I was born in the spring before the summer of love. Vietnam was in full swing. The US was fighting a very unpopular political war. Communism was the main threat to the American way of life and the cold war had been going strong since almost the moment WWII ended. During the cold war years the US was focused on stopping the spread of communism. What was the cost of trying to stop communism? Korea wasn't cheap. I'm sure vietnam wasn't either. How many lives were lost? Put a cost on the cold war. I'm sure the cost on humanity as well as the financial cost world wide was would be staggering. And now we have this war on terrorism. This threatened use of force or violence against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, for ideological or political reasons. Is this now what the US is focused on stopping. How long will this last? What price will have to be paid? The cold war went from fighting in the jungles to an arms race where a singe move could have ended the world as we know it. Terrorism strikes at the innocent to influence the masses. It started with car bombs in the streets and escalated into martyrs flying planes into buildings to destroy a way of life to which they object for religious or political reasons. Will terrorism be a more formidable foe than communism? Will this war on terror bring us back to the edge of destroying the earth? Will this war on terror last 25-30 years like the cold war? What will this world be like 30 years from now when my kids are my age? What will be the new abstract term like terrorism or communism that my kids generation will be at war with?
Well I wonder about the threat of communism. Did the Russians want to destroy us? It seems to me the Russians had the means but not the desire while the terrorists have the desire but not the means. I'm sure the terrorists would love to turn the US into a pile of rubble, but their more realistic goal is to scare us with attacks and threat of attacks until we leave the middle east. I think the threat of communism was overhyped bs. What did the Russians have to gain by attacking us or vice versa? With terrorism, there is a real goal. So I think terrorism is a much more formidable foe than communism.
You are dead wrong about that. Read some books on communism and see they intended for "World-wide socialism." If that isn't a threat, I don't know what is. The terrorists will not rest until the world is under the yoke of whacko Islam. They don't want us out of the ME (even though they say as much). They either want to assimilate or destroy us.
Bama is right. It is a cultural war, the old ways where women are subservient versus the new ways where people are free to choose. New world versus old. DD
Freedom is not a new concept. Old and new culture has nothing to do with it. The true enemy is fanatical, violent thinking itself. The question is what is the best way to transform it? Many atrocities have been committed in the name of freedom, God, etc. Fanatical, violent thought was also at the root of the abuse at Abu Ghraib prison, etc. The enemy is old. It has been around probably as long as we have.
You're too funny. Talk to the millions of Ukrainians starved to death by communism. Talk to the 30+ million sent to gulags over the years. Talk to the millions murdered by Mao about how funny communism was. Talk to the millions murdered by Pol Pot in Cambodia. Oh wait, you can't. They're dead. Saying communism was hype is like saying Hitler was just a painter. In sheer scope the threat from communism dwarfs terrorism. Destruction of planet is at the other end of the scale from the essence of terrorism, which is to kill innocents in small numbers with a magnified PR impact.
Add the thousands killed by Caesceau in Romania, thousands of folks who "disappeared" when the Sovs invaded Hungary. How about the the thousands who have "disappeared" under Castro and the thousands who have starved under the North Koreans? Communism was one of the greatest dangers to freedom ever faced by free men.
I'm not saying Communism wasn't a problem to those people. I'm saying it was never a threat to us. You are completely taking my words out of context. I know about what can happen when people force a others to adopt their ways. My family had to flee thier country because of communists, but that still doesn't mean that the United States was in danger of attack, which is what this thread is about. Why would the russians attack us? They had nothing to gain from attacking us because we'd retaliate. Explain to me how they succeed if they're wiped off the map too?
They didn't seek to destroy us all at once, but they sought to destabilize the surrounding nations and isolate us economically and militarily.
When people in the D&D Forum are debating the quality & integrity of various news sources........I always think of Duranty.
Yep. Oski2005 (I think the threat of communism was overhyped bs) actually sounds quite like Duranty: "What are a few million dead Russians in a situation like this? Quite unimportant. This is just an incident in the sweeping historical changes here. I think the entire matter is exaggerated."
Yeah, I'm sure Oski2005, whose family had to flee their home country because of communists, really feels that way.
The post that started this thread: <hr color=green> Now going for a tighter focus on specific parts: The thread starter mentioned stopping the spread of Communism and Oski2005 says that the thread is about the United States in danger of attack (alluding to a MAD scenario). The thread starter later alluded to MAD scenarios here: The thread starter mentioned both the spread of Communism and MAD scenarios while Oski2005 seems to have thought it was about MAD scenarios only. <hr color=green> If Oski2005 wants to discuss MAD scenarios and/or USSR versus NATO in a war on the European continent, then HayesStreet might be able give him a decent debate. If Oski2005 wants to discuss stopping the spread of communism (which the thread starter definitely mentioned), then HayesStreet might also be able to give a decent debate on that particular topic.
