Empires seem to deploy their powers to the maximum, desisting only when they no longer have the wherewithal. We may soon be reminded that it was American decline that put Mr. Trump in a position to set American foreign policy in the first place.
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As I said in another thread, if these brief military excursions by Trump are weakening the United States as much as leftists and so-called rightwing pundits are insisting they have, then I will wait patiently to see what the international community is going to do about it.
You are now a 'so-called right-wing pundit' if you believe the same thing now as you did five days ago.
I do think he's right that it's not weak, though. And, as you know, I hate the move. But it's not weak.
You're also correct, though, that the people being called "so called right-wing" are just actually being consistent and, I'd argue, much more in line with actual American interests. It's crazy to say they can't be real rightwingers if they don't blindly fall in line with Current Thing.
I might even dispute that. Is 'the biggest guy in the neighborhood' tough or weak if he throws a kid to the wall? You could make the case for either. In terms of states, the best way to win is to win without fighting. Using force means you couldn't do that. Is this cope? Maybe.
But what he said was 'weakening'. Does this weaken the US? I can make a much better case that it does, though of course, I'm not a soothsayer. Of course, dag puts an impossible standard for what qualifies as "weaken". Unless Trump is dragged before a tribunal by other actors, the US was not weakened by this. By that standard, no action ever weakened the US.
I'll admit it's too soon to tell, that's for sure. Sadly, while far from a certainty, I'd say it's likely things to to shit in Venezuela, and it seems the US is insistent on being involved there, so we'll get dragged in. So it might end up being a weak move after all. But if it actually gets pulled off smoothly, it's pretty strong.
To dag's point, it would be throwing a weak kid to the wall, and daring all the other big guys in the neighborhood to do something about it...and they don't. Sadly, that's strong. You can say it's pathetic too, but it's a strong move. And it improves the US's position to try to force other kids to fall in line without needing to be thrown against the wall. Again, as you know, I hate the bullying. But, at least at present, I don't view it as weakening America's position...at least in the short term.
I guess, longer term, it's a weak move, since not every president will behave like this, so we're making America more hated on the world stage, and then we'll go back to being weaker...so the other big guys will be more inclined to bully us.
It's a copout, but I can see it going either way. And I certainly wish it hadn't been done at all.