US Military: Thoughts

[August1991]

Americans are very proud of their technological prowess.

Hiroshima; this recent bombing in Iran.

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But is that the measure of a country's will to exist?  Put paper on the table.

Some 40,000 Americans died in Korea.

About 50,000 died in Vietnam.

About 3,000 died in Afghanistan/Iraq.

Some 360,000 northerners (Yankees) died to maintain the Union. 

 

 

[paxamericana]

Yeah we got cool stuff.

If you're missing pixels out of the sky, you might be getting warheads on foreheads.

Truthfully, I don't think one live on bread alone. There has to be a greater reason to continue living, let alone prosper. I do not blame young people for not wanting to have kids, it is a heavy responsibility to raise an individual , to teach them how to toil and suffer torment of life. We have moved away from our core values with the cultural push toward secularism and nihilism. Unless we can rediscover the reason for our own existence, I don't think our society will thrive. We are all committing cultural mass suicide. 

Edited July 5, 2025 by paxamericana

[CdnFox]

On 7/2/2025 at 8:29 PM, August1991 said:

Americans are very proud of their technological prowess.

Hiroshima; this recent bombing in Iran.

=====

But is that the measure of a country's will to exist?  Put paper on the table.

Some 40,000 Americans died in Korea.

About 50,000 died in Vietnam.

About 3,000 died in Afghanistan/Iraq.

Some 360,000 northerners (Yankees) died to maintain the Union. 

 

 

And those deaths helped pave the way for peaceful and free lives for the better part of 5 or 6 hundred million people who have lived between 1776 and today in America.

Especially when you take out the war of independence, that is a tiny amount of life freely given by people who believed in what they fought for in order to secure A peaceful future for many hundreds of millions.

I suspect they'd consider it worth the exchange

[herbie]

Cut NASA funding more, build more bombs. We don't need exploration and knowledge we need Space Forts and Death Stars.

[User]

10 minutes ago, herbie said:

Cut NASA funding more, build more bombs. We don't need exploration and knowledge we need Space Forts and Death Stars.

How is your Canadian space program coming along?

[paxamericana]

2 hours ago, herbie said:

Cut NASA funding more, build more bombs. We don't need exploration and knowledge we need Space Forts and Death Stars.

You’re very welcome to cut back your healthcare spending and explore deep space. The people critical of US national interests seems to be the only one who don’t get a say. 

[CdnFox]

35 minutes ago, paxamericana said:

You’re very welcome to cut back your healthcare spending and explore deep space. The people critical of US national interests seems to be the only one who don’t get a say. 

Oh I think I've seen a few critics inside the US borders  

[paxamericana]

1 hour ago, CdnFox said:

Oh I think I've seen a few critics inside the US borders  

Those are activists, they get a shot every 4 years. Sometimes they win and sometimes they lose. But they get a vote, Canadians get to pound sand no matter what happens in the US. You all seem to enjoy complaining about it as a national pastime. 

Edited July 6, 2025 by paxamericana

[August1991]

20 hours ago, CdnFox said:

And those deaths helped pave the way for peaceful and free lives for the better part of 5 or 6 hundred million people who have lived between 1776 and today in America.

Especially when you take out the war of independence, that is a tiny amount of life freely given by people who believed in what they fought for in order to secure A peaceful future for many hundreds of millions.

I suspect they'd consider it worth the exchange

You miss my point.

Americans nowadays believe that technology will protect them.

[CdnFox]

2 hours ago, paxamericana said:

Those are activists, they get a shot every 4 years. Sometimes they win and sometimes they lose. But they get a vote, Canadians get to pound sand no matter what happens in the US. You all seem to enjoy complaining about it as a national pastime. 

Well it's always been the way it is, it's natural for the nobles to look down at the peasantry  

Joking aside your politics tend to be a lot more hilarious in ours tend to be a lot more normal. You can say a lot about American politics but it's rarely boring. You get presidents shot, you have major illegal scandals and secret wiretapping, they're frequently caught on hot Mike saying hilarious things, you guys will burn entire cities over your politics.

We get a lot of surprises and turns and twists but we don't get anything like your reality TV show kind of politics

[August1991]

On 7/5/2025 at 11:52 PM, CdnFox said:

Well it's always been the way it is, it's natural for the nobles to look down at the peasantry  

....

Churchill referred to the wars of religions, nations.

[August1991]

Wars are fought by young foolish naive men, aged 16-19 or so.

Ukraine has no such men.

Russia does.

[CdnFox]

44 minutes ago, August1991 said:

Wars are fought by young foolish naive men, aged 16-19 or so.

Ukraine has no such men.

Russia does.

Honestly I'd love to know what's wrong with you. Every now and then you make semi lucid posts sometimes even with valid points that are interesting. But a lot of the time it's just this dribble. Like honestly it's like you're trying to think of the stupidest thing you could say that's he least relevant and makes the least amount of sense. 

Can't you smarten up and make sensible statements that are relevant to the conversation? I have seen you do it I know you can, why not do that?

And no, wars are generally not fought by 16-year-olds in this day and age. At least not very many successful wars

[herbie]

The only 'problem' with the US military is how their top staff is being replaced with Trump loyal bag-lickers.
How long until they swear oaths to the Commander in Chief instead of the Consitution,are willing to fire upon fellow citizens and the Supreme Court rules 6-3 that 'I was only following orders" is a valid legal defence.

[User]

5 hours ago, herbie said:

The only 'problem' with the US military is how their top staff is being replaced with Trump loyal bag-lickers.
How long until they swear oaths to the Commander in Chief instead of the Consitution,are willing to fire upon fellow citizens and the Supreme Court rules 6-3 that 'I was only following orders" is a valid legal defence.

You never answered about how your Canadian space program was coming along... 

 

[herbie]

Wy not come up with a semi-intelligent response to the subject rather than whataboutism and I know you are but what am I?

Just want to ignore your national embarassment of hitching rides on Soyuz or waiting for private space capsules that get recalled more often than Big 2 cars?

The USA claimed to be and was expected to be the leader by the whole world and now you're cheering on a buffoon steering you into less than mediocrity.

[User]

4 hours ago, herbie said:

Wy not come up with a semi-intelligent response to the subject rather than whataboutism and I know you are but what am I?

Just want to ignore your national embarassment of hitching rides on Soyuz or waiting for private space capsules that get recalled more often than Big 2 cars?

The USA claimed to be and was expected to be the leader by the whole world and now you're cheering on a buffoon steering you into less than mediocrity.

Are you embarrassed because you have no space program?

Last I checked, America was not just leading the world in putting payloads into orbit; we are completely dominating it. 

[August1991]

On 7/12/2025 at 3:40 AM, CdnFox said:

....

And no, wars are generally not fought by 16-year-olds in this day and age. At least not very many successful wars

Disagree.

In this day and age, wars are still fought by naive young males.

[CdnFox]

2 minutes ago, August1991 said:

Disagree.

In this day and age, wars are still fought by naive young males.

No they're not.

The average age of Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine has been reported to be around 36 to 38 years old. 

average age of russian soldiers - Google Search

Regarding age across various IDF service programs, the average varied from just over 18 years old to just over 33. All in all, the average age was 19 years and three months.

average age of israeli soldiers - Google Search

The average age of a US soldier in the active-duty force is 28.5 years old. This average varies slightly by branch, with the Marine Corps being the youngest (25.2 years) and the Space Force being the oldest (31.4 years), according to USAFacts. The average age for enlisted members is 27.3 years, while the average age for officers is 34.3 years, according to USNI News. 

average age of us soldiers - Google Search

The average age of Iranian soldiers is not explicitly stated in the provided search results. However, it is known that military service in Iran is compulsory for men over 18, and conscripts typically serve for around two years. The CIA World Factbook states that the median age in Iran is 33.3 years,

average age of iran soldiers - Google Search

 

 

These are the major wars going on these days. The soldiers are all vastly older than 16.

 

Once again you are just wrong. You have no idea what you're talking about and the facts completely refute what you say.

I honestly don't know what's wrong with you these days

[August1991]

5 hours ago, CdnFox said:

....

These are the major wars going on these days. The soldiers are all vastly older than 16.

Once again you are just wrong. You have no idea what you're talking about and the facts completely refute what you say.

I honestly don't know what's wrong with you these days

 

Americans bring all their dead to a single place: France, Italy. Each person has a name. You Americans identify the religion.

In France and the Netherlands, there are German war cementaries. They have black stones for their dead.

I have walked around various Commonwealth cementaries - even in churches. Around the world. We bury our dead near where they die.

1914-1945.

Some have no name. But what strikes me in all these visits is to two things:

-the age of the guy, how young they were

-and the occasional remark, he died for his fellow 

 

[August1991]

Trump is correct.

1) Zelenskiy has no cards.

2) Putin sends a bunch of drones.

[CdnFox]

9 hours ago, August1991 said:

 

Americans bring all their dead to a single place: France, Italy. Each person has a name. You Americans identify the religion.

In France and the Netherlands, there are German war cementaries. They have black stones for their dead.

I have walked around various Commonwealth cementaries - even in churches. Around the world. We bury our dead near where they die.

1914-1945.

Some have no name. But what strikes me in all these visits is to two things:

-the age of the guy, how young they were

-and the occasional remark, he died for his fellow 

 

You're babbling like an 1diot again and also you know I'm Canadian not American

[August1991]

On 7/15/2025 at 11:50 AM, CdnFox said:

You're babbling like an 1diot again and also you know I'm Canadian not American

At issue is whether young men will fight.

Putin knows this. Nixon knew this. Johnson didn't.

======

There's an interview with Montgomery.

 

[CdnFox]

1 hour ago, August1991 said:

At issue is whether young men will fight.

Putin knows this. Nixon knew this. Johnson didn't.

======

There's an interview with Montgomery.

 

That absolutely is not an issue

[August1991]

1 hour ago, CdnFox said:

That absolutely is not an issue

Disagree. I am Canadian. 

I have lived abroad. Faced various groups of women, men, whatever.

If someone asked me to have a group of guys beside me in war/battle?

Russian.

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Western Ukrainian? They flake.