People say "Support our Troops" but how are they actually doing that?

[Raymond]

Vietnam was an unmitigated disaster; interfering in what was essentially a civil war within the country in the name of halting the spread of Communism. It was ethically wrong for us to be there, not to mention the half-hearted way it was executed, resulting in horrific loss of American life.

We should’ve pulled out when the French did. It was their problem and we stepped in thanks to our doctrine of battling communism where ever it showed up.

[Contrarian]

Suppose America never battled Communism from WW2 till now. What would the world look like now? The Cold War didn’t just end itself. And the same logic could have been used (and was by the Isolationists at the time) to let the Fascists reign unchecked.

[Raymond]

Who knows? I’m not going down the rat hole of your imagination on that topic.

[Contrarian]

Keeping our freedoms requires a little imagination sometimes.

[Raymond]

So does writing fiction.

[Contrarian]

Is there any war the U.S. participated in that you support?

[Raymond]

WWI, WWII, and Desert Storm. Those were where we weren’t fighting a proxy war with China or Russia in other countries. We had clear objectives, clear enemies, were able to fight and win. They weren’t about protecting oil pipelines/supplies, fictitious WMDs, or forcing a regime change where we spend decades battling religious zealots either.

[ESmith]

I’d add in Korea as a partial entry there: clearly invaded by their neighbor. We shouldn’t have pushed the DPRK to the brink of retreating into China, however.

[Contrarian]

Of course Desert Storm was about protecting oil! But it was also justified. Afghanistan was also justified after 9/11.

[Raymond]

Desert Storm was at first about Saddam invading Kuwait.

Iraq was not justified after 9/11. The attackers and money trail lead to Saudi Arabia. We didn’t do jack there.

[Raymond]

For Pete’s sake, we put the man in power, ruling three groups of people who absolutely hate each other.

Yes we did, but Daddy Bush listened to his advisors and left Saddam in power. Saddam was a horrific human being who committed incredible atrocities on his own people, but he was the kind of guy who could keep those groups of people under control. Son Bush removed the safety check on that powder keg and screwed us as a nation.

[Contrarian]

Afghanistan certainly was. And a Iraq was justified even before 9/11 as Saddam violated the Desert Storm cease fire hundreds of times. Iraq wasn’t sold well but it was justified.

[Ferman]

Not exactly a direct answer but it does answer towards the end of the video why troops are needed.