Defeating Communism was at least a plausable explanation. Iraq is a different story. Saddam feared the rise of Jihadists because they would be a threat to his own regime.
Iraq Veterans vulnerable to commit suicide
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We have a communist government in the state of Kerala. It is one of our most educated and industrious states. Do you think we should liberate them?
This thread should be closed since nobody seems to be able to stay on topic.
What about PTSD in Iraqis? Anyone helping them? I imagine losing members of your family at an accelerated rate can be contsrued as traumatic?
No, but why shouldnt they get the same help?
I thought it said PTSD in "veterans" ...I didnt know that spelled Iraqi
How do I request a thread be closed?
You say this as if the fear of Communism wasn't based on economics and power. Look, it's well-documented that US (and Allied) policy-makers at the highest levels went in for the fear of Communism just like everyone else, at least through the Vietnam era. You can keep insisting that it was all some secret conspiracy, but you're going to have to do better than repetitive unsupported assertions if you want to convince me of anything beyond your obstinance and obtusity.
It's clear that your position is based not on the relevant facts of history but on how well it accords with your desired rhetorical position. To accept that Communism was a real threat, and that this motivated American actions throughout the Cold War, would still leave you plenty of room to argue that the Vietnam War (or whatever) was not justified. But it would undermine your silly charicature of America as an unprovoked evil crusader, and so must be resisted, no matter how many facts pile up. The really worrisome part, however, is your tendency to dismiss any purely factual input (i.e., statements devoid of explicit moral assessments of the United States) as somehow meaningless.
Do you think non veterans like for example this child, who lost both arms and suffered burns to 20 per cent of his body during the bombing of Baghdad and was also orphaned, should receive help?
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/05/03/1051876891254.html
I believe if you took the time to open your eyes and read my post I said "why shouldnt they get the same help". That post wasnt even needed.
You also said "veterans" did not spell Iraqis.
Meaning why dont you discuss the veterans that this topic is reffering to instead of trying to derail it.
I'm done here
We have a communist government in the state of Kerala. It is one of our most educated and industrious states. Do you think we should liberate them?
No one cares too much about communism anymore, but at the time the Soviet Union and China were very powerful and unfriendly to the US.
I imagine having to deal personally with scenes such as the above can be pretty demoralising in an illegal war and occupation.
We have a communist government in the state of Kerala. It is one of our most educated and industrious states. Do you think we should liberate them?
No, that's an elected communist government (a historical rarity, and not a status enjoyed by, say, Vietnam or North Korea. Or the former USSR or China). The Cold War was about big-C Communism, which was an organized international conspiracy to take over the entire world. Contrast this with small-c communism, which is simply an approach to government. The idea that some polity somewhere might decide to go in for communism does not particularly bother Americans. It was the governments and states being violently subverted and assimilated into Communism that worried us, although we became more sanguine about the situation after the Sino-Soviet split exposed some of the divisions in the Communist camp.
So you think being the USSR being unfriendly to the US is sufficient justification for attacking Vietnam in a proxy war?
I would believe that if the US was not simultaneously upholding dictators and funding and training death squads to derail democratically elected governments.
Not personally, but I think a case could be made. In any case it's more reasonable than our causes for attacking and occupying Iraq. I think we are making the same argument, a war that is obviously justified is easier for the troops fighting it to handle mentally.
Apparently you fail to notice that said dictators and death squads were all operating in places that were targetted for insurrection by the Communist movement.
Let me just note again that aknowledging the reality of Soviet/Chinese/Communist ambitions worldwide does not entail approving of every American action motivated by them. Denying them, however, does entail divorcing yourself from reality.
Buffalo Roam
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No I don't think so, remember the troops in WWII went for longer combat tours, and less down time, and that time wasn't at home, it was overseas, and the only way out till the end of the war was to be wounded or killed.
From my perspective as a PTSD Vet, the two thing that really got to me were the friends and innocents that died, that I could do nothing about, and the Anti War, News Media, and Democrats like Kerry who denigrated the troops, and the political decisions that never let us win the war, the policy of containment was ridiculous, but if you look at the long run, the Soviets Fell, China is going through big changes, and many of the so called wars of liberation ended with democracy or government friendly to the West.
Like I said, it was a bid for power enforced by attacking small defenceless nations. So what are you saying different?
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