Quote:
Originally Posted by Jake";p="
Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnderondon";p="
Are you equally vehement in your opposition for US support to non-democratic states? `Cos otherwise you could come across a mite hypocritical.
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The US dealt with unsavory dictators as part of the greater issue of taking on the soviet union, practically alone, during the cold war, while euros sat on the sideling eating their croissant and sucking their demitasse. As Harry Truman famously said of one such dictator - "He's a s.o.b. - but he's OUR s.o.b." This context, along with why the US dealt with saddam in the eighties, is uniformly ignored by anti-american types. This is to be completely distinguished from euroweenies, who never saw a dictator they didn't like when it comes to pulling in hard currency for everything from small arms up to chirac's nuke factory for the iraqis. |
"The ends justify the means" is basically what you're saying.
let me understand you correctly. I'm sure you believe that it was in our national interest to oppose the soviet union's interests. But is that the main reason, or is it because the soviet union was evil to it's own citizens?
The scumeria scenario that you have posted shows a country that is obviously not a threat to the united states. with the U.S.S.R. it's a different story.
Am i correct in assuming that you would oppose the U.S.S.R. even if it wasn't a threat, with the goal of bringing freedom to the entire earth?
Would you say that supporting a dictator to destroy a dictator, if you have the long term goal of destroying all dictatorship, is noble action, in otherwords do the ends justify the means? Or would prefering one dictator over another require some kind of national interest also?
I think this is why many foreigners dislike america, because we kill and maim and destroy and support those dictators who do the above, and all this in the name of lofty goals ideals which will never be realized and which should be described as propaganda.
If you want to argue that we have security reasons to go after specific dictatorships, i will listen, but it's not our job to be the world police force.
All other countries expect America to act in it's national interests. But instead, we invade countries, shouting at the top of our lungs, "Freedom! Liberation!
This time we're
not here to take your oil!" and then we are suprised when not even our allies believe us.
My belief is that if a country does not pose a threat to us we have absolutely no business attacking them, regardless of their system of government.