Friday, March 09, 2012

Wars and Rumors of War

The United States is currently actively engaged in military combat in seven areas of the world. For Republicans to have their hearts desire would increase that total.

Current Wars (by importance)
Afghanistan - The longest war in American history at 10 years, 5 months. Over 1900 US dead so far. No one really want to know how many Afghans have been killed.
Northwest Pakistan - An extension of the Afghan war fought, on the US side, mostly with robotic weapons. Fifteen Americans have died here and an unknown number of Pakistanis.
Yemen - Against al-Qaeda. The number of "enemy combatants" killed exceeds the total membership in al-Qaeda. The US is fighting this war exclusively with robots.
Uganda - Lord's Resistance Army - Elevated by the video Kony2012 and Rush Limbaugh's defended the LRA as Christians being attacked by an evil Obama. There are 100 US troops in the area.
Horn of Africa - This is the war against Somali pirates and al-Qaeda. There are naval, ground force, and (of course) robotic components, although the ground forces have been downsized in recent years.
Trans-Sahara - Some 1,400 troops have ranged over eight countries for six years hunting al-Qaeda cells. The cost, so far, has been over $500 million.
Philippines - Another al-Qaeda hunting war, most notably seeking Abu Sayyaf.
Colombia - A war against the drug cartels that has been going on longer than the Afghan War. It costs billions and mostly involves poisoning the Colombian jungle, although there is a military component.

Future Wars (by potential)
Iran - Every neo-con's wet dream is bombing the shit out of Iran. They conveniently forget that it won't end there. War with Iran will close the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz is only 21 miles wide. With a population of 78 million and an arms patron called Russia, Iran will not just take their beating and slink off. The first casualty of war will be the Iranian democracy movement as patriotism and vengeance squelch any longing for liberty.
Syria - The same Republicans who didn't want to intervene in Libya are hot for bombing Syria. There will be casualties, Syria has a state of the art air defense system. The Libyan War cost nearly $1 billion; a Syrian repeat would likely cost at least three times more.
Mexico - Rick Perry of Texas has advocated this war. The plan, as I understand it, is to kill the drug cartels, replace the corrupt Mexican government with an American puppet regime, and halt illegal immigration by annexing Mexico. I didn't say the plan makes sense.
China - This is the neo-con wet dream for later in the century. The theory is that China will eventually surpass the United States as the world's greatest superpower. We can either passively let that happen or we can lash out with our military might and put the Yellow Peril in its place. Of course, war with China would be nuclear but that is a plus as nuclear winter will counterbalance global warming.
North Korea - The urge towards war with Iran has quieted this front. Still, the Republican policy is to "stand up" to North Korea, force them into a corner leaving them no other option than lashing out violently.
Venezuela  - I'd like to dismiss this as just Hugo Chavez paranoia except Republicans keep bringing up their desire to overthrow Chavez by force. They have tried to claim, falsely, that Iran has established military bases in Venezuela as a justification for attack.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The Republican "jobs" plan. With people in the military or dead already, we will be closer to full employment. Plus, of course, we hate everyone who doesn't look like Newt Gingrich.