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Keleynal

Jesus Freak
Over a decade ago, America got into hot water when President Bush acted on what seemed to be credible intel at the time- that Iraq had WMDs. Turned out, little to no WMDs, nothing on the scale that would seem to warrant our response.

In the news today, it seems that Syria is shuffling chemical WMDs around. Does President Obama dare act on this intel? Could he handle people chanting "Obama lied, people died!" if it turns out to be faulty intel? I guess time will tell.
 
Keleynal said:
Over a decade ago, America got into hot water when President Bush acted on what seemed to be credible intel at the time- that Iraq had WMDs. Turned out, little to no WMDs, nothing on the scale that would seem to warrant our response.

In the news today, it seems that Syria is shuffling chemical WMDs around. Does President Obama dare act on this intel? Could he handle people chanting "Obama lied, people died!" if it turns out to be faulty intel? I guess time will tell.
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Honestly would it be worse to act too soon and find nothing or to wait for something to actually happen?
 
MoDSec said:
Honestly would it be worse to act too soon and find nothing or to wait for something to actually happen?
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I think this question can only be answered in hindsight, which is the problem.

I don't think Syria is a credible threat to the United States, but it certainly is to Israel who is our best ally in that region.

Not acting in time to prevent a chemical attack on Israel would be just as politically disastrous to Obama as pre-empting and finding he was wrong. Yet another reason I don't want to be President.
 
I don't think I'd mind being president.

It's a huge and incredible burden, but I think it'd be the most challenging thing I could ever do in my life. And I live for challenge. If something's too easy I rarely ever follow through.

Conjecture on this kind of thing is hard. We'll never have the intel he does, and half the time, being the public, we probably have the wrong intel anyway, as manipulating public opinion for the common good is possibly a legitimate tactical move, despite it being dishonest and Machiavellian.
 
I think its a case of preparing for the worst but not acting on it for as long as possible while you pour as much extra effort as you can into getting your own more reliable intelligence.
 
We were acting on the flimsy testimony of one operative named Curveball. The previous administration wanted a war in Iraq for a number of reasons. I don't think this presidency wants another protracted ground war, especially since we've still got men and women dying in Afghanistan, and the public would be far less receptive to the idea than they were ten years ago. If anything, the U.S. is likely to continue with drone strikes, with or without an official declaration of war.
 
Red Omen said:
We were acting on the flimsy testimony of one operative named Curveball. The previous administration wanted a war in Iraq for a number of reasons. I don't think this presidency wants another protracted ground war, especially since we've still got men and women dying in Afghanistan, and the public would be far less receptive to the idea than they were ten years ago. If anything, the U.S. is likely to continue with drone strikes, with or without an official declaration of war.
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Was there an official declaration of war on the nation of Iraq?
 
Keleynal said:
Was there an official declaration of war on the nation of Iraq?
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Yes, but I seem to recall it didn't go through the proper constitutional channels. We've also taken military action in countries like Libya and Pakistan without formal declarations of war. I'd go into more details with sources and verification, but I'm on my phone right now. Take what I just said with a grain of salt and research it on your own.
 
Red Omen said:
Yes, but I seem to recall it didn't go through the proper constitutional channels. We've also taken military action in countries like Libya and Pakistan without formal declarations of war. I'd go into more details with sources and verification, but I'm on my phone right now. Take what I just said with a grain of salt and research it on your own.
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It wasn't an actual challenge, I was just curious. I think we haven't actually declared war formally since Vietnam, or maybe even prior to that.
 
According to wikipedia, the last time we declared war was in 1941- WWII. Since then, it's been all operations and "manuevers." Apparently, it's no longer a gentleman's game.
 
Dash said:
I don't think I'd mind being president.

It's a huge and incredible burden, but I think it'd be the most challenging thing I could ever do in my life. And I live for challenge. If something's too easy I rarely ever follow through.

Conjecture on this kind of thing is hard. We'll never have the intel he does, and half the time, being the public, we probably have the wrong intel anyway, as manipulating public opinion for the common good is possibly a legitimate tactical move, despite it being dishonest and Machiavellian.
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I considered that path, but upon looking at career path up to it I wanted to shoot myself. I want to help people... not lie, cheat, steal, and kiss ass! And I'd wanna independent because both parties are full of fucking retards. No offense.
 
MoDSec said:
I considered that path, but upon looking at career path up to it I wanted to shoot myself. I want to help people... not lie, cheat, steal, and kiss ass! And I'd wanna independent because both parties are full of fucking retards. No offense.
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The great tragedy of our system is that the types of leaders we need most are the ones that aren't electable.
 
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