holmes writes:
First of all I believe most of Stalin's reign of terror (killing mass numbers of citizens) happened before the UN was fully set up (please correct me if I am wrong on this). Second, his reign of terror was conducted in house which is beyond the reach of the UN. Third, for those countries that the Soviet Union was trying to bring under their power there were UN controls which worked both for and against us.
Let's apply the village allegory to your second point. A big bully can't be prosecuted by the town council for serial murder as long as he does it in his own home. Obviously such a town council doesn't work very well, and therefore neither does the UN.
holmes writes:
We lost Vietnam, and we lost N Korea, and we lost a number of others, as did the SU. All both of our work did was create small despots that tortured their own citizens. Neither were closer to taking over the world.
The US didn't lose the Korean War - it was a draw, with South Korea successfully protected from communist invasion. If I remember aright, in both the wars you mentioned the US intervened to stop aggressive nations backed by Communist China from invading their peaceful neighbours. In Vietnam they failed. Nevertheless, I hardly see how they can be held responsible for the tyrants they fought so hard to restrain...?
holmes writes:
Terrorists belonging to a terrorist group hijacked planes and flew them into important buildings which caused major loss of life, and disruption of of daily living for a while. That is the HEIGHT of what they can do.
Even if they managed to set off a nuclear device, it would not mean the end of the US.
So please, if you have some military knowledge of how they can affect a takeover of the rest of the world I would love to hear it. And if it was remotely plausible I would side with you that more aggressive stances should be taken to protect ourselves.
Conquer? Perhaps not. But if they can effect the same horrendous casualties by covert terrorism - which is much cheaper than a war - why would they need to invade in the conventional manner?
™ Version 4.2
