The US has bombed over a half dozen countries in the past year. The US is led by a vile rapist abomination that openly threatens "annihilation" repeatedly, and has a drunkard, profoundly incompetent "secretary of war" that openly flouts literal war crimes (when US soldiers are being subjected to torture and US cities are glassed, hey, think fondly to when that "germs aren't real" halfwit boasted about how rules don't constrain the US, and "no quarter, no mercy shall be given". That emaciated pathetic little loser is so tough and brave). That casually talks about nuclear attacks like it's nothing.
Trump stood at the lectern of the UN and in an utterly insane, deranged, self-aggrandizing speech (again, just another day in the insane idiocracy that the US has become, and it isn't even notable, the decline so severe and accelerating), boasted about looting the resources of Venezuela. Boasted about his assault on the ICC. Two-bit, shithole banana republic junta type horseshit. A worldwide embarrassment.
The US is repeatedly and proudly engaged in wantonly illegal piracy at sea. It boasts about the textbook definition of terrorism.
The US has done more to encourage nuclear proliferation in the last two years than in all of history. It has taught that everyone needs to get nuclear weapons, and many of them need to be pointed at the US. It has pushed the notion that might makes right, and if you have the ability you can steal and rampage whatever you want, in a lawless world.
Your claim that the US is holding the gates is absolutely perverse, and your worldview is most certainly some US exceptionalism bullshit. From the American ocean to the American ocean, crossing all of Americas on planet America, in a solar system filled with Americas, the US of A is by far the world's biggest danger, and it is rapidly devolving. Time to use the Supreme Intelligence (SI! I told my boy here and he liked it!) to find an answer!
And just to be clear, this isn't all on Trump. He's a symptom, not the disease. This sort of idiocracy garbage utterly infects all corners of the US, and it keeps sloshing to the surface.
This American exceptionalism answer has always been amazing to me.
No other country gives two shits if the US "recognizes" the ICC. As a serial warcrime committing nation, of course the US doesn't want it having legitimacy, as it terroristically blows up random boats and schools full of children.
And of course they also want to protect their serial warcrime best pal Israel in the process.
See, the thing about the ICC is that the countries that do recognize it carry out its warrants. Netanyahu can traipze around warcrime nations like the US, but he can't visit Europe, for instance. Because those countries do believe in the ICC. No one is sending military arrest teams to Israel.
How is this remotely the US' say? I have yet to hear an American explain their belief that they get to force others to not have the ICC that doesn't sound like vile devolved, "but we get to murder children!" horseshit. Yes, I get that you're madly in love with committing war crimes, but understand that you're the pariah. Everyone else doesn't have to worsen their standards to the catastrophically low bar you accept. as your pedophile kleptocracy drags your further and further into the abyss.
> What is this "other country" going to do about it?
Wow, sounds toothless. Pretty weird then the extraordinary lengths the US is going to in efforts to destroy it, right? I mean, these two things almost seem incredibly stupid to claim simultaneously. The US has expended enormous political and financial capital trying to destroy the ICC, all because it's so irrelevant and doesn't matter. You know, not unlike how the various administrative pedos and criminals constantly talk about how little Canada matters by talking about it constantly, 24/7, every fucking day. It's pathetic business.
The ICC is an agreement between the good countries of the world to hold human garbage to account. There is no surprise why this upsets human garbage and busted, shithole cultures.
> America isn't exceptional at all in that regard.
Oh, it absolutely is exceptional. Ignoring that Russia is also a universal shitheel problem for the planet, and there are clear reasons why it doesn't like such organizations, China and India have done nothing to thwart or attack the ICC. Nothing. China has overtly stated that they support its mission and disagree with attacks against it. Because China is an infinitely more civilized country that the US is. Which is why the US is flailing and grasping as a fallen empire shithole relegated to the dustbin of history.
BTW - did you see when Trump thought having a bunch of bombers doing afterburner runs would somehow scare Xi? Pathetic banana republic strongman garbage of a busted idiocracy. Pretty hilarious when that soft-handed weaking imbecile winced at the scary noises, mogged out by Xi who again pointed out that the US is a fallen shithole, all while Trump is showing him the autopen while the entire world laughs at how unbelievably pathetic this all is. But this pathetic business goes hard for tens of millions of incredibly stupid Americans that still fall for this grifter rapist.
> Pretty weird then the extraordinary lengths the US is going to in efforts to destroy it, right?
Maybe the current American administration just hates the ICC and disagrees with some of their rulings and is casually destroying it without so called “extraordinary efforts”.
It...hasn't destroyed it at all. In all likelihood China will join the group just to fully take the mantle as leader of the world.
>without so called “extraordinary efforts”
The US administration has burned enormous political goodwill attacking the ICC on behalf of Israel. But more importantly they have set the gears in motion for enormous financial consequences as well.
Do you know why Europe is fast-tracking replacing Visa and Mastercard? Because the pedo-kleptocracy in power in the US used those systems to punish ICC judges[1]. Do you understand how profound the consequences of this will be?
See, the US has decades of goodwill and inertia and entrenchment in place. These things don't change overnight. But it again elected a criminal pedo that is pushing garbage polices, so the whole world is being de-US'd. The consequences are going to be enormous for Americans.
[1] - as a fun fact, any business operating anywhere in the world should be kicked out or fined enormous amounts if it ever applies sanctions that aren't locally recognized. If the US abuses the fact that post-WWs the West centralized business in the largest "safe" country among the cohort, it should very quickly be removed from this position.
Well not yet but if the US proceeds with sanctions that will likely spell the end. But if the US can’t destroy it then who cares? Have your court, go arrest Putin and the IRGC for their crimes. Let us know how successful you are.
> In all likelihood China will join the group just to fully take the mantle as leader of the world.
I don’t see how China allegedly joining the ICC makes it the “leader of the world”. Seems like a stretch to me.
> The US administration has burned enormous political goodwill attacking the ICC on behalf of Israel.
Well some of that (perhaps most) is well-placed.
> But more importantly they have set the gears in motion for enormous financial consequences as well.
Because of the ICC? No I don’t think so.
> Do you know why Europe is fast-tracking replacing Visa and Mastercard? Because the pedo-kleptocracy in power in the US used those systems to punish ICC judges[1]. Do you understand how profound the consequences of this will be?
That’s not happening. First even standing up a “European” platform has challenges because not all European countries agree on how this would be implemented. Second, Americans have and will for the foreseeable future have a shit load of money. Europeans want that money, so they’ll continue to accept Visa and Mastercard. I see American Express accepted more and more too on my regular visits to various European countries. By the way, you know that Europe can stand up payments systems and still accept cards issued in other countries? Tell me, do you think Americans are walking around worried Europeans are not going to take Mastercard or something? Please have some pride and stop acting like random things like this are your political Super Bowl or something. Americans just do not give a shit about this lol and nobody is worried.
> as a fun fact, any business operating anywhere in the world should be kicked out or fined enormous amounts if it ever applies sanctions that aren't locally recognized.
You should be careful not to confuse what you want the world to look like with how the world actually works. I think it’s clouding your judgement and ability to make good decisions.
> If the US abuses the fact that post-WWs the West centralized business in the largest "safe" country among the cohort, it should very quickly be removed from this position.
Good luck or sorry that happened or whatever. Let us know.
> I don’t see how China allegedly joining the ICC makes it the “leader of the world”. Seems like a stretch to me.
It's a process. The US is a busted shithole, and everyone is moving on. Well I guess you have the Board of Peace.
> Because of the ICC? No I don’t think so.
PRECISELY because of the ICC and the US abusing sanctions.
> Americans just do not give a shit about this lol and nobody is worried.
I mean, yes the whole world knows this. Americans are profoundly stupid and uninformed, generally, and sorry but almost all of your comments are just hilarious to this ends. The original claim that the despotic, terroristic US is holding the barbarians back is just the chef's kiss of insane nonsense.
The US is effectively bankrupt. Bond rates are spiralling. Yeah, friend, revisit this thread in 5 or 10 years. You, and so many like you, have absolutely no idea how the world works and it's amazing.
> You should be careful not to confuse what you want the world to look like with how the world actually works.
Never has self-deception been more blatantly stated. Actually amazing.
I mean, good luck with all of that and everything. As your nation spirals with a fascist bag of shit destroying everything.
> The US has bombed over a half dozen countries in the past year.
Which ones? I'm sure there's a very good reason for each so let's walk through them with civility.
> The US is led by a vile rapist abomination that openly threatens "annihilation"
Trump is probably a rapist but our justice system has failed to prosecute him. But the memory of justice is rather long. He may yet get his day. Separately yea who cares about the annihilation threats. Iran has been doing that for a long time. If they don't like hearing it maybe they should stop too.
> The US is repeatedly and proudly engaged in wantonly illegal piracy at sea. It boasts about the textbook definition of terrorism.
What examples do you have of wanton piracy?
> The US has done more to encourage nuclear proliferation in the last two years than in all of history.
I'd argue Russia has done more there by invading Ukraine.
> It has taught that everyone needs to get nuclear weapons, and many of them need to be pointed at the US.
No nobody has been taught that. But they have been taught that if they step out of line and don't have enough of a deterrent like North Korea, that if they try and build nuclear weapons they'll be on the receiving end of sanctions, and then if that isn't a good enough incentive we'll come bomb them and stop them. You are welcome.
> It has pushed the notion that might makes right, and if you have the ability you can steal and rampage whatever you want, in a lawless world.
Might does make right though. International law is just some stuff made up largely by western nations and backed by American military power. If you have no will or ability to enforce international law, like, idk, stopping Iran from building a nuclear weapon, then the law is pointless.
> Your claim that the US is holding the gates is absolutely perverse, and your worldview is most certainly some US exceptionalism bullshit.
No, it's not perverse. I just disagree with your point of view.
> This sort of idiocracy garbage utterly infects all corners of the US, and it keeps sloshing to the surface.
Isn't it embarrassing that all these idiots are the dominant force on the planet and you have to cry to them to help you against Russia and they make much more money than your citizens? If you're going to insult Americans like this you should at least have something worth insulting us over. I do think biking culture is way better than driving, but I'm not sure about much else.
I'd argue Russia has done more there by invading Ukraine.
Nope, nobody was talking about getting nukes after the invasion in 2022.
Everybody started talking about getting nukes after: (1) Trump has been threatening to leave NATO and casting doubt about upholding Article 5, so nobody is really sure if the nuclear umbrella extends to Europe anymore; and (2) Trump has threatened to invade Greenland.
Basically, nobody here trusts the US anymore, but politicians are keeping up appearances to race to scale up production capacity of arms, etc.
Trumpists will typically say "but why should the US provide the nuclear umbrella for Europe?" Which is woefully ignorant of history, the whole NATO nuclear sharing arrangement, etc. exists, because the US didn't want European countries like (West-)Germany to have their own nukes.
Isn't it embarrassing that all these idiots are the dominant force on the planet and you have to cry to them to help you against Russia and they make much more money than your citizens? If you're going to insult Americans like this you should at least have something worth insulting us over. I do think biking culture is way better than driving, but I'm not sure about much else.
Sorry, but the arrogance is perplexing. First, European countries contributed a lot more money to Ukraine than the US. Second, when the US, Ukraine, etc. signed the Budapest memorandum, they US implied that they would respond to a Russian attack.
However, when negotiating the security assurances, U.S. officials told their Ukrainian counterparts that, were Russia to violate them, the United States would take a strong interest and respond. [...] Washington did not promise unlimited support. The Budapest Memorandum contains security “assurances,” not “guarantees.” Guarantees would have implied a commitment of American military force, which NATO members have. U.S. officials made clear that was not on offer. Hence, assurances.
And this is exactly one of the issues of the US now. It is completely reliable. Make a trade agreement and then on a whim Trump can decide to shred it again.
The funniest case was that Trump wanted to impose tariffs when Denmark wanted to send troops to Greenland... Which is an autonomous territory of Denmark.
> Nope, nobody was talking about getting nukes after the invasion in 2022.
That's not what I recall. And I also recall a lot of hand-wringing over how it was a shame that Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons (in a manner of speaking).
> Basically, nobody here trusts the US anymore, but politicians are keeping up appearances to race to scale up production capacity of arms, etc.
That's not true. Internet commentators don't trust the US, but they don't represent all peoples or governments. Even the Danes trusted us enough to sign an agreement giving us perpetual military access to Greenland even if the Greenlanders declare sovereignty.
> Trumpists will typically say "but why should the US provide the nuclear umbrella for Europe?" Which is woefully ignorant of history, the whole NATO nuclear sharing arrangement, etc. exists, because the US didn't want European countries like (West-)Germany to have their own nukes.
I think you are somewhat off the mark here. Nuclear weapons are of course important, but France and the United Kingdom have them too. I guess a question you want to ask Europe is the details and history about France and the United Kingdom's own nuclear umbrellas. If they have them, why do you need American nuclear weapons? Not that I'm personally opposed to also extending ours.
For Americans (and I have various levels of agreement and disagreement) it's less about the nuclear umbrella and more about the placement and utilization of conventional forces. As you can tell with the Iran war and the early days of the Ukraine war, the United States (thanks in part to Europe) has been brow-beaten so much about (what was it, 14 countries someone said we bombed this year?) how bad America is and how awful and racist and "colonizer" America is and all that stuff that many Americans are just fed up with utilizing our military for much of anything or dealing with the problems of other countries.
I'm not, personally, because I think it would be beneficial for us to stop Russia in Ukraine, stop Iran in the Middle East, and avoid a war with China while maintaining the status quo regarding Taiwan, but you know when someone like some posters in this thread want to spend all day talking about how your country is full of idiots eventually people say, well, maybe you guys should take care of your own problems, even if it ends up worse off for everyone.
> Sorry, but the arrogance is perplexing. First, European countries contributed a lot more money to Ukraine than the US. Second, when the US, Ukraine, etc. signed the Budapest memorandum, they US implied that they would respond to a Russian attack.
You say that like there should have been an expectation that the US contributed the same or more? This expectation you have, that you created for yourself, is of your own making.
Second, let's not forget the UK also signed that memorandum and while Europe was busy denying the US and UK's warnings of an imminent Russian invasion, the US and UK were running 24/7 airlift operations to get supplies to Ukraine, provided intelligence, and more. We did respond to the Russian attack. There's no requirement for US forces to respond.
"Even the Danes trusted us enough to sign an agreement giving us perpetual military access to Greenland"
"Trusted". Christ, I guess you subscribe to the Dennis Reynolds "implication" style of coercion. Recall that Denmark readied blood supplies and literally prepared troops for a US invasion. From an ally. "Trusted". Good god.
No one "trusts" the US. It is a worldwide danger, where a pedophile rapist kleptocracy tries to export its profound stupidity to better nations.
In the end, Denmark reaffirmed an existing agreement from 1951. The one that already saw the US having military bases on Greenland per the alliance. They not only broadened it from just the US, they explicitly restricted it such that the US can only maintain such bases if they remain in NATO.
They took an existing agreement and reaffirmed it with new conditions. So Trump, Mr. We're Pulling out of NATO, basically redoubled on NATO just to have a win, where the win is just the status quo. Hilarious stuff. And this actually sells to some Americans?
When they played "Send in the clowns" for Marco Rubio to sign this new "agreement" was just poetic.
Where do you get your news from? Twitter? Because wow, every one of your take is straight from America exceptional land, and it's bizarre (I didn't respond to your other comments out of mercy, but good god you simply have no idea). The fact that Trump celebrated this agreement is because the midterms are coming up and this pathetic loser, having literally nothing to show but failure from his reign of idiocy, needed a "win".
> If they have them, why do you need American nuclear weapons?
You seem to have missed their point. There was a detente and a worldwide "order". Russia stepped out of line and almost the entire world punished them for it. The order mattered. Might does not make right, and in the rule of international law you can't just steal land or resources.
Suddenly Trump not only heralds Putin and wants to cement his battlefield wins, through his incompetent family reps Kushner (jesus christ) and Witkoff, he continually praises Putin and justifies his aggression, constantly repeating Russia's absurd justifications for this foolish war. Then Trump engages in the same behaviour on behalf of the US, stealing the resources of Venezuela, and openly threatening Cuba. And I guarantee that Trump has repeatedly talked to his drunken halfwit SecWar about invading Canada. They openly threatened invading Greenland, just because they want it.
Right now, every capable country should be getting nuclear weapons. Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Brazil, Spain, and on and on. Putin tested the waters and Trump redoubled them and affirmed that there is no international rules, and everyone should be willing to murder billions of people. Any Americans -- having lived a life of peace, security, comfort and affluence -- who think this improves their lot is impossibly fucking stupid. All of history says uncountable Americans are going to die because of this foolish imbecile.
So Trump, Mr. We're Pulling out of NATO, basically redoubled on NATO just to have a win, where the win is just the status quo. Hilarious stuff. And this actually sells to some Americans?
"Art of the deal"
You seem to have missed their point. There was a detente and a worldwide "order". Russia stepped out of line and almost the entire world punished them for it. The order mattered.
Exactly this. It seems that the US has forgotten what soft power, alliances, rules-based world order means. You have the power because you have allies, because you can hold others to rules (and mostly keep up the appearance that you obey the rules yourself), etc. Initially, you can benefit from abusing that position, but it is short-term only. Your allies will form new alliances (e.g. Canada getting closer to the EU), stop buying your weapons, wean themselves of your products (this very news item), etc. The problem with incompetent people like Trump and his administration is that they only see the benefits of the short-term abuse, but not the terrible harm they do to themselves and the rest of the world long-term.
> "Trusted". Christ, I guess you subscribe to the Dennis Reynolds "implication" style of coercion. Recall that Denmark readied blood supplies and literally prepared troops for a US invasion. From an ally. "Trusted". Good god.
Yea interesting how they're so much more ready to go fight the US than fight Russia. But if you want to argue there's no trust there then you certainly can't trust our military being in Europe or backstopping NATO so if your goal is to dissolve NATO because of some arguing over, frankly, a lack of European defense investment in an area that is critical to American security (you own it you need to secure it) then well that's up to Europeans to decide.
I'm ignoring all the other stuff because it's boring and uninteresting. No I don't get my news from Twitter. I don't use social media.
> You seem to have missed their point.
No I'm debating their point. There's a difference.
> Suddenly Trump not only heralds Putin and wants to cement his battlefield wins, through his incompetent family reps Kushner (jesus christ) and Witkoff, he continually praises Putin and justifies his aggression, constantly repeating Russia's absurd justifications for this foolish war.
There are two large problems with this.
First, Europe has no ability to engage with Putin, and if Kushner and Witkoff are the people he will see then we should try for some manner of diplomacy even if the people that are sent aren't the ones you would prefer.
Second, while I fully support Ukraine regaining all of the territory it has lost, if Ukraine is unable to re-take the territory and Russia is unable to progress, it's stupid for all these soldiers to just go and die for no reason. If we can stop the war completely, for example, with Ukraine ceding this land, that's up to them but we should at least explore options and try to bring an end to the war.
> Then Trump engages in the same behaviour on behalf of the US, stealing the resources of Venezuela, and openly threatening Cuba. And I guarantee that Trump has repeatedly talked to his drunken halfwit SecWar about invading Canada.
I don't agree with how we've approached Canada.
Venezuela and Cuba are entirely separate things. Happy to discuss why if you want.
> They openly threatened invading Greenland, just because they want it.
It was a dumb negotiating tactic but it's important to us that it is defended to our satisfaction.
> Right now, every capable country should be getting nuclear weapons. Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Brazil, Spain, and on and on.
If you're in favor of nuclear proliferation then sure. But it doesn't include just the "good" countries. It also means Israel gets to ramp up its nuclear forces, Saudi Arabia gets nuclear weapons, Argentina can get nuclear weapons, and anyone else on your naughty list. So we will further double down on a more dangerous world and you're advocating for further breakdowns of international law.
Yea interesting how they're so much more ready to go fight the US than fight Russia.
Ehm, Russia didn't invade Danish territory. The US was threatening to invade Danish territory.
First, Europe has no ability to engage with Putin, and if Kushner and Witkoff are the people he will see then we should try for some manner of diplomacy even if the people that are sent aren't the ones you would prefer.
Putin only wants them because they are weak and can be played.
It was a dumb negotiating tactic but it's important to us that it is defended to our satisfaction.
It was not a negotiation tactic. They already had an agreement for over half a century that they could scale up US military presence as they would like. The US has reduced presence over the years.
Trump wanted to add land like every pathetic little (wannabe) dictator. But the EU showed some teeth suggesting that the trade bazooka could be employed, country moved troops to Greenland (so it wouldn't be a clean invasion without blood). So Trump TACOed out.
If it was a negotiation tactic it is bloody stupid ("art of the deal" I guess). Aside from getting a worse deal then before, as a side-effect many European countries that were planning to buy US arms are now switching to European options.
If you're in favor of nuclear proliferation then sure. But it doesn't include just the "good" countries. It also means Israel gets to ramp up its nuclear forces, Saudi Arabia gets nuclear weapons, Argentina can get nuclear weapons, and anyone else on your naughty list. So we will further double down on a more dangerous world and you're advocating for further breakdowns of international law.
Yes, and that was exactly my point earlier, the Trump and the US opened pandora's box. He disturbed the equilibrium by threatening to leave the NATO/not respecting article 5, by threatening to attack its own allies, by yelling Zelensky out of the White House. This sends ripples all over the world and Europe, Canada, and East Asian countries get the message "we cannot trust the US as an ally anymore", which leads to proliferation and probably more wars. It's very likely that Putin will try some sort of attack on NATO countries soon, just to test how firm Trump's commitments are. This would never have happened if he didn't weaken NATO. It's understandable that Poland gets nervous and wants to be able to MAD Russia.
> Ehm, Russia didn't invade Danish territory. The US was threatening to invade Danish territory.
Can you invade a territory in which you already have a dominant military presence? I appreciate Denmark’s bark loud approach but the country is militarily irrelevant. I think it was more of an awful negotiation tactic. We weren’t in the room. Maybe the Danes simply needed a reminder to take US concerns seriously and this was the crappy way of doing that.
> Putin only wants them because they are weak and can be played.
Either way they’re in the room at least trying something. Why aren’t European leaders in Moscow trying to get the war to end? Because they’re strong? Sorry that doesn’t pass the smell test.
> It was not a negotiation tactic. They already had an agreement for over half a century that they could scale up US military presence as they would like. The US has reduced presence over the years.
I disagree. Guess we can agree to disagree here. The new agreement protects American bases even if Greenland declares independence and also establishes formal, legal rights for America to prohibit hostile nations from mining or establishing military infrastructure on the island.
> Aside from getting a worse deal then before, as a side-effect many European countries that were planning to buy US arms are now switching to European options.
Well the deal is better. That’s an objective fact. Nobody in the US is threatened by or cares if Europeans are buying local. We led the way on that and we are happy that Europe is investing more in its defense and defense industrial base.
> This sends ripples all over the world and Europe, Canada, and East Asian countries get the message "we cannot trust the US as an ally anymore", which leads to proliferation and probably more wars.
That doesn’t reflect reality though. Japan and Korea for example haven’t lost trust. Putin by attacking Ukraine sort of forced the issue and to get countries thinking about whether the US would use nuclear weapons I guess in these wars? But the same is true for the EU. Even the language you are using doesn’t make sense to me. If Putin attacks a NATO country why is he all of a sudden testing how firm Trump’s commitments are? He would be testing how firm the EU’s commitments are instead. How fast do you think Spain or Italy will tap out when their kids are off dying in the cold to defend Estonia? What will to fight does France have when its economy is so heavily indebted? Poland and the United Kingdom will fight, the baltics would too since their lives are at stake. You can read for yourself survey results out of Germany where some large majority of German citizens said they wouldn’t fight to defend Germany. You’re going to read this as an attack on Europe. Nothing is further from the truth. I love Europe, but folks need to have a sober assessment of themselves here instead of hiding every possible problem behind Donald Trump.
>This has to be a joke. There is no way anyone on this planet is so deluded and misinformed.
No kidding. Donald Trump just opened the gate.