War opinions?

[nerodx]

Wow haven't really posted on here in awhile.
Anywho I'm pretty bored and was just looking at some stuff on the internet that got me thinking about the military, wars and all that junk. I thought I could get some actually useful opinions on it from you guys, since most of you are much more insightful then the rest of the internet. So if you feel like posting just say what you think about things like the Iraq war (yes I realize many people here are in countries not involved in it, but opinions from people who are merely watching are important too, less biased). Plus the military, or just fighting in general. Just curious.

[Untadaike]

Uhh, wheres all the nuclear weapons we heard about???

[Jeff]

It is really, really expensive. War is a massive industry.

[Groveller]

It may be expensive, but it's not like the resources are hard to come by. You just click your harvester over to the spice and wait a minute. Just watch out for WMDs. Worms of Malevolent Digestion.

That's why the war in Arrakis is taking so long. All the worms.

[Ozymandias]

It may be expensive, but it's not like the resources are hard to come by. You just click your harvester over to the spice and wait a minute. Just watch out for WMDs. Worms of Malevolent Digestion.

That's why the war in Arrakis is taking so long. All the worms.

That was the first RTS game I played... on the Sega Genesis. Fun times.

Anyways, I don't really pay attention to world stuff because I'm stupid. So...

[invertin]

Big wars can be good for the economy. Well, not in short term, but long term. Look at WWII, alot of modern day inventions came out of that!

Since most wars nowadays are a case of us or america jumping over into a developing country and beating them up, it's just a case of spending money on killing.

There may be a reason for the killing, but it's not always a good one.

[kehaar]

Yeah, someone's making some money.

... how do I get in line for a palette of hundred dollar bills in shrink-wrapped bricks?

[ecyor0]

Heh, good to see this isn't devolving into a flame war...

...wait, did I just make a pun?

Anywho, opinions. Well, the Iraq war specifically left a bad taste in everybody's mouth, as far as I can tell - opinions I've heard range from "America just got a little too itchy with the trigger finger", all the way to "It was all a conspiracy, and the real reason they invaded was so they could seize all the oil fields". Personally, I veer more towards the former - IMO, the military's motives were a little suspect, but they genuinely perceived Iraq as a threat. The fact that the perceived threat never really materialised... yeah, that'll always come back to bite you later on.

Now, war in general: I personally see it as one of those necessary, unnecessary evils. In a perfect world, there would be no need for war. However, we don't live in a perfect world. And there are times when going to war is actually better than not going to war - Britain against Germany in WWII, for instance. That was really a case of "either we take a stand here and now, or let an evil empire overtake the entire world". And in that sense, WWII was really the last war with definite bad guys and good guys - and even then it's a little bit hazy, since the Soviets were on our side XD.

And of course, "war" in the traditional sense, doesn't happen anymore. Sure, troops invade countries, but they do so in individual squads, supported by some armored transports, some artillery and SRM's. And some tanks in the more dangerous areas. The en-masse troop engagements of the past are now just that - a thing of the past.

[invertin]

I always saw it as one of those moments in stories when the two badguys don't get along anymore, so one teams up with the heroes to take the badguy down. He's still a badguy, just not an antagonist.

I think we use less troops because of all of the crazy tech we have nowadays.

I wouldn't be surprised if we won a war by sending in a single guy with a spartan laser.

[nerodx]

Yeah I agree with invertin and ecyor, yeah we americans got a lil too mad and now we're stuck there for a few more years in a war easily avoidable. And thats true about the economy thing, it's also not going so good over here with that though. (Also random question, hows the economy in Europe anyway? I've been so focused on ours going to shit so much I haven't checked up on anyone elses.) One thing I want to say though is about the amount of troops much lower than in a real war like WWII, I can't help but think that another big war is coming soon, it's just a matter of when. History is supposed to be teaching us to prevent mistakes like that, but it doesn't seem to be working.
And yeah a spartan laser would win, lol.