"I don't need the oil. So you know I'm not there to plunder it"
Funny that every place so far that Trump has "set free" is a significant oil producer - Venezuela, Iran and Nigeria.
Why not freedom for, for example, North Korea?
Or...Afghanistan?

are those Iranian nuclear weapons safely stored in the same place as Saddam's "WEAPONS of MASS DESTRUCTION"?
that would explain why neither have yet to be found

Only Congress can declare a war - it's in the Constitution.
Otherwise it's an excursion, a troop deployment, an armed exercise in spreading freedom & democracy or a spetsial'naya voyennaya operatsiya

Ukraine never had operational control, only physical possession but if they really did give them all up in return for security guarantees, i bet many there wish they'd kept some to use as a reference to develop their own

"Go out in public and shout about how much you hate Trump in any city in America. Now do the same in any city in China, shouting about how much you hate Xi. See how far you get"

agree with you there but will also point out that 1000s were deported for public support of the Palestinian people and 1000s more fired for saying anything negative about Charlie Kirk who was not an elected leader or representative at any level of government

How long did you live there? Were you ever imprisoned there?

Tell us how you'd fight back against any authoritarian government when you're in their custody?

"I'm not going to look up the little comic with the guy with the wrench"
This is Slashdot. If you're going to participate, it's a requirement.
I'll do it for you this once. kindly note the proper format

Obligatory XKCD - https://xkcd.com/538/

It's not a war
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
also America has been utterly peaceful since the end of WW2 and have not ever declared war since.

As long as Israel is pleased what else matters?

it's often difficult in big cities too.
i've long had similar difficulties with getting deliveries during business hours and had to opt for weekend pickups but for a long time the carriers facilities were in the suburbs and I don't own a car.

the broader implications of this are huge.
are automakers responsible when someone breaks the speed limit and kills someone?
after all they're the ones who make vehicles that are, from the persepective of many, unnecessarily powerful.
what about guns? or any other product & service that can be used for harm or theft?

you can assert away all day long; doesn't make me wrong or you right

an aircraft carrier isn't much of a "rapidly moving target" and in this case doesn't need to be tracked all the way across the ocean; the enemy only needs to know when it's within effective range.
but figuring out its location can be as simple as having someone ask the right person a simple question
https://www.latimes.com/politi...

must everything be explained to you in minute detail?
are you not capable of realizing that one of the things that money enables is espionage?
in WW2 the Empire of Japan was able to find people in Hawaii to provide information on & locations of the ships that were targeted on that day that shall live in infamy.
and these were not Japanese-Americans or Hawaiian Pacific Islanders but fine upstanding white Americans armed with the devastating tech of pen, paper & camera.
now if you'll excuse me, i'll step outside before the meteor strikes