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Protester shot in chest by live police round during Hong Kong protests

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628 points nodea2345 | 12 comments | 01 Oct 19 11:19 UTC | HN request time: 0.443s | source | bottom
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nvahalik ◴[01 Oct 19 13:30 UTC] No.21125093[source]▶
> Imagine if the US suddenly had a dictator

This is why we have the second amendment. And the constitution as the thing to which office-holders swear allegiance to rather than to "the party" or "the president".

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swarnie_[dead post] ◴[01 Oct 19 13:34 UTC] No.21125127[source]▶
Non-American here, i never really understood your second amendment or how you cling to it in the modern age.

What are a couple of rednecks with assault rifles (which arguably they shouldn't be able to purchase anyway) going to do against semi-autonomy kill droids being flown from a bunker in the desert?

sudhirj ◴[01 Oct 19 13:38 UTC] No.21125160[source]▶
Same thing the original Americans did when protesting the massively better trained and armed British Army. Keep their wits about them and keep fighting.

If anything the war in Afghanistan has proven that technology is no match for resilience and grit.

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1. chrift ◴[01 Oct 19 14:28 UTC] No.21125666[source]▶
I'm confused - are you saying that Afghanistan triumphed?
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2. barsonme ◴[01 Oct 19 14:33 UTC] No.21125717[source]▶
Did we win Afghanistan? Did we win Vietnam?
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3. Redoubts ◴[01 Oct 19 14:35 UTC] No.21125740[source]▶
It's certainly not a win for the US there.
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4. ptero ◴[01 Oct 19 14:41 UTC] No.21125795[source]▶
I think the point is that the US military with vastly superior firepower, organization and funding failed to conquer (i.e., control) the country.
5. lostlogin ◴[01 Oct 19 14:43 UTC] No.21125816[source]▶
Or for the people there. Is it possible that all sides lost?
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6. throwaway_law ◴[01 Oct 19 14:47 UTC] No.21125868[source]▶
>Did we win Afghanistan?

The Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan and the illegitimate communist government was ousted right?

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7. throwaway_law ◴[01 Oct 19 14:56 UTC] No.21125972[source]▶
The democratically elected leader was over thrown by the Communist party and the Soviets invaded to support the illegitimate communist government.

The US supported the anti-communist opposition, and the Soviets withdrew and Afghanistan returned to democratic elections.

Like all things politics, its all how you spin it. Perhaps the real loss was what happened after the US spent over $1T to spread democracy in Afghanistan, they began electing the Taliban as their democratic leaders, and we ultimately went to war against the Taliban costing even more. That firmly established the US believes in democracy so long as we also support the party that wins the elections.

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8. Redoubts ◴[01 Oct 19 15:28 UTC] No.21126424{3}[source]▶
> Perhaps the real loss was what happened after the US spent over $1T to spread democracy

Yes, this is the event we're talking about. Not the one in the 80s.

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9. throwaway_law ◴[01 Oct 19 15:36 UTC] No.21126549{4}[source]▶
Well the Taliban is no longer in power, removing them from power was the purpose of our use of force and military operations in Afghanistan starting in 2001...again when it comes to war "winning" is kind of in the eye of the beholder.

FYI we spent over $1T to spread democracy in Afghanistan pre-2001.

10. AnimalMuppet ◴[01 Oct 19 15:46 UTC] No.21126694{3}[source]▶
Yes, and then? There was this US-vs-Taliban thing...
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11. filoleg ◴[01 Oct 19 16:24 UTC] No.21127265{3}[source]▶
I mean, the major difference is that with the Afghanistan, the US troops just get to return back home after fighting in the disaster that Afghanistan has become. I think it would be a bit more different when you have nowhere else to come back to, other than the place you just unsuccessfully destabilized and ravaged.
12. throwaway_law ◴[01 Oct 19 18:39 UTC] No.21129043{4}[source]▶
Entirely different war and entirely different enemy.

It would be like equating WWI Germany with WWII Nazi Germany...but who knows, maybe people do that.