but why would they need to be accountable to anyone but their shareholders my fellow Friedman fan :^) :^) :^)
Honestly I'm rather glad it's lasted long enough for me to get to experience it soon too, I hear Afghanistan is beautiful country and I need more inspiration for my landscape paintings. If I get to go I'll bring you back an exotic rug, buddy.
I feel the same way friendo, no need to antagonize our NATO ally by arming and otherwise facilitating a Marxist revolutionary terrorist offshoot in the vain hope that they'll die for our geopolitical sins in Iraq and Syria - when actual American presence would have been much more appropriate. A leaky Obama band-aid for an Obama abrogation of American authority, I don't dig it either, glad he's out of office now.
This implies that we should ever have allowed Iran the capability of becoming a nuclear state. Yet another Obama administration foreign policy retreat that will hopefully (but not likely) be corrected by the current administration. "Lebanese" Shiites kill would-be Sunni Caliphate members, big shocker there. Can't wait for the Mattis Beirut Barracks Revenge War, myself. If not tomorrow then it will happen next decade, or the next after that, and regardless of whatever material reasons there will be for prosecuting it there'll at least be an opportunity for those in the know to, through it, transcend the mundane experience offered by modern life.
btw even based Mattis is softening his position on Iran, as are the rest of this administration's officials, it's highly likely that we'll simply be less accommodating and more boisterous than we were the past eight years, with only slight policy differences
christ, how horrifying.
firstly, of course any firm (weapons or corn or toasters or services or anything) need not be accountable to any other individual so long as they have not breached a signed contract nor initiated aggression on another individual or firm or their property
my issue is the incestuous relationship between gub'mint and the arms industry in which former intelligence officials, generals, admirals, etc pour into think-tanks and consultant roles once they're been discharged or retired, from which position they push aggressive foreign policy and alliances with unsavory actors (read: Saudi/UAE). i do firmly believe that the (statistically insignificant) deaths from terrorism, especially branded islamic terrorism is caused by blowback. SecState Albright blatantly said to the camera in 60 minute that, yes, as many as 500k Iraqi children dead as a direct result of U.S. sanctions (read: siege) was worth it to pursue U.S. foreign policy goals. Lotta fucking good that did, huh? Chrissake, the average dirt farmer on the ground doesn't think "boy these jolly Americans are sure trying to free me but this bad guy won't let them, im'a revolt", he thinks "wow things sure fucking sucked before and now we're dying of dysentary and starvation because the US won't let shit into the country, FUCK the US"
second, god bless it westwood it sure is terrifying to see a rhetorically-gifted, verbally intelligent conservative, and i hate it
third, of course we agree that the policy pursued of plopping a bunch of armed kurds on turkey's doorstep and saying that "hey these are ur new doormen, enjoy" is beyond asinine. but goddamnit, an actual American presence is the last thing from appropriate, you hegemonic turd! >
(not even gonna try to preach non-interventionism to u)
lastly, in response to your nice photos of folk in Iran hating the United States' guts, the CIA played a pivotal role in their 1953 coup in which we sponsored those SAVAK or w/e cunts to basically be sand-gestapo to any folk that didn't suck (always circumcized, oy vey!) US dick. 34 fucking years of that shit, you think you wouldn't be pissed as hell if you grew up hearing granny talk about how they shoved splinters under granpappy's fingernails and hooked his genitals up to a car-battery? and those cunts installed and paid for by Uncle Sam to perform such acts?
murder is murder and murderers should, without exception, in every circumstance be hanged publicly. even so, you reckon that a bunch of Texans or Cajuns or (insert shootey, somewhat insular US culture here) would tolerate several thousand foreign troops quartering themselves in homes, businesses? basically occupying? these foreign troops being of a completely different ethnicity, religion, and culture?
hell nah, man. they'd just be way fucking better at killing the interlopers.