Quote:
Originally Posted by James Langham
Who would have predicted deploying into the former Yugoslavia for example?
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Anyone who's studied European history, particularly the history of the Balkans. I'm sure that there were quite a few CIA analysts, several War College professors, and plenty of historians both in the U.S. and in Europe who could have told anyone who asked what would happen once Tito's regime fell. That Europe would then fail to act to police the area was equally predictable, given the historical inability of the continental powers to ever collectively agree on anything, least of all anything involving force. Which, of course, leads to most everyone then looking to America to be the police. And why not? It's politically very expedient back home and it shifts costs, as well as blame for anything messy that might happen, somewhere else (to the Americans). It's a win-win for both the Europeans and the Americans. How so? The Europeans get to keep their hands from getting dirty, and the Americans get to once again preen about riding in to save the day. It's almost a cliche. And as I said, all quite predictable.