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Comment by padjo | Hacker News Reader

This has been brewing since George W Bush. Obama made a valiant attempt at normalising relations with Europe but I don't think any future US president has any hope of reversing this now.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qdvm6h8WKg

Europe was skeptical ever since 'nam and at the latest Bush Sr's Iraq adventure.

Since the wars in Iraq, sure. Vietnam was the US inheriting Europe’s mess.

US shifting accountability of their choices on account of some mess of others. ‘We had no other choice because you can’t take care of it yourself’

Thats exactly the narrative the rest of the world doesnt take anymore.

They do have a point though. Libya, Syria, Lebanon, that's our doorstep, not the US'. And we in fact did not do a good job keeping house there.

It’s not shifting accountability. After WWII, France demanded that its colonial holdings, including French Indochina, be returned to it as a requirement for it joining NATO. The Vietnamese were not interested in returning to French colonial rule. This kicked off a decade-long war between the two that the French lost. The US had advisors to the southern Vietnamese during that time, and rather than fully pulling out, increased their presence as they tried to manage the void left by the French. This spiraled into the Vietnam War.

The US is on the hook for its decisions. But Europe doesn’t get off the hook for its own.

Nah, Europe was a happy participant in Iraq 1. The trend from that to Iraq 2 to whatever the hell they're doing in Iran now is really clear.

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