Originally Posted by
Asturias56
"Bullies don’t respect ‘friendly gestures’, they only back down when stood up to,"
...that simplistic statement has been used as the justification for 95% of military actions in the last 70 years - and its often turned out to be simplistic & wrong and has turned into a disaster - Suez, Vietnam 3 times), Yemen (twice), Afghanistan (twice), Iraq, Libya
Well, not really. Vietnam was largely Cold War by proxy and the Middle East conflicts are too complex to be comparable.
But if you’re looking for a more accurate analogy, look no further than Germany in the late 30’s. An oppressive totalitarian state expanding its boundaries on flimsy pretexts, constantly testing the resolve of surrounding democracies.
Appeasing that bully certainly didn’t end well.