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Comment by flyinglizard | Hacker News Reader

Most of these Americans - vast majority I’d guess - aren’t even in a combat role.

On the balance of the last 70 years, if you live in a developed country you need to thank the US military for allowing you this unprecedented stability and peace for so long (I’m not an American so I’m one of those grateful).

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I'm impressed with the downvotes on this. Anyone care to back up your tacit disagreement with pax-americana [1]? Is it because you don't think it is true? Is it because you don't like the geopolitical landscape today? Just curious. FWIW I don't think the US forcing democracy on countries was universally good for those countries. In some cases it was, some cases it was wishful thinking and in the worst cases it was pure self interest. But to deny the world peace that resulted from US military dominance is extremely naive, and also blatantly disregards a trend we've seen throughout the course of world history.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pax_Americana

Stability and peace? Definitely not in the Middle East.

Leaving those dictators there in place would have provided more stability than the current state of violent chaos and hundreds of thousands of displaced refugees.

Most of the dictatorships are solid following turmoils of Arab spring. Iraq was the only major change, a rare mistake of the American foreign policy.

>Iraq was[...]a rare mistake of the American foreign policy

Look, I like the US, a lot, but let's not lie to ourselves here.

The military might be world class and also a mini welfare-state but it has left the rest of the country kinda a shithole (as the president famously described other countries). Literally walked by a huge homeless encampment yesterday where people were shooting up and living in tents.

This government is not of/by/for the people one bit.

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