Did Bush have the will to order the US military to slaughter an enemy on the highway using every tool they have without mercy or remorse.
Yes, he did it.
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Installing a stable democracy.
Right. Iâm not disputing that. But, this isnât really separable from the context of Afghanistan, esp given the premise of the op: Bushâs will in Afghanistan was to give Russia a mess.
No.
The US isnât a âstable democracyâ, how would we install one somewhere else?
Yowza. Really? Even if all constraints were removed? That is grim.
Please note, I am not challenging you, I am asking for your honest opinion.
No.
The Tajiks arenât going to let the Hazara fall to the Pashtun but would gladly enough force them all (those Shia heretic MongolsâŚ) into Azeri lands if there werenât Pashtun warlords to kill.
Same question: if constraints of time, cost, and casualties were removed, you donât think that we could have killed our way to peace and stability?
No, the thing above is why.
Again: grim.
And thanks.
British peace and stability was purchased with twenty generations of pacification, expulsion, bondage and brutal punishment. It barely holds thoroughly conquered lands like Wales, Ireland and Scotland, and it is only maintained in the modern age by a comprehensively disarmed panopticon.
And so where does it out? In hooliganism, nativism and an upper class desperate to export blame to Europe.
If it doesnât look grim, youâre actively trying not to see that humans are the worst of the great apes.
Iâm giving it to you.
âDemocracyâ is probably the worst form of government there is. Most people are either not interested or idiots - and the latter are increasing.
Most people are not leaders, they want to be led. In order to âlet the people decideâ and get decent outcomes, the people have to be knowledgeable and engaged. Are they? Ever?
âDemocracyâ at any kind of scale is a myth. It wonât work.
Hence the republic.
We have a kakistocracy. And itâs our fault. We forgot it is ok to demand excellence.
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It holds because of interest convergence, âthoroughly conqueredâ is poppycock. People are only conquered until they decide theyâre not.
You donât get arete and cheap goods in an on-demand system.
No worries, the great dying is just about on us, and the survivors will all be Doric and Hatti and Mitanni again.
This ignoresâŚthe inherited foundations of temperament, an illicit subject on which we both agree, though I reject as unsupported the broader, mythic conclusions.
The conquered stay governable after a certain number of generations, because the atavists are hunted down, locked up or thrown out.
This is resolutely the case with Britain. And itâs why their dumping grounds (NZ, Oz and the Americas) are peopled with a goodly number of theâŚtemperament-disinclined to passivity.
Biden didnât do a great job. But your comments donât make sense .
I didnât ignore it, I just didnât go that deep.
We donât disagree, as far as you went.
A retreating army is fair game. And Powell stopped it.
And of course you believe them. Trump officials said they gave them every brief they requested. Who is telling the truth? Both administrations have proven to be liars.
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I also remember that Bush Sr. said that the mission was to liberate Kuwait and we accomplished that. I also remember reading that there were a few Generals who were pissed that we didnât finish off the Iraq army.
