[ExI] Is the USA turning into a Rogue State?

[Adrian Tymes]

Turning into?  Some of the most serious objections to American
exceptionalism is that it's been resulting in this kind of stuff for
decades - and that America doing this is a standard recruiting tool
for America's enemies.

Strict adherence to rules of engagement (which the current Secretary
of Defense has recently called "stupid"), enforced checking of intel
rather than blind reliance on sources that keep turning out flawed
(that school used to be military property, but hadn't been for several
years), and in general standing up to and refuting the warrior ethos
and cult of the operator (among other names the mentality has been
given) in favor of soldier mindsets would do more to win America's
wars than deploying all of its combined physical weaponry arsenal.

Consider the Ukrainian approach, when they invaded a small bit of
Russia.  Sure, there was use of force to protect their forces...who
then focused on humanitarian efforts.  What would happen if, instead
of airstrikes with an emphasis on collateral damage, America - or
Israel, or perhaps even a coalition of Iran's neighbors (perhaps led
by Iraq or Saudi Arabia) - did conduct a ground invasion of Iran, but
made sure that any areas they occupied quickly had their
infrastructure restored or improved?

On Sat, Mar 14, 2026 at 10:51 AM John Clark via extropy-chat
<extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
>
> Nicholas Kristo said something interesting in his New York Times column:
>
> "Suppose Iran dispatched operatives to Mexico, where, from the Texas border, they fired a missile at an American base and, unintentionally but carelessly, demolished a nearby American school, killing 175 people.
>
> What if they then blew up fuel depots, showering a chemical rain on residents? Then struck homes, schools and clinics, as Iran’s leader warned that “death, fire and fury” would so pulverize America that it could never be rebuilt?
>
> In that case, President Trump — and all of us — would howl at outrageous attacks on innocent civilians. And we’d be right."
>
> John K Clark    See what's on my list at  Extropolis
> 000
>
>
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