Anyone Else Feel Like We're In The Early Stages Of World War III?

[Initech]

Russia is invading the Ukraine, Israel is attacking Gaza, we have insane gun nuts at the border pointing assault rifles at refugees crossing the border to avoid violence in their own countries, planes are getting shot out of the sky... Where does it end?

[Itchinjim]

1. No.

Pffft.

[ballyhoo]

2. Yep. That's the way I see it.... We all will

be Palestinians.

[TwilightGardener]

3. No, because we're not going to go to war over either Ukraine or

Israel/Gaza. More of a danger, war-wise, is China feuding with Japan, and whatever we end up doing with ISIS in Iraq.

[randys1]

4. We should be OK as long as the idiots have no real power over these things.

As long as Obama or Hillary are in the WH, war can be avoided.

The mainstream Dem party, as far to the right as they have gone, are still VASTLY superior in every way to righty ...

We do need to arrest the criminals at the border pointing guns at federal agents and refugees, they all need to be arrested and indicted and convicted and jailed.

[nomorenomore08]

65. +1000

I'm voting Dem in 2016 no matter who the nominee is. I have no choice.

[mwrguy]

5. The 80's called, they want their foreign policy back

Nothing to worry about.

[bigwillq]

6. No (nt)

[La Lioness Priyanka]

7. not to mention Chinese military overtures in the South China Sea, India electing Modi

and likely escalating situation in Pakistan and the humongous unstable problem that is ISIL/ISIS/.

Oh and also Ebola.

not sure if its WW3 or if we are just fucked over all.

[AngryAmish]

8. I criticize the President more than most, but thank god he is the president.

There are a lit of pro-war nutters both in the administration (Susan Powers) and in the opposition.

In ten years we are going to be real glad we did not go to war in Syria, for Iraq III and in Ukraine. These are regional wars of no interest to us. We are out of that Afghani shithole soon.

America is the number one energy producer in the world and we can soon tell everyone else who wants to live in the tenth century that they are welcome to it. But remember we got the bomb so keep your backward ass over there.

Obama has kept us out of war. His legacy is safe.

[sendero]

39. Ditto..

.... Obama has some serious shortcomings but at least he is not a "rush to war" type of guy.

[zappaman]

9. No.

But I feel like this Ebola could get out of hand...

[neverforget]

10. A miscalculation, an accident or some other spark could start a wider war.

Whether or not it's WW3 is another question.

[Scuba]

11. We've been in WWIII since Bush started invading other countries. The war on terror will be endless.

That's the beauty of it - with no countries to defend or overcome, the source of the terror will move across the planet like the wind, fanned by the flames of hatred that were engendered by battles long past.

[Electric Monk]

31. How do you declare victory over an abstract noun?

Having a "war on terror" is like trying to bomb away murder. How do you win?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1364012/Why-grammar-is-the-first-casualty-of-war.html

[Scuba]

34. Bingo. An endless war, feeding the MIC, starving and killing the rest of us.

[woo me with science]

72. We have always been at war with Eurasia....Eastasia....

Orwell was prescient.

[femmocrat]

12. No.

But I do not expect to ever see peace in the middle east.

[RKP5637]

13. My sixth sense has a very uncomfortable feeling, but that said I think not ... because

level heads preside in Washington with Obama. However, if we had McCain/Palin or Romney/Ryan I shudder to think of the escalation. If, we get a republican regime in 2016, I also shudder to think what might happen. I don't know about WW III, but I can see some really bad/escalated situations.

[Warren DeMontague]

14. You left out ebola.

Actually, though, the crap in the ME- while depressing- is more same shit different day. Over the past few decades this has been the rule more than the exception.

Putin's a thug, but i doubt the Ukraine becomes anything more than a regional problem.

Gun nuts at the border aren't really anything new, either.

[suffragette]

18. War deployments and events contributed to the spread of the 'Spanish flu.'

A very deadly combo.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=228&topic_id=4462&mesg_id=4634

Let's hope the current conflicts and Ebola are both contained.

[Warren DeMontague]

20. Certainly, although that's a very different disease.

Thankfully, there is no indication that ebola has "gone airborne". A flu strain usually circles the globe in a manner of weeks or months. Ebola has remained geographically contained, more or less.

Still, it's scary shit.

[suffragette]

25. Agree with both your points

[Agschmid]

44. The Ebola is what actually scares me.

[Warren DeMontague]

54. It scares me, too.

It's funny, though, I used to think I had fears, then I had kids and I realized I was never, actually afraid up until that point.

I didn't even know what fear was.

[Agschmid]

55. No kids yet for me... But I understand completely.

I am supposed to be flying into Heathrow for a week in London, in just a few weeks and I am totally reconsidering the trip right now.

I know I get a bit excitable.

[Warren DeMontague]

62. Man... Heathrow freaks me out even under normal conditions.

I sympathize!

[cheapdate]

15. Nope.

Israel v. Palestine is hardly breaking news. A political dispute turned ugly between Russia and Ukraine is hardly a sign of the apocalypse.

[LordGlenconner]

16. No.

[cpwm17]

17. No: despite some bad news on the war mongering front

overall, our chances of dying from a violent death, including from war, is less than ever in human history.

The ME is going through some tough times, much of it is our government's fault. That's really a shame. Corruption is a major problem here. But still, war is on the decline world-wide.

Ignoring the propaganda picture, this is a good video from a few years ago: Peace is Increasing:

[Initech]

21. Central America is also the work of the war on drugs.

And yet our media won't touch that one with a 10 foot pole.

[Logical]

19. Really? Wow. No we are not. nt

[lpbk2713]

22. ... but enough about GD

[BeeBee]

23. No. n/t

[upaloopa]

24. Obviously you were not around when we had

Students killed at college by the national guard, a President, an Attorney General and a Civil Rights leader assassinated. A Governor deny civil rights to his citizens and later get shot. Cities being burned to the ground, police rioting outside Democratic Convention beating protesters almost to death, millions of poor people marching to DC, Students sitting in their campuses for the freedom to think, civil rights marchers being beaten, bit by dogs and having fire hoses turned on them, 50,000 kids die in a war half way around the world. Russia killing citizens in Hungry and Czechoslovakia, China purging half it's population. We survived the sixties we can survive this.

[amandabeech]

45. There was a thread about 1968 on Thursday in GD

in conjunction with the CNN's series "The Sixties." Last week's episode was devoted to 1968. It will undoubtedly bring back memories.

I was thinking the same thing, at least with respect to the domestic problems.

[truebluegreen]

26. No. nt

[ladjf]

27. No. I don't think so. But things are real bad. nt

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

28. I'm getting to the point where

I'm beginning to wonder just how stupid humanity as a whole is, and whether it might be possible for us to wipe out ourselves without taking down the few large species that we haven't killed off yet, so that some other species can get a chance to try evolving actual intelligence, and not the 3rd rate version humans seem to possess.

[Warpy]

30. Jeez, you're more sour about our prognosis than I am

I just say we're likely the rough draft for a technologically intelligent species.

[Warpy]

29. Oh, yes

The other two were kicked off by far less.

[MohRokTah]

32. In a word, NO. eom

[thelordofhell]

33. No

[zappaman]

35. Still....no.

[CanonRay]

36. I don't think we're near as close as the Cuban Missile Crisis

but it isn't too great now either. Potentially explosive at least. If Russia does something really stupid like send troops brazenly into Ukraine or a Latvia or something, all bets are off.

[PFunk]

37. No. But I think we maybe on the edge of WWIII.

That is if things go out of hand in either region. And so far it's looking like we're a long way of that happening-yet.

[Yo_Mama]

38. Yes, add brewing and growing Asian conflicts, and Syria/Iraq ISIS

The South China sea problems are slowly heating up, the Korea situation remains on the boil, and the odds of things just getting worse there are high.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-13748349

[jwirr]

40. No and I do not think I can even explain why I do not except to say that I do not interpret the

Bible literature in the same way that rw churches do. My belief does not involve wars because it is totally spiritual in nature. No rapture, no 1000 year rule.

That said the rw have been working to bring us to the end times by starting WWIII for a long time. Some horrible mistakes could get us there. I just think that we are facing blowback from the actions of rwers and bush and co.

[BainsBane]

41. No

[Calista241]

42. Nope.

Nobody gives a shit about the Palestinians. If someone really gave a shit, they'd be close to fighting Israel themselves. Not even Hezbollah is all that interested in fighting Israel at this time.

And tbh, Russia can't survive without the Ukraine. Only the Ukraine can grow the food in Eurasia that Russia needs to feed its people. Otherwise, Russia needs to buy its food from us, South America, or Australia. Whether it's officially a part of Russia, or an allied state, ultimately it makes no difference.

And Russia isn't connected by land directly to Crimea. They either need to annex East Ukraine, or negotiate access to Crimea through Ukraine. The fighting currently going on, which isn't going well for the Russians currently, is most likely over this access.

[amandabeech]

46. Russia has plenty of money to buy food from Ukraine.

Many other countries in the world buy from Ukraine. Why not Russia? What right does Russia have to annex any part of another sovereign country against all known international laws?

[Calista241]

69. Maybe cause Putin's a dick?

[amandabeech]

71. Well, there is that. n/t

[Agschmid]

43. No.

Hopefully I'm not wrong.

[Takket]

47. we'd ne in WWIII right now if the republicans had their way. obama has spared us that.... for now

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

48. No, but you're username rocks!

[bhikkhu]

49. Pick any year at random, and I could list a similar bunch of circumstances

The world has been on a long trend toward peace since the last world war, but problems remain, and probably always will.

[customerserviceguy]

50. Not really

There have been hundreds, if not thousands of conflicts since WWII, and all have either died down completely or flared then quiesced for a reloading period. I figured we were much closer to WWIII in the Cuban missle crisis than at any time since.

The Islamic world is fighting within itself, but we saw that during the 80's with the Iran-Iraq war, which eventually died down. Yes, it may be flaring up again, but eventually one side will slightly prevail when the other runs of of ammo.

I don't see any superpowers trying to piss each other off to the point where shooting will start, no matter what happens with the Russia-Ukraine situation. The US is war-weary, and we're not about to get involved in anyone else's fight, at least directly, for the forseeable future.

[Adsos Letter]

51. Nope.

[tridim]

52. It is an impossible question to answer, so I don't know.

Nobody knows.

[steve2470]

53. Nope nt

[TransitJohn]

56. What do you think the FEMA camps are for?

[defacto7]

57. WWIII doesn't pay...

It's an economy killer. No, it's the in between, not quite war, saber rattling, some skirmishes and rumors here and there... that's where the money is!



The stereotypical WWIII with nukes and millions dead is something that will happen when an ideological psychopath gets a hold of the big toys and pushes the big red button. Don't think for a moment that those kind don't exist and aren't working steadily to pull that one off. Try.... ISIS or any number of insane religious Armageddonists.

[Hissyspit]

58. Not really.

[fujiyama]

59. No.

Maybe a new Cold War is emerging, but this time I don't see it so much a battle over ideology and all the major powers are smart enough to know that nukes won't be used.

Of course there is a potential for greater instability throughout the world, especially in the Middle East.

Israel/Gaza isn't new, but the fighting could destabilize other countries in the region due to populations' anger at inaction by their government. Even that's unlikely. The governments in that region fear political Islam greatly as a threat to their power - much more than they fear Israel. As Syria has shown over 200,000 people can die and the world can barely bat an eye. I suppose there is always the possibility that Israel could target Iran with air strikes due to paranoia. If a republican comes into power in '16, that's a particularly real possibility.

The Russian/Ukraine mess will be mostly settled on the economic battlefield. Putin has boxed himself in. The sanctions will have an effect. Europe is going to have to get away from their dependence on Russian oil and natural gas. They'll likely start fracking or we'll be exporting soon. Russia will find other markets to sell to.

While Ebola is scary, I think Western governments are pretty adept at handling and containing this kind of thing. This underscores why we have a government and why it needs to be funded. I have confidence in the brilliant public health officials, scientists and doctors working at the CDC.

In the Vietnam war, 58,000 Americans were killed. Over 2,000,000 Vietnamese and even more Cambodians, and Laotians. That's a lot of fucking people. That preceded the killing fields of Cambodia. American cities were on fire. Several major public leaders were assassinated. Millions of people were denied even the most basic rights. Then came oil shocks and embargoes and near societal collapse.

None of that sparked WWIII. I don't mean to be sanguine, but it's always good to keep these events in perspective.

[snooper2]

60. No, but keyboard warriors would love to have an opinion if it did happen!

[BainsBane]

61. Do yourself a favor and disconnect the television set.

It's giving you a distorted view of the state of the world.

[Warren DeMontague]

63. I stopped watching cable news, pretty much for good, during the 2004 election season.

With a few big event exceptions - like election nights themselves - i never turn it on.

haven't noticed any decline in either my quality of life OR my knowledge of current events.

[BainsBane]

64. I haven't watched television in over two months

I had enough of paying $200 a month for cable and disconnected the service. I still haven't hooked the TV up to broadcast. I did go to a bar and my sister's to watch World Cup games, but that's been the extent of my television viewing.

[steve2470]

68. Same here, I NEVER watch cable news

Way too much BS for too little unbiased information.

[Renew Deal]

70. What about the Internet?

[nomorenomore08]

66. Intellectually, I know it's unlikely to happen any time soon.

But there are days when I start to think otherwise.

[CTyankee]

67. The world always falls apart in August, for some reason...