oxbow3 said:
I was trying to explain why our enemies have such support in the muslim world. The US is not an evil empire, but it's foreign policy in the middle east has been contradictory and self-serving in many cases.
Many times in the past we found it politically and economically expedient to support a dictator. We could just throw money at them. They loved it, of course. Now we realize that in a nuclear era, we cannot continue in this manner. We must defeat terrorism by eliminating the conditions that promote it, namely repression, tyrant controlled media, state sponsored terrorist incubators, etc.
You seem to think that our past mistakes nullify our every attempt to do the right things now? What is it with you?
We can argue the reasons for this but it remains a fact that our image there sucks.
The people want freedom. They WANT elections.
You will remember that we made a major PR effort to change our image in the muslim world after 9/11, but it was roundly deemed a disaster by all. IMO our image problem is because of our past and present politices, and all the positive PR in the world won't change that without some real shifts in policy to match.
Their state controlled PR machines of antiwest propaganda are hard to compete with I guess.
You are thinking with your emotions, Avenger.
No. You're just determined to rewrite history by distorting all contexts of our every action. Furthermore, you seem to think past mistakes should automatically prove we can't do better going forward. Or else you seem to think no OTHER countries are trying to spread their values around the globe. Wake up!
My point is not to badmouth anybody, but to show you how the US is perceived by others and why. It may not be a rational perspective, it may unevenly show the bad side of us, but there it is. It's a view that is only growing in the region, so we must deal with in a constructive matter by taking a serious look at our foreign policy and the rationale behind it.
You seem to want to ignore what's happening in the world, The socialist europeans allying with fundamentalist islam, strictly out of envy of the united states. And again. The constant barrage of anti western state tv accounts for SOME of our bad image. I'm just sure of it.
I can't see this principle, Im sorry. If there were no WMD's and no threat to the international community from Iraq, then why should they have wanted to invade it? There are evil regimes too numerous to list in central america, africa, north korea and the middle east. Why would they want to invade this particularly weakened one, especially when the the IAEA reported the sanctions were working?
Weapons could have been moved. That's just a fact. Biochem has been found. The british still stand behind the nigerian uranium story. Saddam hampered the efforts of inspectors. Connect the dots, son.
Please. The IAEA. Don't make me laugh.
And you think Bush has a P.R. problem? You denigrate the efforts of true allies. You're disgusting.
Read my comments again. 7/8 equals roughly 90% of the troops. I said that in comparison, the support offered by our allies is miniscule. Does 1/8 from the rest of the world really seem fair, and does it make that much of a difference? To me, it seems that having "a coalition" of this kind serves more of a psychological benefit a practical one. Is it 'denigrating' to say that the emperor has no clothes?
I would say the moral support is very important. Someone has to do the right thing. It's called morality. Look into it.
When was anyone training suicide bombers in Iraq before we came? Did you ever hear of terrorism in that area before us? Many terrorists flocked to Iraq after "the enemy" invaded from unguarded borders. The younger generation was created as a result of the invasion, both in Iraq and from other places. Please take a closer look at the article, as it does not support anything you just said. Your emotions are clouding your reason.
It is admirable to be passionate about one's views, but those views have to be grounded in reality, supported by facts and evidence. There is a world of difference between idealists and ideologues.
Man, you're really full of shit aren't you! LOL. Blow me.
Thanks, buddy.
we supported dictators through the Cold War for realpolitik to try and put friendly governments everywhere even if they were dictators. I, for one, am glad that ICBMs were developed as it eliminated the benefit of fighting over these small power vacuums and now terrorism has rose from them instead.
Yeah!
