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    Paul DimitrovBrendan O'Connor
    11/25/15 11:10pm

    This is SUCH a good idea, what could possibly go wrong?

    I mean, we could ask these primitive, backward societies to modernize...but why the fuck do that?

    Let’s just send Bush-era remnant Erik Prince (nee Blackwater) to the Mideast instead and we can just wash our hands!

    Easy peasy!

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      NoGasPaul Dimitrov
      11/25/15 11:28pm

      I fear that I’m just responding to troll baiting techniques, but I’ll go for it: your extreme generalization of the Middle East as being “backwards and primitive” shows how backwards and primitive you are.

      Do some research on the Middle East before the USSR and the USA had their series of proxy wars against one another, and how two countries destroyed the progressive natures of those communities through backing regional warlords and rebels.

      After all, this was Iran before the USA got involved. Oh, and Iran and nearly all Muslim nations have more female members of Parliament than the USA has in Congress. They also have female Prime Ministers and are totally okay with it.

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      Paul DimitrovNoGas
      11/25/15 11:48pm

      Actually you can call these areas primitive and inferior. Because it’s the truth! Generalizations are, contrary to what many say, not always bad! Does that mean every single person and community in the Mideast is primitive and inferior? Nope. But generally across the region? Totally!

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    GeorgeGeoffersonLivesBrendan O'Connor
    11/26/15 3:14am

    Muslim soldiers, Mr. Prince warned, could not be counted on to kill fellow Muslims.

    That’s not how it works, that’s not how any of this works.

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      jroberts548GeorgeGeoffersonLives
      11/26/15 6:53am

      If there's one thing you can count on Wahhabi Muslims to do, it's kill other Muslims.

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      SulaymanFGeorgeGeoffersonLives
      11/26/15 1:01pm

      Prince has always been a Christian extremist playing war games in the Middle East. Sad to hear he found a new buyer after the US government stopped paying him.

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    The Yuppie StruggleBrendan O'Connor
    11/25/15 11:10pm

    Sloth, decadence, slavery, an army almost entirely used for the advancement and prestige of well connected families’ offspring, and a reliance on foreign mercenaries in the absence of native borns willing to undertake military service?

    Those are definitely the hallmarks of a vibrant and stable country.

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      NoGasThe Yuppie Struggle
      11/25/15 11:31pm

      Soooooo.... America isn’t stable?

      Sloth and decadence, that’s a given.

      Slavery: involuntary servitude given to men and women in prison, who are not paid for their services. Or are paid about 50 cents per hour.

      And an army used entirely for the well-connected?

      I mean, sure. We didn’t use foreign mercenaries. But we used A LOT in the Middle East during Afghanistan and Iraq. Mercenaries were also our big loophole to not having our military forces on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan when we pulled out. We left a lot of “security consultants” on the grounds.

      So, you know, glass houses and whatnot. Check your jingoism at the door.

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      The Yuppie StruggleNoGas
      11/25/15 11:44pm

      I won’t pretend your ignorance over the horrendous conditions of foreign workers used to facilitate the pending Olympics debacle, so I’ll simply disagree as to the comparison.

      The remainder (aside team sloth and decadence; brunch is just sooo goood) is nonsensical. The United States has been engaged in over a decade of continuous conflict. Nepotism exists, as it does in virtually all things; but this demonstrates complete ignorance of how Arab militaries are structured and advancement procured. There’s a reason the Syrian Arab Army requires Russian aircraft and Hezbollah fighters to stave off defeat; officers are political appointees, incompetence abounds.

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    phunkshunBrendan O'Connor
    11/26/15 12:03am

    whether in Yemen, Syria or Libya — with militaries that are unused to sustained warfare

    With militaries that are terrible. These people suck at forming a proper fighting force. Even when they do it, they absolutely suck at it.

    The only regulars that are worth a (little) damn are the one’s that directly protect the kepto aristocracies that run these countries.

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      montegofd3sphunkshun
      11/26/15 1:54am

      ehhhh, Kurds do well at the whole Army thing.

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      FriendofWoodenCanoephunkshun
      11/26/15 9:18am

      Well that’s true for the vast majority of armies around the world and has been for basically ever. Research even in WWII found that 60% of soldiers in a battle either didn’t fire their weapon or fired randomly.

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    NefertittiesBrendan O'Connor
    11/25/15 11:14pm

    Something’s Happening But It’s Far Away So Ignore It

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      j4x_Brendan O'Connor
      11/26/15 7:20am

      No other “profession” deserves to be pissed on more than a mercenary.

      At least soldiers can act like it is all for a higher purpose.

      Mercs are human scum.

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        icreateburnerswhenkinjabreaksBrendan O'Connor
        11/26/15 10:24am

        Saying the US legitimized something that has been happening since the dawn of recorded history is a bit of a stretch.

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          culantroBrendan O'Connor
          11/26/15 7:17am

          “There was a checkpoint Carlos

          He didn’t crack a smiiiile . . .”

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            Kenhe Loginculantro
            11/26/15 9:11am

            But it’s no laughing party

            When you’ve been on the murder mile.

            Luv me some Declan

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          GeorgeGeoffersonLivesBrendan O'Connor
          11/26/15 2:50am

          I am convinced that Erik Prince is Prince of the Air.

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            tomjoad2020adBrendan O'Connor
            11/26/15 12:03am

            *cue Jimmy Smits remorseful head shake*

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