Why Do Western Nations Nerf Their Military Responses?

[David Floyd]

How? Where I am coming from is predicating on precisely this exact situation.

[Kuciwalker]

Re: Why Do Western Nations Nerf Their Military Responses?

Balance, obviously.

[David Floyd]

But a "balanced response" is why nations like North Korea have the ability to push other nations around. They know nothing significant will happen.

It's why Syria can fund terrorism - they know we won't do anything other than maybe bomb a SAM site or two.

[Kuciwalker]

I meant game balance. Stealth bombers are massively OP.

[David Floyd]

[Wezil]

As long as the sanctions involve military stuff and do not prevent food or medicine from being imported, then I do not see a moral quandry in them.

Sanctions affect the regime last and any effective sanctions will hurt the people first.

I think you are willing to put politics over people but just won't admit it.

[David Floyd]

Exactly.

[Wezil]

It's not like NK sends food aid out to the poor impoverished peasants while the army sits by and starves. Guess who gets first dibs on food?

[Ecofarm]

Sanctions affect the regime last and any effective sanctions will hurt the people first.

I think you are willing to put politics over people but just won't admit it.

Not allowing nK to import or export weapons hurts the people how?

[Wezil]

What constitutes "weapons" or "potential military material" is a very wide category. Don't kid yourself, people suffer.

[David Floyd]

More importantly, how does that actually hurt the regime? They can't import anything that seriously threatens South Korea, and if they did, they certainly can't import anything that seriously threatens South Korea + the United States.

[Ecofarm]

Wezil, blaming military-based sanctions for starving people is what leads idiots to blame the US for the pre-war conditions in Iraq. I'm not buying that line of crap one little bit.

[Wezil]

How about fertilizer Eco? Let it in?

[David Floyd]

What???

It's totally different. The point of sanctions is to be punitive. If the sanctions do not, in fact, effectively punish anything, then they fail by definition. Further, if said sanctions do not curb the behavior their are designed to punish, they still fail by definition.

Sanctions are the cowards way out. Nobody targeted by sanctions gives a good **** about them. That should probably tell you something.

[Wezil]

Wezil, blaming military-based sanctions for starving people is what leads idiots to blame the US for the pre-war conditions in Iraq. I'm not buying that line of crap one little bit.

Of course I don't expect you to.

USA! USA! USA!