Could America deal with another WWII size war today?

[tec]

totp

Originally Posted by Dhunter55

We can't afford a "big one" like WWII. I think it's because of that Nuclear Winter thing.

ok

but, can the American nation, as a whole defend itself in a non nuclear war, can we fight the battle on multiple fronts, that is the question.

[mattjohnston87]

I believe it would depend on who the enemy was.

Matt

[jtkratzer]

Originally Posted by Powerman

My point of the "no brainer" comment was that what the history books tell us post WWII, does not reflect the views pre WWII...but I digress

I think there is something wrong with that attitude. Who are we to tell sovereign countries how they can and can't act. If their people don't revolt, why is it our business? That is just my opinion. Whether anyone agrees with me or not is of no concern. However, that is the very thing that makes Iraq a political war. I'm not a real big fan of political wars.

This is just another opinion. The very act of terrorism is used by a desperate force that has no political or military means. The very fact that the EXTREMISTS use such tactics further reinforces their fringe status. The Muslim world is not against us. If the Muslim countries united as allies to put an end to us, we would have big problems. I'm talking about the majority of the Muslim World population, not the Middle East.

My opinion is that the terrorists lack any means at all at accomplishing their goals. 9/11 was not some little car bomb, however, they have no recourses to even come close to taking over the world. Just look at the Middle East. They all don't care for us, but they don't unite against us. Hell, look at Iraq. The factions hate us but can't even get along long enough to get us out of their country.

The difference with Hitler was that he had the ambition and the means to accomplish his goals. I believe his only miscalculation was his going to war with Russia. If he had held with his non-aggression till he secured Europe, we could be living in a very different world today. The Extremist Islamic movement is not even in the same solar system with the threat that Nazi German posed. That is just my opinion though and not everyone agrees.

First things first, i don't think we're all that far away from agreeing with each other, it's in the details.

it might be an opinion, but it is an accurate statement. when they say our country and belief system is the physical existence of satan, and that we are all looked at as infidels simply because of where we were born and live, that's pretty clear that they are looking to destroy any one of us simply because of where we live, not because of anything we've actually done, but because we are associated with the United States.

about the decision on whether we are to impose any views or actions upon another country - when that country and it's citizens are a threat to the rest of the world, it's important to think about that.

i think we need to stop thinking so much about our little corner of town or the state or even the country. we are all citizens of the planet and we need our governments to start thinking and acting that way. if we do everything we can in this country to eliminate emissions and global warning, but china and russia do nothing or go the other way, it's a mute action for us. if the US and Russia agree to not launch nukes to avoid nuclear fall out and nuclear winter, but north korea and iran don't want to play by those roles, then what's the point.

i'm not preaching tolerance, but people need to learn how to co-exist and agree to disagree rather than constantly try to force others to think a particular way.

if the muslims/islamic followers don't like the jews or jewish faith, fine, then don't intermingle. do your own thing.

i personally believe, and i have no reason to think that my thought process is inaccurate, that if the terror networks around the world, with all their different beliefs, united for the general cause of the destruction of a particular country or government, they could do whatever they wanted against the rest of the world as long as we're not unified against them.

think about it...what if one of those planes on 9/11 actually took out the President and other planes took out the majority of the Senate and House of Representatives...what would this country do? it would have been absolute mayhem. 9/11 was not that far off from that happening.

how hard would it be or how long would it take for a united group of terrorists to gather the resources to construct a nuclear device? I believe a unification of all the terrorists, their networks, and resources would constitute them having the means devastate any country around the world. that devastation could go beyond repair.

I think this country would crumble to pieces if the intensity and frequency of car bombings and suicide bombings we see in israel and palastine happened here. when i say crumble to pieces, i'm saying the government would probably wash out the constitution and the bill of rights for the "good" of the people in an effort to bring order. i think we'd actually see something like what happened in the movie "the siege."

[Jmanwit]

This is an interesting thread, keep it going. I have one more thing to add though... Albert Einstein once said, "I do not know with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."

[AZXD]

Originally Posted by Jmanwit

This is an interesting thread, keep it going. I have one more thing to add though... Albert Einstein once said, "I do not know with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."

I've been following this for a few days, but haven't weighed in on the discussion. But I must say this is the first thing That does not frighten me when I think about the topic.

As for the rest, I agree, we have outsourced the nations capabilities that if faced with another WWII, we could not do it. But that is the past. The next one will be titled WWIII

Approximately 1 year ago, former speaker of the house Newt Gingrich told us that "America is in World War III and President Bush should say so". Yet no one really listened as the nation was glued to the TV watching re-runs of the Nancy Halloway story and awaiting the mention of the rich blonde one who died this year (sorry her name is not important to me).

So have we actually entered WWIII? Is it possible that the wheels of motion that define WWIII are turning slowly?
The actions of China, Korea, and the former Soviet Union (Putin), Lebanon, the United States, just about everyone. Are all items that any sane individual should not take lightly. We live in perilous times where the actions of an individual can develop into catastrophic events from which the entire world cannot easily recover.

Can we support any of the items mentioned in this thread in an effective manner without the full support of the nation. IMHO, absolutely not. That is the problem with this nation. It is not the people, it is the politicizing of actions and a leadership that has failed to rally the people behind the effort in a fashion that equates to what occurred when we finally entered WWII.

Can we as a nation be rallied again? Of course!
We rallied after 9/11 as the nations people embraced a just cause. The problem is the nations people lost focus over time, and that is the result of a leadership that was unable to keep the public focused. The problem does not lie with the current administration. It lies within an unidentifiable enemy.
Would we have focus if our country was invaded by an identifiable enemy? Absolutely.

Is this thread about events that are playing out as we speak? If it is, I say we declare vistory and move on to the sticks and stones.

[jtkratzer]

Originally Posted by AZXD

...trimmed...

So have we actually entered WWIII? Is it possible that the wheels of motion that define WWIII are turning slowly?
The actions of China, Korea, and the former Soviet Union (Putin), Lebanon, the United States, just about everyone. Are all items that any sane individual should not take lightly. We live in perilous times where the actions of an individual can develop into catastrophic events from which the entire world cannot easily recover.

I think we have entered into what will be called world war III in the years to come. if north korea and iran continue to move forward with their nuclear programs, countries will have 2 options, pick a side or just watch it unfold. if either one of these countries actually does develop a nuclear weapon, there won't be a single country on the face of the planet that will go unaffected in some way from the aftermath. i'm not saying there will be a nuclear war, but with sanctions already being strongly talked about for both countries and the US saying they will not take military action off the table, something is going to come of this and it's going to realign the Axis/Allies powers of the world.

The actions of one individual, one terrorist could change the course of the entire world depending on the severity of those actions. granted it was hollywood, but look at what played out in the movie "the sum of all fears." not the neo-facist trying to put russia and the US on a collision course, but think what would happen if a dirty bomb was detonated on the US eastern seaboard within 200 miles of DC. I can't even imagine what would happen.

Can we support any of the items mentioned in this thread in an effective manner without the full support of the nation. IMHO, absolutely not. That is the problem with this nation. It is not the people, it is the politicizing of actions and a leadership that has failed to rally the people behind the effort in a fashion that equates to what occurred when we finally entered WWII.

this is my gripe with the general public who were so quick to sing the national anthem and what not after 9/11 but were almost as quick to jump off the bandwagon and start criticizing.

i think the internet has played a huge roll in the digression of how people associate and feel towards politics and what their country and its leaders are doing.

we have people reading news from other countries, perhaps agreeing with that news to the point where they start to think that there are better places to live in the world than the United States. Personally, I feel very fortunate to be the 1 out of every 17 people born to be born in the United States. There are other countries I like, but this is my favorite. I'd rather live here than anywhere else.

Can we as a nation be rallied again? Of course!
We rallied after 9/11 as the nations people embraced a just cause. The problem is the nations people lost focus over time, and that is the result of a leadership that was unable to keep the public focused. The problem does not lie with the current administration. It lies within an unidentifiable enemy.
Would we have focus if our country was invaded by an identifiable enemy? Absolutely.

Is this thread about events that are playing out as we speak? If it is, I say we declare vistory and move on to the sticks and stones.

the problem with people losing "focus" is that people are way to apathetic and gutless and unwilling to finish the job or the determination to see it through. people in general would rather give up than over come obstacles and challenges. people would rather worry more about the little things around the house rather than the suffering and oppression of other people around the world. people are by nature selfish.

if people were more willing to do what's right rather than what's easy or comfortable, things would be a lot better off.