Matrix Games Forums

 Forums  Register  Login  Photo Gallery  Member List  Search  Calendars  FAQ 

My Profile  Inbox  Address Book  My Subscription  My Forums  Log Out

Al-Quaida bankrupting us?

 
View related threads: (in this forum | in all forums)

Logged in as: Guest
Users viewing this topic: none
  Printable Version
All Forums >> [General] >> General Discussion >> Al-Quaida bankrupting us? Page: [1]
Login
Message << Older Topic   Newer Topic >>
Al-Quaida bankrupting us? - 11/21/2004 11:58:10 PM   
Huskalator

 

Posts: 212
Joined: 5/17/2002
From: Kansas
Status: offline 		A friend of mine brought this up and I was wondering how viable of a theory this is.

I'm wishing this discussion not to turn political and ugly please.

We won the cold war by making the USSR chase us militarily and they eventually fell because they couldn't economically support the military expansion while supporting the populace.

Could Al-Quaida be doing the same thing to us? They are picking american economic targets while we spend huge ammounts on our military actions. The deficit is huge and still growing. This isn't something that would happen in a few years but 60 years down the road, just like the cold war. Can we support our actions in the long run? What of potential conflict with North Korea or China?

Is this something we should be watching out for or is my friend off base here in his theory?

_____________________________

SW Episode 2:Good movie, bad love story

Happiness is the only good. The time to be happy is now. The place to be happy is here. The way to be happy is to make others so.
Post #: 1
RE: Al-Quaida bankrupting us? - 11/22/2004 12:34:43 AM   
pasternakski


Posts: 6565
Joined: 6/29/2002
Status: offline 		You should be watching out for this over at Mad Cow's Steakhouse.

(in reply to Huskalator)
Post #: 2
RE: Al-Quaida bankrupting us? - 11/22/2004 12:43:06 AM   
RBWhite


Posts: 1484
Joined: 8/28/2004
From: Somerdale, New Jersey, USA
Status: offline 		Our deficits has been worse than this many times.

Lookup how large our deficit was when The US broke the back of the Soviet Union.

For some unknown reason I think Wall Steet likes that and so does the economy.

I really don't see it happening. Our system is very redundant.

Strange stuff.

Rick White

_____________________________


(in reply to Huskalator)
Post #: 3
RE: Al-Quaida bankrupting us? - 11/22/2004 5:30:28 AM   
a19999577

 

Posts: 118
Joined: 3/31/2004
From: Lima, Peru
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: pasternakski

You should be watching out for this over at Mad Cow's Steakhouse.


This seems like a contemporary military history issue to me, so I don't see the need to send it over to the Steakhouse.

I think Al-Qaida can gain some success in the war inasmuch as it can fuel dissent within the US. They're probably aiming for something like Vietnam. Except this time US government control over the media is much tighter than in the 60s or 70s. But another thing that is different is the existence of viable arab international media, such as Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya [sp?].

Conservatism, however, seems to be running strong in the US. Perhaps the long-term aim is to alienate the US from its allies, until it's forced to go it entirely alone. Despite the US possibly being able to bankroll wars around the world, the lack of an 'alliance' or 'coalition' to legitimize it in the external and internal front might lead to it folding in the mid to long run [10+ years]

(in reply to pasternakski)
Post #: 4
RE: Al-Quaida bankrupting us? - 11/22/2004 5:49:49 AM   
Hexed Gamer


Posts: 561
Joined: 6/24/2004
Status: offline 		To put a historical spin on this.

The space race was a pissing contest that while admittedly generated significant technology advances, was still a pissing contest.

The cold war was a bit more of an offshoot of the same pissing contest for the most part.

And both sides had massive nuclear arsenals that put the entire planet at risk too.

Today, the US is in a very rare position. They have all the military might, but really, no real military opponent.

They can't win a pissing contest against terror groups, simply because they are not required to support a nation, and a large military.
They don't enjoy much in the way of power projection, but at the same time, are also obviously a ard target to spot.

Terror is indeed costing the US massive sums of money, because their military machine is not cheap to run.
One day's operations in Iraq, is stupendous.
Every day the US spends in Iraq, is a major victory for their enemy.
Every day the US spends impeding ordinary business at home while looking over their backs daily, is a major victory for their opponent.

As was mentioned, the bill won't come today or this year. But it will come.

The US was lucky it was not ruined by the cold war deal, but they might not be so lucky in this current variation.

_____________________________

There is only one Hexed Gamer
http://s3.invisionfree.com/Les_s_Place

(in reply to a19999577)
Post #: 5
RE: Al-Quaida bankrupting us? - 11/22/2004 8:16:32 AM   
Sarge


Posts: 2841
Joined: 3/1/2003
From: ask doggie
Status: offline
Estimate


The most recent UN estimate of Iraqis killed directly related from the war was about 40,000 (+ or - 10,000) back in Sept.

The most recent US estimate of the cost of the war to date (month old) was 144.4 billion


Would be interesting to figure the cost of per. KIA of WWI, WW2, Korea, and Vietnam wars to the US. I remember hearing back in the service it was etimated that the cost to the tax payers was 180,000.00 per NVA/VC KIA.

< Message edited by Sarge -- 11/22/2004 6:29:06 AM >

_____________________________


(in reply to Hexed Gamer)
Post #: 6
RE: Al-Quaida bankrupting us? - 11/22/2004 9:30:12 AM   
Hexed Gamer


Posts: 561
Joined: 6/24/2004
Status: offline 		Interesting numbers, man if I had 144 billion.

I wonder how many people can even fathom how much money that is.

Heck the interest alone on 144 billion for say a few days likely would put all the US's allies out of debt.

Must be nice to have endless amounts of money.

_____________________________

There is only one Hexed Gamer
http://s3.invisionfree.com/Les_s_Place

(in reply to Sarge)
Post #: 7
RE: Al-Quaida bankrupting us? - 11/22/2004 10:03:03 AM   
pasternakski


Posts: 6565
Joined: 6/29/2002
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Hexed Gamer

To put a historical spin on this.

The space race was a pissing contest that while admittedly generated significant technology advances, was still a pissing contest.


You gotta be careful spinning and pissing at the same time. I saw a dog try that once chasing a car and he lost his lug nuts.

(in reply to Hexed Gamer)
Post #: 8
RE: Al-Quaida bankrupting us? - 11/22/2004 10:06:19 AM   
pasternakski


Posts: 6565
Joined: 6/29/2002
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: a19999577

This seems like a contemporary military history issue to me, so I don't see the need to send it over to the Steakhouse.


All this amounts to is expostulation of goofy uninformed punk viewpoints. Take 'er to Vinny's joint, sez I.

(in reply to a19999577)
Post #: 9
RE: Al-Quaida bankrupting us? - 11/22/2004 4:03:35 PM   
VicKevlar

 

Posts: 881
Joined: 1/4/2001
From: Minneapolis, MN
Status: offline 		Yes.......this issue needs to head over to Vinny and Doog's place.

Locking up.

_____________________________

The infantry doesn't change. We're the only arm of the military where the weapon is the man himself.

C. T. Shortis


(in reply to pasternakski)
Post #: 10
Page:   [1]
All Forums >> [General] >> General Discussion >> Al-Quaida bankrupting us? Page: [1]
Jump to:





New Messages No New Messages
Hot Topic w/ New Messages Hot Topic w/o New Messages
Locked w/ New Messages Locked w/o New Messages
 Post New Thread
 Reply to Message
 Post New Poll
 Submit Vote
 Delete My Own Post
 Delete My Own Thread
 Rate Posts


Forum Software © ASPPlayground.NET Advanced Edition 2.4.5 ANSI

0.813