Former US general advises Switzerland to prepare for war.
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As bad as it sounds, if our European leaders can get their head out of their collective US-aligned asses, it could finally be a push to a more cohesive EU-defence policy that is not dependant on US logistics and firepower.
We have allowed ourselves to be way to complacent for far too long.
it could finally be a push to a more cohesive EU-defence policy that is not dependant on US logistics and firepower.
I think the main reason why the EU doesn't care much about defense is that their people don't "value" war as much as other nations.
They live comfortably. They have their social services. Life is pretty good, for the most part.
Trying to convince them to go die in a war isn't going to be very popular. I genuinely believe the Western world is in for a rude awakening when an actual conflict breaks out.
It's not just logistics. These are people's lives.
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Has the USA ever won a war?
Every war they've ever declared. They just haven't declared war since WW2
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If anyone is interested in the state of things in Switzerland:
Our defense is in chaos right now. A scandal in our state-owned but public weapons manufacturer just broke a few weeks ago and shortly after the secretary of the departement of defense announced her resignation. We will see if the newly elected one will improve the situation.
The army is generally seen as somewhat of a joke, especially by people who served, which is more than half of all Swiss men. We like to call it a "Pfadiverein" (boy scouts association).
Even with all that, the right wing parties want to give a shitload more money to defense, and cut costs in social spending and foreign aid to compensate. Left of centre the need to improve defense is also accepted, but 1) before the army gets more money, they need to get their shit together and 2) more important than the army itself is integration with the european security Infrastructure (the left parties are also very pro-EU). The centre politicians usually mix blth stances and lean more one or the other way.
Also we still stand to buy fighter jets from the US, and only the left parties are calling to cancel the deal.
If it makes you feel any better, we have a joke in Austria that we might as well not have an army, because we border 1) NATO, 2) Switzerland, and if either of those become a threat, we might as well capitulate immediately.
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Every war they've ever declared. They just haven't declared war since WW2
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Oregon was British, thank you very much!
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon_Country
FYI - The history on the Hudson's Bay Company is FASCINATING!
At some point. Lol...not lol.
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Has the USA ever won a war?
Yes, they win most of them. They mostly lose when they try to occupy a foreign country and do counterinsurgency.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars_involving_the_United_States
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Soo. Uhh.. what exactly happens when US loses it's soft power and trust in Europe and Europe slowly cozies up to China?
Oh thats easy, Europe becomes the enemy, which you already see happening. You dont say you're getting another country 's territory one way or another if they're not your enemy.
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Trump’s declaring war against Canada, my country, is certain, within 2-2.5y, maximum.
I only think you're optimistic in the time frame. I'm expecting within 6 months, Trump will try. He will fail, because he fails to understand how many USians will take up arms to defend Canada, from within the US itself.
Once that happens, it's game over for the US. I honestly think it will be the spark that causes civil war, and this time, a dissolution of the union.
I project within 10 years, the United States will consist of about 15 states, and the rest of the states will be split into their own countries, with one of them possibly incorporated into Canada.
My guess is the NE gets turned into another province, and the Pacific Coast states will be the own country; in the end, likely about 20 years out.
Ok first off LOL I appreciate the thought experiment we all have them and anything is in the realm of possibility but still be batshit insane.
That said, I want Minnesota because selfishly their hip hop scene is bumpin
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doing nothing in the face of fascism is delusional bullshit.
it takes a sheltered westerner to hate leftism that hard.
I am not a "sheltered westerner".
Your world salad about bourgeois elections leading to facaism is complete bullshit and clearly not true, be it in the west or anywhere in the world.
Fascist/oligarch take over via democratic means is a lot more complex than that and has more to do with local social attitudes and certain qualities of a given political system.
You have no clue what you are talking about.
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Oh, this is exactly what I was saying, this has been going on since Obama.
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According to former United States general Ben Hodges, the withdrawal of US troops from Europe is only a matter of time. In an interview with SonntagsBlick, he advises Switzerland to prepare for war.
Make him a present, some winter vacations in Switzerland and some summer ones in Italy.
Cool those US guys down, down to the bottom of earth -
It's high time that we throw out the US army from Europe. They've been waging war in the middle east from Rammstein for decades.
It seems like they want to downsize. I wonder if Europeans can convince the orange guy to sell some equipment at a discount rather than ship it home.
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What I mean is the pivot to the east was pretty clear with Obama. With Trump? I think he sees China and Russia more as a role model than an opponent, but who knows what's going on in his mind.
Your guess is as good as mine.
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I don't know what form of stroke you just had, but as a fellow Swiss - [email protected] summarized it beautifully. To stay on topic, with our current military / defence setup; we're fucked.
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Has the USA ever won a war?
Their civil war?
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Oh thats easy, Europe becomes the enemy, which you already see happening. You dont say you're getting another country 's territory one way or another if they're not your enemy.
That's an enemy they'll have a hard time take on though.
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It seems like they want to downsize. I wonder if Europeans can convince the orange guy to sell some equipment at a discount rather than ship it home.
We'd better build our own IMO.
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cuba, china, i really like the chilean attempt, the recent ones in africa, mexico has walked a few steps, vietnam.... theres plenty in the modern era. pick your poison, the third world is chock full of attempts to get rid of capitalism.
scandinavians come to my country to extract pollute and colonize it. very easy to be comfortable in such circumstances. stop that and keep your comforts if you want it to be impressive.
I am not sure what you are trying to say, and I am not sure why you are reacting as you are.
My only point by mentioning Scandinavia was to say I believe in social benefits, unionization, and heavy market regulation by the state. That being said, I personally know of no successful communist state (successful in the eyes of the average proletariat) from history. I don’t believe it is intellectually honest to call Cuba and China successful examples.
I do not see that getting rid of capitalism is a sensible or viable option (or that it has ever been done without famine or other such terrible side effects), but I never doubt that the invisible hand, is the invisible hand in my pocket - so it is our duty as voters to make sure that we regulate the hell out of everything and our government has the teeth to do so.
I believe you mentioned above that you didn’t vote, but you are dissatisfied with foreign companies extracting resources (and presumably your government failing to sensibly tax and regulate the practice). I’m not sure you will be able to change that without either voting or taking part in revolution.
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If we evict the socialist dictatures/guerillas led by marxist-leninist parties and other authoritarian flavors of communism, remains some attempts at libertarian communism, some surviving longer than other : Paris in 1871, Ukraine in 1917, Spain in 1936-1937 are short lived examples of past communist situations that brought social changes a century or half a century before they could be obtained again, for those we obtained back. Nowadays examples are Rojava and Zapatistad territoried in Chiapas, Mexico.
Thank you for answering. I appreciate the efforts of your listed examples, especially considering their attempts at establishing human rights or dignities before it was even a thing. What I do feel is a counterpoint is how short lived they all were. I also feel for the Kurds (tough neighborhood) but I am not quite ready to move to Rojava, despite their developments I also fear that in time it may be added to your list of short lived examples. Do you feel that libertarian communism is the best theoretical alignment for a modern communist state?
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Trump’s declaring war against Canada, my country, is certain, within 2-2.5y, maximum.
I only think you're optimistic in the time frame. I'm expecting within 6 months, Trump will try. He will fail, because he fails to understand how many USians will take up arms to defend Canada, from within the US itself.
Once that happens, it's game over for the US. I honestly think it will be the spark that causes civil war, and this time, a dissolution of the union.
I project within 10 years, the United States will consist of about 15 states, and the rest of the states will be split into their own countries, with one of them possibly incorporated into Canada.
My guess is the NE gets turned into another province, and the Pacific Coast states will be the own country; in the end, likely about 20 years out.
Man you guys really swing for the fences and get specific with your predictions, love it.
