Sorry, hit the wrong key before I was finished posting…
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And it looks like that might be propaganda aimed at letting the Saudis expand their war in Yemen:
And:
And:
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Not a good sign.
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Added to whatever weird shit is happening in Yemen this weekend…
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Go historical…
But that’s neither new nor a change of long standing unwritten policy.
Perhaps not - after all, this isn’t the first time that the Israelis have made a strike when they felt threatened. In fact, they’ve bombed inside Syria a couple times during this war.
But from here anyway, considering the possible changes to US policy regarding where our embassy is (among other things), as well as the escalation in the Yemen war, tensions still around Qatar, Netanyahu’s apparent desire to be above the law, Erik Prince’s determination to use failed tactics to deal with the slavery/refugee crisis in Libya, the continued crack down on terrorism in the Sinai, shift in the war in Syria since Daesh is on the run, among many other things – the bombing might lead to even more instability, especially if the Iranians are feeling emboldened/pissed off about how the current administration to undermine the obama era deal about nuclear power.
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A simple flowchart here would have a decision point of “is Iran arming or otherwise providing material support for a state or non state actor hostile to Israel?” If yes then military options can be considered. It’s been like that a long time now.
Both the Iranians and the Israelis are more about long game than coincidence if history is any guide.
I’d still argue that given the recent instability in the region, that this action could help contribute to further regional destabilization. The only country who doesn’t seem to have shit happening right now is Kuwait… Haven’t heard a peep out of them.
Also, back to the general thread, apparently Saleh was killed in the fighting in Sanaa:
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For all the paranoia about the US getting into a new war or even being on a war footing, theres so many good articles in War On The Rocks about why that just isn’t happening.
We are still in a war, right now, in Afghanistan. This very second - we’re not done there and won’t be for a long time coming it appears. My daughter has never known a world where America isn’t at war as a matter of fact, so wrap your head around that.
And I know it’s fashionable to not think that drone bombing people in countries adjacent to war zones is a war (because it keeps our troops safer, although there are still serious psychological consequences to killing people at a “safe” distance), but it is indeed warfare, even if it’s not declared warfare. We’ve been bombing with drones remotely in Pakistan, Somalia, and Yemen for a quite a while now and look unlikely to stop doing that. Libya is still a hell hole, because we and the EU knocked that shit over and then decided not to help clean up our mess, and now Erik Prince is eager to send in troops to help end the refugee crisis and the growing slave trade happening there, and we all know how well his work was with Black Water - I mean, only a few dozen civilians killed, but that’s not war, right? Hell, four special forces soldiers were killed not doing war a few months ago in Nigeria [correction, should be Niger]…
How is all this not war? What precisely is your criteria for war, if not all of this that’s happening right now around the world involving American forces? Does it have to look precisely like WW2 for it to be a war? This is not world war 2. War looks different now, but it’s no less destructive to human life than it was then.
[ETA] The four soldiers killed were in Niger, not Nigeria… Still, the point stands. Why were four special forces doing in Niger in the first place?
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You missed the word “new” in the comment you replied to. That’s relevant to the bet I offered months ago in this thread.
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That’s true of all Imperial powers. Remember that in the Roman Empire the doors of the Temple of Janus were practically never closed. And the British Empire was always fighting somebody.
It’s almost as if there was some kind of connection between being an empire, having a big military, and constantly having to use it somewhere.
The US has solved the problem by not being “officially” at war. And by not recognising the ICC so its “police” actions can’t be made subject to supervision.
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You forgot an important one: Cuba, 1958, U.S. abandons support for Pres. Batista, imposes arms embargo.
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