International Borders and Our Responsibility

[Big Guy]

I believe that Powell Doctrine can be summarized;

Conflict is the last action to take and only when all other options have been attempted. Do not go to war unless you are guaranteed to win.

I believe that any leader that takes their country into a war not expecting to win is suicidal and is certainly not defending his citizens. The initiating the use of force to force another group to do what you want them to do is frowned upon. Hence, the initiating of conflict is often spun as "defensive invasion or aggression". It is the "we didn't have a choice" excuse.

Why would anybody get involved in a war they might not win?

[bush_cheney2004]

...The USA did not impose the Iraqi or Afghan wars on us simply because their own vital interests were not at stake. Once the US vital interests are at stake we'll know soon enough.

How would the USA impose war on Canada, which freely chooses collective defense (e.g. NATO, NORAD) ?

[cybercoma]

How would the USA impose war on Canada, which freely chooses collective defense (e.g. NATO, NORAD) ?

Same way economic integration encourages other nations to ally.

[bush_cheney2004]

Nope....Canada chooses to be economically integrated with the U.S. (after being rejected/betrayed by the U.K. and Europe). It is also classic Canadian behaviour to whine about interventionist policies by elected governments...."the Americans made us do it".

[Argus]

"When should we get involved in these conflicts?"

When we can answer "yes" to each of the following;

Is Canadian vital national security threatened?

Do we have a clear attainable objective?

Have the risks and costs been fully and frankly analyzed?

Have all other non-violent policy means been fully exhausted?

Is there a plausible exit strategy to avoid endless entanglement?

Have the consequences of our action been fully considered?

Is the action supported by the Canadian people?

Do we have broad international support?

If we cannot answer "Yes" to each of those questions then we should stay out.

Plagiarism is the "wrongful appropriation" and "stealing and publication" of another author's "language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions" and the representation of them as one's own original work. - Wikipedia

It's also against forum rules to post other people's stuff without attribution.

[Derek 2.0]

I believe that any leader that takes their country into a war not expecting to win is suicidal and is certainly not defending his citizens. The initiating the use of force to force another group to do what you want them to do is frowned upon. Hence, the initiating of conflict is often spun as "defensive invasion or aggression". It is the "we didn't have a choice" excuse.

I agree, likewise a leader the enters an armed conflict and limits the military's ability to win.....

Why would anybody get involved in a war they might not win?

Not all wars are elective in nature.........

[bush_cheney2004]

All wars are not win-lose propositions....advantages and concessions can even be won in defeat. History is full of such examples.

[Remiel]

Our Arctic Islands do not lend themselves well to defence. Given how important Arctic resources seem to be these days, what with all the posturing over the North Pole, anyone who does not think Russia has a plan to try and take some of those islands is a damn fool. Their finger is probably even on the trigger, and they just to decide when or if they want to pull it.

[Derek 2.0]

Our Arctic Islands do not lend themselves well to defence. Given how important Arctic resources seem to be these days, what with all the posturing over the North Pole, anyone who does not think Russia has a plan to try and take some of those islands is a damn fool. Their finger is probably even on the trigger, and they just to decide when or if they want to pull it.

I beg to differ, one first needs the ability to directly threaten them first.........outside of nuclear weapons, the Russians lack the ability to both take and hold any great swath of the Canadian Arctic.

[GostHacked]

I wouldn't disagree with this. I think a lot of African borders ought to be redrawn, but you can't really do so against the wishes of the inhabitants.

To bad that was not a thought when the borders in Africa were drawn up due to European colonialism. Middle East, I would suspect via same methods of invasion and colonialism.

[Remiel]

Colonialism in the Arab countries seems to me to be a bit of a different beast than colonialism elsewhere. For a long time, up until the defeat and breakup of the Ottoman Empire, Arabs were party to a great deal of colonizing themselves. We tend to think in terms of continents these days but the Mediterranean region was a "thing" long before Europe was. Other than the Kurds, what singular minority of the region was even big and pervasive enough to have been screwed over specifically by how borders were drawn?