2d ago

Former US general advises Switzerland to prepare for war.

www.swissinfo.ch Former US general advises Switzerland to prepare for war

According to former United States general Ben Hodges, the withdrawal of US troops from Europe is only a matter of time. He advises Switzerland to prepare for war.

According to former United States general Ben Hodges, the withdrawal of US troops from Europe is only a matter of time. In an interview with SonntagsBlick, he advises Switzerland to prepare for war.

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Mee @reddthat.com

2d ago

Former US general advises Switzerland to prepare for war.

www.swissinfo.ch /eng/foreign-affairs/former-us-general-advises-switzerland-to-prepare-for-war/89017259

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worldnews @sh.itjust.works

Mee @reddthat.com

2d ago

Former US general advises Switzerland to prepare for war.

www.swissinfo.ch /eng/foreign-affairs/former-us-general-advises-switzerland-to-prepare-for-war/89017259

15 1

137 comments

It's unfortunate that we've configured our world like this, with rival nation states and militaries vying for supremacy. In reality, the conflict is between humans and militarism. Militarism will kill us all, in one way or another.

Switzerland been preparing for war since 1648.

Basically: Si vis pacem, para bellum

If Putin had any desire to conquer Switzerland, all I'll say is good luck. They're:
Heavily fortified, with hundreds of bunkers dotting the countryside
Highly mountainous, which would heavily slow down a ground invasion.
One of the few states to still practice mandatory military service.
Pretty lax with gun ownership, to the point where citizens have a statutory duty to bear arms in the event of an invasion.
A substantial player in the banking sector with many oligarchs using their service. Any freeze they'd put on Russian assets would likely go above and beyond what NATO and the EU managed, just because of how synonymous their banks are with the wealthy. They would probably send the Russian economy into freefall long before they could even get anywhere near Zurich.
Surrounded from all sides by NATO and EU member states, and would likely have plenty of time to prepare their own forces in the unlikely event that Russia mounts a full-scale invasion and takes over the rest of Europe.

Make him a present, some winter vacations in Switzerland and some summer ones in Italy. Cool those US guys down, down to the bottom of earth

Tangentially related, he once said: "I had a German tell me one time, he said, the two pillars for us are NATO and the EU. NATO is for life, EU is for quality of life." I wonder how that'll play out in the near future.
EDIT: corrected link.

Has the USA ever won a war?
- I'm see to recall a pretty successful one against the British...
- Yes, they win most of them. They mostly lose when they try to occupy a foreign country and do counterinsurgency.
  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars_involving_the_United_States
  
  Counter insurgency is tough to overcome. As you kill insurgents, more insurgents pop up because the initially killed insurgents were their family and friends. The only way to do it is to rule with an iron fist.
- Every war they've ever declared. They just haven't declared war since WW2
  
  Desert Shield/Storm and Panama were overwhelmingly sucessful military operations because they had clear, achievable objectives. George HW Bush was a bastard, but his team could execute a military mission.
  
  So not a war since things have gotten so computer. Comforting.
- Their civil war?
  
  Nailed it.

If anyone is interested in the state of things in Switzerland:
Our defense is in chaos right now. A scandal in our state-owned but public weapons manufacturer just broke a few weeks ago and shortly after the secretary of the departement of defense announced her resignation. We will see if the newly elected one will improve the situation.
The army is generally seen as somewhat of a joke, especially by people who served, which is more than half of all Swiss men. We like to call it a "Pfadiverein" (boy scouts association).
Even with all that, the right wing parties want to give a shitload more money to defense, and cut costs in social spending and foreign aid to compensate. Left of centre the need to improve defense is also accepted, but 1) before the army gets more money, they need to get their shit together and 2) more important than the army itself is integration with the european security Infrastructure (the left parties are also very pro-EU). The centre politicians usually mix blth stances and lean more one or the other way.
Also we still stand to buy fighter jets from the US, and only the left parties are calling to cancel the deal.
- If it makes you feel any better, we have a joke in Austria that we might as well not have an army, because we border 1) NATO, 2) Switzerland, and if either of those become a threat, we might as well capitulate immediately.
- Then you don't understand what's REALLY going-on:
  Trump wants to smash Canada & Greenland, so that between Trump+Musk on ALL of North America + Greenland,
  & Putin-backed-by-China,
  the hated-by-them EU can be DESTROYED,
  & then they get to be the ONLY "kings" ruling the world.
  FIGHT TO THE DEATH TO SAVE EUROPE'S LIFE, if you have to!
  Trump's declaring war against Canada, my country, is certain, within 2-2.5y, maximum.
  _ /\ _
  
  Trump’s declaring war against Canada, my country, is certain, within 2-2.5y, maximum.
  I only think you're optimistic in the time frame. I'm expecting within 6 months, Trump will try. He will fail, because he fails to understand how many USians will take up arms to defend Canada, from within the US itself.
  Once that happens, it's game over for the US. I honestly think it will be the spark that causes civil war, and this time, a dissolution of the union.
  I project within 10 years, the United States will consist of about 15 states, and the rest of the states will be split into their own countries, with one of them possibly incorporated into Canada.
  My guess is the NE gets turned into another province, and the Pacific Coast states will be the own country; in the end, likely about 20 years out.
  
  I was thinking Summer 2025
  
  Oh, while the US is waging TOTAL WAR against Canada, 3y from now, if anyone think that China-backed-Russia isn't going to be rampaging Europe, they're mindblind/incompetent.
  This is THE GREAT FILTER: humankind's species-"puberty".
  Grow-up transformation either will be earned, by some remnant of our world's people,
  XOR
  the galaxy will be silent of our-kind, permanently, by the end of this century, forever.
  Natural Selection, it's called, within an Extinction Event, too..
  _ /\ _

“According to everything I hear from Washington, Europe is no longer a priority.” Trump sees China as the main opponent of the US.
This didn't start with Trump, it has been building for a long time. I haven't seen anyone spell it out so clearly before though.
- Soo. Uhh.. what exactly happens when US loses it's soft power and trust in Europe and Europe slowly cozies up to China?
  
  Oh thats easy, Europe becomes the enemy, which you already see happening. You dont say you're getting another country 's territory one way or another if they're not your enemy.
- Frankly I think Trump sees western nations not led by dictators as threats.
- Maybe you weren't paying attention when Obama was president? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Asian_foreign_policy_of_the_Barack_Obama_administration
  
  Oh, this is exactly what I was saying, this has been going on since Obama.

As bad as it sounds, if our European leaders can get their head out of their collective US-aligned asses, it could finally be a push to a more cohesive EU-defence policy that is not dependant on US logistics and firepower.
We have allowed ourselves to be way to complacent for far too long.
- it could finally be a push to a more cohesive EU-defence policy that is not dependant on US logistics and firepower.
  I think the main reason why the EU doesn't care much about defense is that their people don't "value" war as much as other nations.
  They live comfortably. They have their social services. Life is pretty good, for the most part.
  Trying to convince them to go die in a war isn't going to be very popular. I genuinely believe the Western world is in for a rude awakening when an actual conflict breaks out.
  It's not just logistics. These are people's lives.
- Collectively European nations have the economy and technology to build a Military Industrial Complex to rival the US... I hope they truly wake up before it's too late, lest the birthplace of western civilization also become it's grave 😢
- US has a dependency on EU logistics
  
  Not after the US sanctions said logistics :D
- I hope this is what comes of it.
  
  There are silver linings like this. The good news is that if we fight now, Trump will have destroyed a lot of the institutions (both domestic and foreign) that were holding back real progress. Clears the way to build better ones.

Anyone taking bets which Country gets threatened next I'm thinking Jamaica had to hand over 50percent of its rum.
- "Puerto Rico needs to end it's vicious trade war against the US or risk it's government being overthrown and made a US state."
  
  They better start exporting their bountiful electricity! They got so much of it, enough for a good 3 or 4 days of AI questions about how awesome our beautiful leader Mr orange is.
- This isn't really a threat, because the person saying it doesn't make those decisions.

It's high time that we throw out the US army from Europe. They've been waging war in the middle east from Rammstein for decades.
- It seems like they want to downsize. I wonder if Europeans can convince the orange guy to sell some equipment at a discount rather than ship it home.
  
  We'd better build our own IMO.
- Because Russia and the US like to invade countries on trumped up claims, and one facing conequences is bad looks for the other one too?

Humans are so fucking stupid.
- Standing in the middle of a fully stocked supermarket saying, “well, I guess this is it. We have no choice but to kill and eat each other.”
- Most are ok. It's the spoiled nepo babies who've grown into privileged assholes that are the problem.
  
  some people have to vote for them and put them up there. So i would say most is accurate sadly :/
  
  Plus the morons that keep voting them into power.
  
  People let them stay in power
  
  Most
  Are you sure?
  In any event, its probably a game of tug of war, and the decisions we make as a society depend greatly on how society’s parents were raised.

Switzerland… war… lol
- Switzerland is always prepared for war. Prepared to stay the fuck out of it and profit from it.
  
  I mean, if that’s an option …
- My exact reaction lol. News is like satire now.
- Doing my service 🫡 (I am a conscript and don't want this)

US troops often withdraw leaving way too much equipment behind.
I better not see civilians with "cool military" gear! That's worse than any weeb or m'ladyian/fedorian.
But maybe I get to burn a Humvee or two since we "lack" those (now obviously surplus too) cybertrucks over here.
- Shoving helos off a carrier deck comes to mind, when we were actually trying to evacuate refugees instead of lowering plane flaps to push off the hangers on. Guess the Taliban has Strykers and MRAPs now just like our cops, yay murica
  
  I feel sorry for their mechanics.

Lmao this guy

I'm so ready to never fly or drive to the 51st or 52nd states or Alaska. Alaska and Hawaii and Puerto Rico are the WTF parts of the US. Like how come they are not just independent nations?
- Well, we sort of toppled an empire when we stole Hawaii, it literally was independent
  
  Understood. I mean California Oregon, Louisiana and Texas were Mexican at some point and mexica before the Spaniards.
- Hawaii was an independent nation, until they allowed some US business interests in. Those businessman bolstered by a US Marines contingent + some artillery and a tugboat with a single cannon on it invaded when a new constitution was written by the Queen that would strip the companies of some power and give it to the poor. They imprisoned the queen. After a failed attempt at rescuing her and a "trial" by a hastily set up "US military court" she signed over the country to the US in exchange for the release of her would-be rescuers, who would have been executed. In 1993 the US apologized to Hawaii and acknowledged that the actions had been illegal and a coup d'tat of a legitimate government, and an illegal use of military force. But there were no reparations or offers to return Hawaiians to power.
  Many Hawaiians are still pretty vocal that they'd like the US to get the eff out of their country. They are disorganized though and theres a colossal amount of white wealthy that are against making the injustice right in even small ways. Capitalism is insidious and unaccountable. It doesn't balk at murder and uses laws only when it benefits them and ignores them otherwise.
  
  Adding to this (and also, thank you for spelling out what I only hinted at): That last queen wrote a book to tell the story of what happened.
  Her brother, who was the last king of Hawaii, wrote a book of Hawaiian mythology, too, that is worth checking out if that's your bag.
  
  Ruined by capitalism. Time and time again

It’s hard to know where to begin with people like this. They are more ideologically unhinged than anyone in the Middle East, more indoctrinated than any communist, more institutionalised than a life sentence prisoner, and more ignorant than a drunken donkey.
- I think you've misunderstood. It sounds like you've interpreted the headline to mean that General Hodges is threatening to invade Switzerland. Perhaps you only read the headline and not the actual article.
  "The best way to prevent a war is to prepare for it,” said the former commander of the US armed forces in Europe [...] The US Department of Defence is currently funding 100,000 soldiers in Europe, said Hodges. For him, it is clear that President Donald Trump will withdraw troops. “The only question is when, and how many soldiers he will withdraw,” said the former general. “According to everything I hear from Washington, Europe is no longer a priority.” Trump sees China as the main opponent of the US.
  Hodges is stating the reality that Trump will withdraw US troops from Europe in the future, regardless of how bad an idea that is.
  From Trump’s point of view, the US would be paying billions for the defence of Europe, said Hodges. [...] “Incidentally, the US benefits enormously economically from a stable Europe,” he said.
  Trump is the kind of moron who only understands short-term profit (especially profit for himself) and doesn't give a shit about long-term international cooperation. Some very bad decisions are going to be made in the near future.
  Hodges understands the value of European relationships but also sees the inevitability of what's coming and is trying to make the reality of it clear.
  
  Pooh! I like your country! I need it, give it to me!
  
  I don’t think you know anything about Switzerland., infact, I know you don’t.

137 comments