Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul D
Europeans are guilty of aiding the US in almost all armed struggles if not all of them.
I get that the US is the largest force these days, and it is natural for the largest force to take most of the blame. But, geez, it's time for everybody in allied countries to get off their high horses since we are pretty much doing all of this with agreements between countries.
Certainly not all of them. The US wanted Britain to to join its disastrous war in Vietnam, but in those days we had a PM with actual balls who found a way to diplomatically refuse.
I wish Wilson's successors had half his gumption, especially the invertebrate Blair. If there are any pluses from Brexit, hopefully one will be a diminishing role in these types of activities.
When comparing nations' atrocities over different time periods, one also has to factor in how much attitudes have changed regarding international warfare. Using only current morality to compare human behaviour of a hundred years ago unfavourably with that of today doesn't make a lot of sense.
People in other countries look to the dominant global power of the age for more than cultural and economic influence: they also hope for some moral leadership backed up by military force when necessary. It would be admirable if the US was able to be the first in a long time to actually do that, but since GWB it looks like a case of one step forward, two steps back.
Last edited by jalfrezi; 04-10-2017 at 08:42 AM.