[dinkumthinkum]

The whole thing is stupid. The US wouldn’t flatten Cuba. Only leftists think the Cuban people support the communists. It’s like that Hasab Piker saying “the good Cubans are still in Cuba but the ones in the US that don’t like communism are crazy.” The reality is we would decapitate their regime, kill all their top brass, blow up their military installations, probably gave some collateral damages, and then in a year there would be reports, modern vehicles, and commerce.

[bluegatty]

"The reality is we would decapitate their regime, kill all their top brass, blow up their military installations, probably gave some collateral damages, and then in a year there would be reports, modern vehicles, and commerce."

I couldn't imagine a delusional statement, considering we are literally at the moment, failing to 'change a regime' in an active war, once again!

The lack of self awareness here is ... scary.

Iran? Afghanistan? Iraq? Vietnam? Venezuela?

How many more lessons do you need, beyond than the one literally on your TV set right now ?

Here are some historical realities:

Nobody thinks of 'Castro Inc' as 'Communist' other than young folks on Reddit, or people listening to Joe Rogan.

Every adult - those living there, here, and elsewhere - know that Castro Inc. are ruthless authoritarians - their 'nominal communism' is barely relevant. Ideology is barely cover for anything as it is with all regimes.

If they have any residual popularity at all - it's for 'Standing up to America!' and those who held up the ancien regime in Cuba that 'Kept the people down!' - which has at least some historic resonance.

Nobody liked Saddam, nobody likes the Taliban, and the Communists in Vietnam were not popular in the South, and unlikely in the North as well.

Chavizmo had popular support, but that waned, and nobody likes the current regime.

And yet - where is all of this 'modern vehicles and commerce' in all these places?

The lack of self awareness is shocking.

The US ended up killing 100's of thousands in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Almost 1 million peopled died in Saddam's US-supported invasion of Iran.

The Israeli government has now admitted that up to 70K Arabs were killed in Gaza.

Many in the US have no problem bombing the smithereens out of civilians, so long as there can be some kind of populist cover for it even if it's totally disproportional.

If Castro Inc. were so irresponsible that they sent drones into a US base, it's entirely plausible that Trump Inc. bombs Cuba with enormous civilian collateral damage.

Whatever happens, the regime will not fall, thinking as much is a dangerous insult to reality.

The only way Cuba could be liberated by force is a 'full invasion', which is technically very feasible but completely unlikely, or, a long, protracted movement towards detente. That's it.

[dinkumthinkum]

All of those are different conflicts. There hasn't been change in Venezuela? Have you seen the political prisoners being released? Are you aware of Germany, Japan, or Panama? Every conflict is different. I thought the Iraq war foolish and the Afghanistan war did not have clear goals and too many different presidents. I think it is interesting that you know that no Cuban living in the US that does not listen to Joe Rogan and is not on Reddit doesn't think of Cuba as communist. It's a pretty unbelievable statement. I don't know if this some leftist No True Scotsman thing or what. You think because they are authoritarian, they are not communist? How do you think we ensure that I have a right to your labor if not by force? I guess we will just see what happens.