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donnie_darko
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26 Nov 2011, 5:42 pm

It all sounds so familiar. Global depression, countries rattling sabers, polarized politics, the revival of ethnic prejudice. Iran and Israel can exchange fire any second.



shrox
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26 Nov 2011, 5:50 pm

I am starting to wonder, Russia has announced they are going to target some of our bases in Europe, which in turn is not good for Europe.



donnie_darko
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26 Nov 2011, 5:51 pm

shrox wrote:
I am starting to wonder, Russia has announced they are going to target some of our bases in Europe, which in turn is not good for Europe.


I don't think the Cold War ever ended. The Soviet Union might not exist on paper, but the Russian Federation is essentially just a reduced version of it.



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26 Nov 2011, 6:27 pm

The Eurasian Union of many former Soviet republics is going to exist by 2015


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iamnotaparakeet
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27 Nov 2011, 3:49 am

Ever since WW2 ended we've been on the brink of WW3. If it weren't for nuclear weapons, we'd have already had WW3 and would either be waiting for WW4 or even yet another world war after that.



pete1061
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27 Nov 2011, 4:10 am

It could be debated that World War 3 started on 9-11-01, and it is still raging on and on.


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codarac
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27 Nov 2011, 2:48 pm

shrox wrote:
I am starting to wonder, Russia has announced they are going to target some of our bases in Europe, which in turn is not good for Europe.


Why does the US still have so many military bases in Europe? Does the average American really think their country is doing us Europeans a favour here?



shrox
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27 Nov 2011, 4:09 pm

iamnotaparakeet wrote:
Ever since WW2 ended we've been on the brink of WW3. If it weren't for nuclear weapons, we'd have already had WW3 and would either be waiting for WW4 or even yet another world war after that.


WW4 will be fought with pieces of debris from WW3...



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27 Nov 2011, 4:11 pm

codarac wrote:
shrox wrote:
I am starting to wonder, Russia has announced they are going to target some of our bases in Europe, which in turn is not good for Europe.


Why does the US still have so many military bases in Europe? Does the average American really think their country is doing us Europeans a favour here?


Probably. I have spoken to enough Americans who think their military represents the only relevant fighting force in the Western world.


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Simonono
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27 Nov 2011, 4:13 pm

I hope so.



dr01dguy
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27 Nov 2011, 4:40 pm

Quote:
Why does the US still have so many military bases in Europe? Does the average American really think their country is doing us Europeans a favour here?


Frankly, yes. The closure of a military base is devastating to the economy of the nearby towns and villages. Often, permanently (at least, "permanently" as far as anybody alive today is concerned). European leaders complain about US military presence, then quietly follow up with a phone call reassuring the US it was just a cheap publicity stunt to win votes on election day.

The US also needs European bases for recruiting purposes. When an American kid shows up at an Army or Air Force recruiting office, they don't show them pictures of soldiers clearing Afghan villages of IEDs or getting shot at in Iraq. They show lots of pictures of smiling, happy military families eating croissants at a sidewalk cafe with the Eiffel Tower in the background, visiting Stonehenge, enjoying High Tea, and drinking beer served by buxom blondes in lederhosen.



shrox
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27 Nov 2011, 4:50 pm

codarac wrote:
shrox wrote:
I am starting to wonder, Russia has announced they are going to target some of our bases in Europe, which in turn is not good for Europe.


Why does the US still have so many military bases in Europe? Does the average American really think their country is doing us Europeans a favour here?


Honestly? The US has cast Europe as a sacrificial lamb, hoping Europe will take the brunt of a limited nuclear war.

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iamnotaparakeet
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27 Nov 2011, 5:06 pm

dr01dguy wrote:
When an American kid shows up at an Army or Air Force recruiting office, they don't show them pictures of soldiers clearing Afghan villages of IEDs or getting shot at in Iraq. They show lots of pictures of smiling, happy military families eating croissants at a sidewalk cafe with the Eiffel Tower in the background, visiting Stonehenge, enjoying High Tea, and drinking beer served by buxom blondes in lederhosen.


Actually, when I had considered joining the Army I talked with them about the combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, about weapons being developed, about Spanish compared to Latin, about sniper training and stuff of that sort. Back in 2006, I was considering being combat active duty and I don't care about the benefits of being a soldier. I never saw any pictures of military families or provocatively dressed foreign women and I didn't care: I wanted to be a soldier, not a traveler.



iamnotaparakeet
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27 Nov 2011, 5:13 pm

pete1061 wrote:
It could be debated that World War 3 started on 9-11-01, and it is still raging on and on.


What percentage of nations are fighting? What is the death toll from the War on Terror compared to the previous World Wars?



Abgal64
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27 Nov 2011, 11:11 pm

If WWIII did occur, and if it used nuclear weapons, it would be a catastrophe rivaled only by the Bronze Age Collapse in all of history.

I think the Israel-Iran conflict is greatly overshadowed by the conflicts between India and Pakistan and China and the USA.

If the war stayed conventional, China and its allies, which could possibly include quite a few African and Latin American countries, would surely win. This would not necessarily be a bad thing IMHO, given Chinese Civilization's extreme stability, productivity and its usually choosing to assimilate the conquered in the long run, as led to China's expansion from the Yellow River Valley during the Bronze Age to its contemporary giant size, rather than to dominate the conquered, as happened with many Western states during the Ages of Exploration and Imperialism, which would eventually lead to a more or less homogeneous and fully unified humankind, something that I see as highly desirable.


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28 Nov 2011, 12:12 am

WWIII won't happen.

Space war I, however, will.

It is the 21st century, people. Get updated!


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