Redbrickbear said:
ATL Bear said:
Redbrickbear said:
ATL Bear said:
Redbrickbear said:
ATL Bear said:
We were brought to our knees by people living in caves from all purposes 4th world countries .
Not even close to being true
The USA was and remained the greatest military and economic power on earth after the 9/11 attacks.
America then easily crushed Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and drove the Taliban from power.
When even easily invaded a decent size country like Iraq and toppled its Baathist government
(The long decades insurgent war to remake Afghanistan & Iraq being a different issue)
You really do seem to think that the USA and America power is a fragile thing
You are such a simpleton. We literally lost Trillions, have put significant restraints around our personal freedoms, built giant security apparatuses,
And you are such a flip flopping jerk who loves wars aboard and the massive security State.....(as well as proxy wars with Russia) and then turns around dares complain about the cost!
Hypocrite you are!
And while I hate the trillions lost....as well as thousands of dead Americans in this wars....that was because of the long term wars of occupation and "nation-building" that your side loves.
That was not the direct result of 9/11....the initial conflicts were short and mostly inexpensive...(.the wars of occupation were part of utopian fantasies and a deliberate choice from our Neo-Con and Liberals elites who thought they could transform Middle Eastern Muslim tribal peoples in to Manhattan progressives )
And while our leaders in DC (who you trust now on the Ukraine war) led us into disaster in the long term occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan.....they did no fundamentally long term harm the USA
The United States in 2025....just as in 2001....remains the richest and most militarily powerful Nation on Earth.
Despite the failure of the Iraq and Afghan occupation/re-construction wars
Al Qaeda and its attacks no more changed that than did Sioux attacks on the frontier in the 1860s
Perhaps you forgot the massive military downsizing that was occurring in the 90s through 9/11. We became the wealthiest most powerful military and economy in conjunction with our ramp up post 9/11 and the reality of a unipolar world.
You think I'm a hypocrite, but I'm worried about the macro position we put ourselves in and the necessity to maintain it now or risk significant economic and geopolitical risk. When that balance is altered, Americans will lean into overbearing government even more.
But you still don't understand and I can't explain it any clearer. You are focused on a disparate micro evaluation. The repercussions of our actions went well beyond our defeat of al Qaeda (who is still very active FYI) or ISIS. And the struggle for power has never ceased with Iran, Russia, or China. And once again, I wasn't even referencing our nation building dalliances. That's completely separate.
Our elites are driving us into debt no doubt….but that is an internal problem of our corrupt political class
Has very little to do with external adversaries
9/11 hurt us becomes of our leaders….nothing Al Qaeda could do could really hurt us
You don't understand that the problem is internal and not external.
The people who can bring down the USA are not hiding in caves in Afghanistan or in Moscow
They are in DC (and the other USA power centers)
That's the myth you tell yourself. Internal political corruption and dysfunction are real concerns (not to mention standard fare in democracies), but they do not rise to the level of existential threats posed by powerful foreign adversaries, including non state actors. Russia and China possess military, economic, and cyber capabilities that can directly undermine U.S. security, while terrorist organizations have already demonstrated their ability to inflict mass casualties and disrupt our capabilities. Downplaying external threats in favor of an internal political grievance narrative is not only inaccurate but dangerously naive in the face of global challenges.
We have capabilities of dealing with internal political strife, and each side has taken its swipe at it. Trump is the latest version. But you know what would derail DOGE, Trump, and everything happening now? It's not law fare, a vocal Dem party, or a bureaucrat elite. A terror attack would tear up priorities in a matter of minutes. It's been over two decades now and we traded our principles for comfort and security. What 9/11 did along with our policies and approaches since, as well as events along the way, was make fear an ever present factor in our lives. And it made our ability to project power a necessity for our economic success. It is our existential threat regardless of how we feel about opposing political views.
