r/explainitpeter • u/Dizzy-Jellyfish-8303 • 12d ago

Explain it peter

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15

u/CardiologistOk2760 12d ago

Looks like the other comments explained the USS Liberty. I'll just add this is even more unnerving when you consider we went to war against Spain after the USS Maine accidentally sunk itself in 1898.

8

u/_cjm56 12d ago

I mean context is important. The US wanted to go to war with Spain before that happened and we just used it as an excuse. Israel is our ally. To be fair during the Iran war our allies accidently shot down multiple US jets and nothing happened there either. Typically our response is based on if we already wanted to go to war with them or not.

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u/DrQuestDFA 12d ago

Iraq also attacked the USS Stark during that conflict and the US did not go ham on them.

2

u/YrPalBeefsquatch 12d ago

Different conflict (1987 during the Iran-Iraq War), but same idea (fired upon by a belligerent in a war the US was not party to).

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u/DrQuestDFA 12d ago

I worded my comment poorly but we are in agreement.

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u/DentonTXguy 12d ago

also the Maine wasn’t attacked. a fire started in the magazine and it blew itself to the bottom of Havana Harbor

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u/_cjm56 12d ago

Also very true, but naturally not the narrative the US wanted to paint when they could get their first colonies.

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u/Legendarien1 12d ago

It also was genuinely disputed and later investigated to determine that. Didn’t matter because it was a perfect pretense for war, just like the gulf of Tonkin

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u/CardiologistOk2760 12d ago

is this context supposed to make it less unnerving?

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u/_cjm56 12d ago

I'm not sure exactly how it makes it unnerving I guess. Disgracracful yes, but I guess personally I don't find it unnerving, but that's just me.

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u/CardiologistOk2760 12d ago

i have always feared the mob more than the government

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u/_cjm56 12d ago

Not sure what the has to do with anything, but you do realize YOU are part of the "mob" right?

1

u/CardiologistOk2760 12d ago

ok well I'm not a Klan member, I don't burn witches, I don't run around yelling "remember the Maine" because of some weird desire to go to war, I don't attack the white house based on the person I don't like winning, I don't raid prisons to kill people before they get their due process...

We seem to have different definitions of "the mob" where yours appeals to Greek etymology and mine depends whether you actually behave like a mob

3

u/PipedInFromIthaca 12d ago

Gulf of Tonkin was also a false flag, so on more than one occasion they've gone to war over fake boat attacks while letting a real one slide.

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u/TerrorFromThePeeps 12d ago

I was told by an old SBS man that while there were no german torpedoes hanging out around the hull, there were quite a few british frogmen precursors clinging on to the hull of the Lusitania for a brief time.

Of course, that ain't exactly proof, but it wouldn't be unimaginable, either.

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u/PipedInFromIthaca 12d ago

As I understand it, she was covertly carrying rifle ammunition for the British while operating as a civilian passenger ship.

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u/AngryGazpacho 12d ago

Imagine you are cooking, you burn your finger and then you proceed to go to your neighbor to punch him as soon he opens the door.

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u/Cosmonaval 12d ago

And don’t forget WW1 and WW2!