need to quit doing is prattling on about establishing democracy. It's not in their collective mindset. We should be focusing now on stability. Let them have what they're comfortable with. If it's an authoritarian, so be it. Though we should not support some maniac who slaughters their own people, at least.
 
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ttwtt78640 said:
No. If we were to stop all ME "involvement" then Israel would be in serious trouble - it relies heavily on US help simply to exist. We could stop pretending that we can buy peace (often called the diplomatic solution) or that a continuous US military "presence" will eventually work. Unlike conventional war, the "war on terror" does not seek to take, hold and control any defined territory - making it impossible to achieve a ME military victory.
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What he said.
 
If we thought they would quietly return to the dark ages where they are most happy, that is one thing. But they won't.

They will always be targets for Russian, Iran, and China to overtake and use the resources and geography to their benefit, and against the benefit of the USA and it's allies.

The middle east population is weak and child like, not to mention corrupt, and is easy prey for anyone who chooses to pick a fight.

So yes, we need to be there to keep tabs on our global adversaries.
 
radcen said:
Could we completely remove ourselves from ME conflicts?

Presuming we wanted to, of course. And, if so, how could we do it?

For the purposes of this thread, forget everything about how we got here and whose fault it is. Today's reality is that we are still heavily involved, militarily, in the Middle East. This thread deals with today and going forward.
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Can we? We could try. Should we? Well how well has being involved worked out for us? So maybe a different tactic is called for.
 
Given the principle of Ordinary Indices of Liability, which goes by its acronym, we are far from ready to get completely out of the Mid East.

Then, there's the issue of Israel. We're not ready to abandon an ally, nor should we be.

And then, there's terrorism. If we don't come to them, they'll come to us.

So, no, we can't completely remove ourselves from the mess that is the Middle East. The best we can do is have a more rational policy than we've had in the past and refrain from invading any of their countries and attempting a nation building experiment.
 
Could we? Absolutely. We just pull all forces out of the ME and refuse to send any back. Will we? Of course not, we're too addicted to power and influence.
 
radcen said:
Could we completely remove ourselves from ME conflicts?

Presuming we wanted to, of course. And, if so, how could we do it?

For the purposes of this thread, forget everything about how we got here and whose fault it is. Today's reality is that we are still heavily involved, militarily, in the Middle East. This thread deals with today and going forward.
Click to expand...

We could, for sure. I don't think things there would improve much, but we're not really improving the situation in those regions anyway, so it's mostly a wash. We could instead invest more in America and our own security and liberty.

Unfortunately, there's a lot of oil there, so we need to be involved somewhat. Or rather, we will be involved.
 
I voted "no", but I wanted to say "yes". Even though there are only about 3 million Jews in America, somehow those in Israel are calling the shots. IMO, we should make them the 51st state and make everyone there pay Federal income taxes. Either that or significantly LOWER the amount of foreign aid we GIVE them every year...both actual money AND weapons. Israel has been in existence long enough to be taking care of themselves by now. Oh, and before someone of low intelligence calls me an "anti-Semitic", I not only have Jewish relatives, but MANY of the Jews in America feel the same way I do.
 
theclown said:
I voted "no", but I wanted to say "yes". Even though there are only about 3 million Jews in America, somehow those in Israel are calling the shots. IMO, we should make them the 51st state and make everyone there pay Federal income taxes. Either that or significantly LOWER the amount of foreign aid we GIVE them every year...both actual money AND weapons. Israel has been in existence long enough to be taking care of themselves by now. Oh, and before someone of low intelligence calls me an "anti-Semitic", I not only have Jewish relatives, but MANY of the Jews in America feel the same way I do.
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Israel is a small country totally surrounded by enemies that would gladly destroy it if they could. Were that not so, they could no doubt take care of themselves.
 
Dittohead not! said:
Israel is a small country totally surrounded by enemies that would gladly destroy it if they could. Were that not so, they could no doubt take care of themselves.
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However, we are NOT their Nanny either. They have TONS of weapons (given them from us), and they have Nukes, too. Time for them to grow up and take care of themselves, imo.
 
theclown said:
However, we are NOT their Nanny either. They have TONS of weapons (given them from us), and they have Nukes, too. Time for them to grow up and take care of themselves, imo.
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So, if Iran or Saudi Arabia decides to wipe them off the map, we just let them?
 
Note: When I conceived the thread I was not thinking specifically of including Israel. I was thinking more of our direct involvement in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, etc. To my mind, at least, the two are not apple-to-apples, but I was generic in my phrasing of "Middle East", so Israel has been included, so we should go with it.
 
radcen said:
Note: When I conceived the thread I was not thinking specifically of including Israel. I was thinking more of our direct involvement in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, etc. To my mind, at least, the two are not apple-to-apples, but I was generic in my phrasing of "Middle East", so Israel has been included, so we should go with it.
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Well, Israel is in the Middle East. Afganistan is not.
 
Not until we figure out how to contain a controlled fusion reaction....

AND not until groups like Al Queda no longer exist or at least do not target the US.



We need oil and aren't going to not respond to attacks.
 
radcen said:
Could we completely remove ourselves from ME conflicts?

Presuming we wanted to, of course. And, if so, how could we do it?

For the purposes of this thread, forget everything about how we got here and whose fault it is. Today's reality is that we are still heavily involved, militarily, in the Middle East. This thread deals with today and going forward.
Click to expand...

Nope! Nuclear genie is out of the bottle. We're there forever.
 
We can't abandon Israel and Iran once again has imperial ambitions, so no.
 
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