(06-18-2019, 05:27 PM)B2hibry Wrote:

(06-18-2019, 10:33 AM)JaguarKick Wrote: Which, frankly, we should never engage in in the first place.  Our job isn't to build nations other than our own...but it becomes a hell of a lot easier to continue imperialism when it's disguised as "help."

The Middle East is far too unstable for us to maintain a foothold in.  That's what we use Israel as a mercenary state for, anyway.

Why not? Also, what foreign lands have we acquired through military force in the last 20, 30, 40 years+?

We aren't trying to maintain a foothold in the middle east so much as wanting to influence the region so that the trash doesn't make its way to our shores. You may also be surprised at how many nations invite and actually pay us to park in their backyard.

Our government learned long ago (during the Reagan years, especially) that it's a hell of a lot more effective to arm and point the weapon where we want it to go than to actively acquire through military force.

Just because we take on more of a shadow puppet master role doesn't mean we aren't in control of what happens in other nations.

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