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Comments by "Bruce Tucker" (@brucetucker4847) on "Does the EU Make War Impossible?" video.
@panzerofthelake506 Free trade within itself, protectionist against everyone else.
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@thesweatleaf The only NATO member with both the means and strength of will to fight even a very minor conflict on behalf of any other nation just left the EU. And the only major conflict the EU states could ever have had any appreciable effect on would have been an invasion of western Europe by the Soviets. The ability of the EU to project power beyond its own borders, to defend the US or for any other purpose, is laughable. Every navy in all of Europe combined (not counting Russia) adds up to maybe the striking power of one US carrier group and about 10% of the US submarine fleet. So no, the EU (including its member states before it formed) has never protected anyone, including itself, from anything, it has always let the US carry a hugely disproportionate share of the cost of its defense. The US has done this because it's cheaper than giving European hotheads more weapons to play with and getting dragged into another pointless and sanguinary European war.
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The same argument was made in 1914. Didn't prevent the war.
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You mean Pax Americana, of course.
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And make massive profits laundering money stolen from Holocaust victims? Not much of a role model IMO.
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@edipires15 I didn't forget France. France has zero will to fight a war to protect anyone but France. And its capability to project power beyond western Europe is extremely limited. The same goes for Germany - it could fight and win a small to middling war on its own border or in the next country over, but it has very little ability to project power further than that, and in any case few other countries would want to have a large German army in their country even 76 years after WW2. There is only one country in the world today that can put 400,000 boots, heavy armor and artillery, and the logistical structure to support them on the ground 10,000 miles away, keep them supplied at that distance, and control the air and sea in between. No one else comes even close. China might have the ability to project power on that scale overseas but much closer to home, as long as it isn't opposed by the US or Russian Navy. France could do maybe 1/10 of that as long as there was no naval threat outside the immediate conflict zone.
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@edipires15 We're talking about major wars here, not sending a couple of hundred troops to fight a few bandits.
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@blakedake19 Tell that to California wine producers.
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@thaneofwhiterun3562 The entire European carrier fleet consists of three aircraft carriers operating a bit over 100 aircraft, most of which can only be V/STOL planes, plus three amphibious assault ships. The US operates 11 carriers carrying over 800 heavier and faster aircraft, plus nine amphibious assault carriers and numerous smaller amphibious assault ships. The US operates a total of 69 nuclear attack submarines, with more on order, while all of Europe sans Russia can muster 13 smaller, slower, and less capable ones. The US operates 21 Ticonderoga-class cruisers which no other navy on the planet has any equivalent to, plus 71 destroyers and many smaller ships. Europe can muster a grand total of six destroyers and a few dozen smaller and much less capable frigates. All of this information is public and you can find it in Wikipedia or wherever else you want to look.
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Nah, the next war will be in the South China Sea and Taiwan. But you are correct that the EU will dither and stick its head in the sand. Another reason why people in the UK wanted to leave the EU.
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What species was responsible for the last two world wars, then?
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No. War is always possible.
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@hemidas MAD between the US and the USSR. Europe's contribution to that was a rounding error. And not even that in France's case, since postwar France has been the most unreliable, selfish ally in history.
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@iainbagnall4825 By the EU in this context I mean all the militaries of all the states comprising the EU. None of the EU members has any teeth.
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@Healermain15 So a hypothetical war in which one side is the EU doesn't count as a war?
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