For the third time, I'm getting that feeling...

[Wounded Bear]

Vietnam, Iraq, and now Iran?

[Bev54]

1. This time though, the US will not have a coalition

Other countries are not support US going to go to war on this one, especially because it is so unnecessary.

[treestar]

2. +1 and there's no 911 equivalent

The right is suddenly claiming the deceased had killed US soldiers, but we've never known that before.

[wnylib]

12. We did not have a coalition

for Vietnam. Austrailia supported us, but most of the world opposed our undeclared war there.

No meaningful coalition in Iraq, either, other than the UK. Spain supported the US but then pulled back. France openly opposed us. A few small nations were pushed or bribed to claim suppirt so W.could say he had a coalition.

Lack of suppirt does not seem to deter the hawks among us.

[Wounded Bear]

14. We had a decent coalition for Desert Storm...

and Bush Sr wisely pulled up when Kuwait was cleared of Iraqi troops. The others in the coalition would not have supported a drive on Baghdad at the time.

Bush Jr? Nope, we were pretty much on our own for that one. Went pretty much how most experts figured: fairly easy initial combat phase followed by losing the resultant peace.

[Bev54]

17. I thought the French fought the war

prior to the US getting involved?

[wnylib]

20. I presume you're referring to Vietnam since

the other war mentioned in my post was Iraq in 2003, which France strongly opposed.

Vietnam was part of the former French colony of Indochina. At the end of WWII Vietnam declared its independence in the Indochina wars. The US funded the French in the Indochina wars. France was defeated and left in 1954. Vietnam was divided between communist support in the north and communist opposition in the south.

The US took over where France left off. It's a long and complicated story. Vietnam was one nation, with north/south political divisions. Various nations expected the 2 regions to resolve their differences internally, but the north had external communist support and the US took on support for the south in opposition to communism, treating the south as a separate nation from the north.

France, like many European nations, did not support the US war in Vietnam.

[2naSalit]

3. Don't leave out Afghanistan...nt

[BKDem]

4. The Afghan war has been going on so long, we've forgotten all about it.

[Wounded Bear]

5. Afghan War was just a prelim/runup for Iraq

Both a part of the PNAC bullshit plan to encircle and take out Iran.

[2naSalit]

11. +1

[wnylib]

13. Glad you mentioned that because

I"ve been thinking that someone who is advising Trump is pushing forward thr PNAC plan, which also included the breakup of the EU, as well as the capacity for space war.

[shanti]

15. Yeah, Bolton!

He was one of the PNAC cosigners. He's getting what he always wanted now.

[wnylib]

19. Does Trump still listen to Bolton?

[Still In Wisconsin]

6. My dad was a Marine who served in Korea.

He said the exact same thing to me this morning. My dad is well on in years but remains sharp as a tack and has a keen sense for when things are about to go bad. Maybe comes from being a soldier and then several decades as a cop?

[Wounded Bear]

7. Too many people with their heads in the sand...

busy making a living and ignoring politics. Then, all of a sudden they wake up and we're at war, and everybody has to get "patriotic."

[Still In Wisconsin]

9. Yeah, someone's about to make a fortune on yellow ribbon magnets and flag decals.

Lather, rinse, repeat...

[Leghorn21]

8. Hey Still, my late father was a Marine in Korea as well

Please give your dad a hug for me

I guess I’m glad my father was gone before 9/11 and this trump insanity...this is a LOT for our older generation to deal with, it’s just nuts

[Still In Wisconsin]

10. I'll do that for sure.

I never know how many more times I'm going to see him, but I'm thankful his wit and kindness (that sometimes gets missed beneath a gruff exterior) are intact. So yeah, I'll hug the old guy!

[shanti]

16. Mine was too

He's been gone for 10 years now and would be having a conniption fit if he was alive.

[dware]

22. Mine was also,

he was at the Chosin Reservoir when the Chinese attacked, he never really recovered mentally from that.
Give your dad a hug for me.

[Still In Wisconsin]

24. I will do that for sure.

My dad also survived Chosin. He has never talked about it much. I know he carries it with him.

[dware]

25. Hell, your dad and mine might have been in the same

unit together.

My father never really talked about it either, he called it the Frozen Chosin.

[Still In Wisconsin]

31. Exactly. Frozen Chosin.

They may indeed have been in the same unit. Let's be thankful they both came home.

[Sancho]

18. ...and for some...Korea...

Korea: 33,686
Vietnam: 47,424
Afghanistan: 1,833*
Iraq: 3,836*
*(ongoing)

Many would argue that all of the above were unnecessary, if not contrived.

[Wounded Bear]

21. Really not in the same ball park IMO...

Korea was naked agression by the North, with some Soviet urging in the background.

America mobilized troops currently on occupation duty in Japan immediately, and then went to the UN for backing. The Soviets at the time were in a snit and boycotting the meetings, so America got a resolution passed that the Soviets couldn't veto. There actually were numerous allied troops in Korea, a lot of British and Commonwealth troops, as well as Pillipinos and others.

By the end of the war, the NK backing had shifted from the Soviets to the Chinese, which we staved off with great effort.

Korea was actually a "justified" war. It was the UN fighting aggression.

[Sancho]

27. The US never declared war...

...and Korea was a consequence of the Cold War as much as anything else.

IMO, if the US goes to war, they should declare war. I grew up on military bases in the 50s where my father was an officer. Even back in the 50s, there was a lot of controversy as to the escalation and involvement in Korea without declaring war.

Truman called it a "police action".

[Wounded Bear]

28. I know that. Doesn't change my opinion that it was justified...

[Sancho]

29. I suspect that there are plenty of Trumpers who think attacking Iran is justified...

...and Korea was an example of executive action without really debating the issue in Congress.

Would the US citizens have supported losing 33,000 lives and voted for a war? If there is a declared war, and not a "Presidential Emergency" as declared in the Korean War, it closes the door for abuse that occurs when the crazies are in charge.

[dware]

23. Korea was about the North aggression against the South. nt

[Baclava]

26. We're not invading Iran with ground troops, just fill their skies with MOABs

Destroy their refineries and nuclear sites and unless the Mullahs have basements 20 stories deep, take them all out too.

Of course this is more easily done from orbit, this is where the Space Force come in....

[Binkie The Clown]

30. War with Iran would bankrupt the U.S.

And a bankrupt country can't afford to fight more wars, so... peace at last.