Which wars involving the United States would you have supported?

[Deleted]

I opposed the Iraq War, but do you really want to argue that?

Ok, let me explain, I'll try to keep short for now.
http://musingsoniraq.blogspot.ro/201...fter-2003.html
"Unemployment And Poverty Level

Better statistics to see how Iraqis are doing today might be derived from looking at unemployment and people living below the poverty line. In both cases, Iraq was near the very bottom in the region. In 2009, Iraq’s official jobless rate was 15.3%, while unofficially it was 30%. Only Libya, 30%, and Yemen 35%, had worst figures, and Bahrain and Oman at 15% each were at just about the same level. That left twelve countries that were doing better employing their population. Iraq did little better with its poverty rate with 25% of the population living off of just $2 per day. That again placed it at the bottom. Both figures showed that despite the steady increase in per capita GDP, there were plenty of Iraqis who were struggling."
So the rate of unemployed people is huge, and take in mind this was before the economic crysis started, so you can imagine what is happening now.
Also according to that chart they have 25% of people living below poverty, level, yet if you look, the per capital gross domestic product has grown... so... what's happening? Well it's easy to explain, the top of the population gets richer while the bottom remains poor, and the middle class is starting to disappear. So from this point the country is doing bad and in a decade or so they'll have some big problems regarding this.

The country has improved regarding infant deaths, yes, it is true, they halved. However, we can then look at education and see the percent of educated people is still dropping even now that the country is said to be improving. Again, a non-educated population that is poor. Such a population is easier to control by dictators and has a higher rate of fanatics because the people are not educated enough to understand some things... and to prove it I get to my next point:

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/03/18/op...ar-women-salbi
From start, let's talk about women rights. While to an outside observer they seemed to have improved, they really have not.
"Violence against women -- and the lack of legal protection for women -- is also on the rise. Women's rights groups blame the increase in violence on the social and economic pressure that families face, the lack of public and political will to stop it, and the increase religious conservatism that often justifies the violence.
The saddest part of the story is the lost memory of what Iraqi women once were. I grew up in Baghdad with a working mother who drove herself to the office and always told me that I could anything I wanted with my life. My mother's friends were factory managers, artists, principals and doctors.

It has been just over 20 years since I left Iraq. Today, female college students ask me if it is true that the streets of Baghdad were once full of women driving, that women could walk around in public at all times of the day without worry, that university campuses were once filled with women who did not wearing headscarves."

But I also said that the invasion generated more terrorists.
http://archive.truthout.org/article/...fold-worldwide
"Our study shows that the Iraq War has generated a stunning sevenfold increase in the yearly rate of fatal jihadist attacks, amounting to literally hundreds of additional terrorist attacks and thousands of civilian lives lost; even when terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan is excluded, fatal attacks in the rest of the world have increased by more than one-third.

We are not making the argument that without the Iraq War, jihadist terrorism would not exist, but our study shows that the Iraq conflict has greatly increased the spread of the Al Qaeda ideological virus, as shown by a rising number of terrorist attacks in the past three years from London to Kabul, and from Madrid to the Red Sea."

I'd argue more, but right now there's a storm outside with lightning, and I know it has happened before for power relees to be hit by lightning, leading to a surge in power. So For now this is it, I'll return later if you have more questions, feel free. I can give plenty more reports, and didn't even talk about religion freedom for example yet or their economy state. While, I do agree, Iraq still has a chance for recovery (unlike Afghanistan, which seems to be going the path of Somalia in many ways), from many important aspects it's doing worse and the tensions this will create will be seen in a decade more or so.

[Tradewind]

Curious that people actually support the War of 1812, since it was generally a stupid idea all around.

[Kalyyn]

I don't give a fuck if US sailors were being sold into slavery, it's all swings and roundabouts.

Well obviously you don't care about Americans, since you're not American yourself. But any American who opposed the Barbary wars is either sadistic or uninformed.

[Naxere]

Curious that people actually support the War of 1812, since it was generally a stupid idea all around.

Why is that?

[Kalis]

Well obviously you don't care about Americans, since you're not American yourself. But any American who opposed the Barbary wars is either sadistic or uninformed.

This isn't a US specific site, and you asked how anybody couldn't support the Barbary Wars.

[Tradewind]

Why is that?

Because neither side was in any real position to engage in another protracted conflict regardless of the differences that "started the war."

[Naxere]

Because neither side was in any real position to engage in another protracted conflict regardless of the differences that "started the war."

So you would've let Britain continue to arm Native Americans against the US, impress American sailors into British service, and disrupt our ability to trade with France?

[Willeonge]

Is it not rather disingenuous to put two separate conflicts into one category?

[Tradewind]

So you would've let Britain continue to arm Native Americans against the US, impress American sailors into British service, and disrupt our ability to trade with France?

Nevermind that the Americans were expanding into and annexing those Native territories...

Also where did I say I supported those actions? I just said War was a bad idea. There are alternatives to War.

The "American" sailors were mostly Naturalized or deserters anyway.

As for the trade embargo...kind of the pot calling the kettle black there.

Also the war was entirely unnecessary as Lord Liverpool took over after Perceval died. Liverpool was more moderate and wanted to repeal most of the Orders. Just nobody found out about it until almost a month later after Congress had already declared war.

Just saying...a letter would have helped.

[v2prwsmb45yhuq3wj23vpjk]

There are people who don't support the Barbary wars? Do they not realize that they were literally kidnapping Americans and selling them into slavery?

Ransoming them isn't selling them into slavery, but it's still a justified reason to defend one's own ships.

[Kalyyn]

This isn't a US specific site, and you asked how anybody couldn't support the Barbary Wars.

I thought it was implied that we were talking about Americans, but I apologize. I was directing that question specifically at other Americans.

[Collegeguy]

There are people who don't support the Barbary wars? Do they not realize that they were literally kidnapping Americans and selling them into slavery?

I'm not a history buff, but why did Britain, the so called strongest empire, pay tribute to the barbary pirates for so long along with these other so called powerful Europeans like France? I mean it's really pathetic such crap was going on even before United States said enough.

[Nakura Chambers]

Is it not rather disingenuous to put two separate conflicts into one category?

Unfortunately, you can only have 15 poll choices, so I grouped similar conflicts together.

[Elegiac]

I'm not a history buff, but why did Britain, the so called strongest empire, pay tribute to the barbary pirates for so long along with these other so called powerful Europeans like France? I mean it's really pathetic such crap was going on even before United States said enough.

Tribute can often be cheaper than war.