For like, the war crimes and stuff. Because that seems like quite a significant factor. (Maybe this is common knowledge for people more plugged-in to US politics)

Edit - seems the answer is a resounding NO lol. I should have guessed on account of none of his defenders bringing it up.

Another edit - people, if a veteran-turned-politician said ‘I regret my time in the armed forces, and the shit I saw turned me anti-imperialist’ that would actually count for something. Please stop pretending that it wouldn’t.

  • Huldra [they/them, it/its]@hexbear.net
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    2 days ago

    Not fiscal Conservative broadly but specifically in the sense that he’s like, we are wasting money on pmcs, we need to retvrn to making recruitment for the real military attractive and beneficial instead of wasting tax payer money.

    He has some statements from I think like 2021 where he asserts that the perception that PMCs are unaccountable death squads is a myth and that they’re basically just a taxpayer grift that does mall cop defensive shit. That’s his problem with PMCs, not that they commit massacres.

    • fannin [he/him, he/him]@hexbear.net
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      2 days ago

      Oh I get what you mean, he’s only against imperialism insofar as he thinks it’s a waste of money. If he thought murdering afghans would get him some healthcare he’d do it in a second

      • Huldra [they/them, it/its]@hexbear.net
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        2 days ago

        Yeah, and that also makes me suspicious that his anti Israel rhetoric has any weight behind it.

        The cynical refrain of American Zionists is that spending money on armaments for Israel is a great investment, so why wouldn’t he just change his mind once he gets into office and gets that whole spiel?

        Just regress to a standard dem fingerwagger who keeps giving the funding and then insincerely hoping that Israel and Palestine just become friends.

        • Dimmer06 [he/him,comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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          He had a Reddit comment from quite a few years ago saying he opposed the occupation but in the comment he was also trying to justify Israeli soldiers firing heavy weapons at Palestinians (because according to him that’s what soldiers do) so I’m guessing he’s a two stater that thinks Israel is a bad as a strategic ally because of their fascism.