Everyone remembers the Cold War, in which we backed incredibly brutal regimes- so long as they were economically right-wing. For example, the CIA assassinated moderate socialist Salvador Allende in favor of General Pinochet. Any enemy of the Soviet Union was a friend of ours, even if their government was just as morally bankrupt as that of the USSR. Well, the War on Terror, as it has been called, is beginning to resemble the Cold War in this way. I ask this: Once we lose the moral high ground, what are we fighting for? Now, I am not going to make ridiculous comparisons between Bush and Hitler or anything of that sort. What I will say is that George W. Bush cannot see the larger implications of what he is doing, and now, whom he is supporting. This is news from Ethiopia (I put a portion of the text in bold font):

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia - Riot police deployed across the Ethiopian capital firing guns and lobbing grenades Wednesday to quell a second day of protests over disputed parliamentary elections. At least 23 people were killed and 150 wounded, including children, doctors and hospital workers said.One man said police broke into his family's housing compound firing guns indiscriminately in their search for stone-throwing demonstrators.However, government Information Minister Berhan Hailu said the casualty figures had been exaggerated and put the death toll at 11 civilians and one police officer. He said 54 officers and 28 civilians were injured.The killing of civilians was a political setback for Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, touted by the Bush administration as a progressive African leader and a key partner in the war on terror.The May 15 vote, which gave his ruling Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front control of 60 percent of the parliament, had been seen as a key test of Meles' commitment to reform. Opposition parties say the vote and ballot-counting were marred by fraud, intimidation and violence, and accuse the ruling party of rigging the elections.Machine-gun fire and explosions rocked the capital Wednesday, and armored personnel carriers carrying special forces troops charged down streets littered with burning tires and broken glass.The violence spread across the city of 3 million people, reaching the doorsteps of the British, French, Kenyan and Belgian embassies - all located in different parts of the capital. Workers at U.N. headquarters were told not to leave their offices.An Associated Press reporter saw police surround Zewditu Hospital, dragging out and arresting young men. Witnesses said security officials were rounding up young people in various parts of the city.Tigist Daniel, 16, said she brought her 50-year-old mother to a hospital after police shot her in the stomach."All my mother was trying to do was save my brother because he had been caught up in the fighting. She ran out of the house to grab him and the police just shot at her," she said. "They are shooting anyone who comes out of their house."Abdul Fatal said his 13-year-old daughter, Arabia, suffered shrapnel wounds to her stomach and legs."The police were looking for rioters and burst into our compound. They fired tear gas and then threw a grenade," said Fatal, a 44-year-old laborer. "The police then started shooting in the compound. My daughter has never been in trouble with anyone."Doctors at five hospitals said the bodies of 23 people killed in the clashes were brought to emergency rooms and at least 150 people were treated for injuries, including a 7-year-old boy who was shot in the hip. Earlier the hospital count was 27 dead; there was no explanation for the change.Adam Melaku, head of the independent Ethiopian Human Rights Council, revised his group's death count, saying at least eight people were killed instead of the 33 dead the group gave earlier Wednesday. He did not explain the revision.The violence followed clashes Tuesday between protesters and police that killed eight people and wounded 43. The protests erupted after 30 taxi drivers were arrested on Monday for participating in demonstrations against the parliamentary elections.Wednesday's clashes came hours after security officials arrested opposition leaders. All 15 members of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy's central committee and about 1,000 supporters were taken into custody, a lawyer who works for the opposition party said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of security concerns.The opposition says hundreds of their supporters and members have been arrested in the past two months. At least 42 people were killed by police during protests in June, according to human rights groups.

Now granted, the emotional nature of this story is an example of the AP's strong left-wing bias, but it seems to me that certain facts are undeniable. We are allying ourselves with anyone who proclaims opposition to terrorism or Islamism, much as we did in fact support Saddam Hussein over Ruhollah Khomeini, since the latter was an often-violent Islamist. It never ceases to amaze and discourage me how little our government learns from history.

Of course we are!



-Some British Guy.

One can't, in the ultimate sense, defeat an enemy by resembling him or her even slightly in one's conduct. If we support a regime such as the one in Ethiopia because it claims to fight terrorism or excuse the conduct of Uzbekistan's dictator because he supported the War in Iraq, we are making the same kind of cynical and unconscionable alliances that terrorists often make.

In the real* sense though you can and thats the one that matters.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend is just a basic principle of war and politics. It makes sense to have more friends then enemies.

You can do that only if a battle is strictly selfish. If we are fighting someone because what he or she is doing is evil, we cannot commit evil ourselves without ending the ethical meaning of the conflict.

The idea can be summed up in that while some say "The ends justify the means" it is also true that "The means shape the ends." That is probably the only intelligent thing I ever got out of a conspiracy theorist. Just goes to show sometimes wisdom comes from the weirdest places.

By supporting the same behavior we supposedly base it on. You can't define your side as the good guys when your joined at the hip with some of the worse thugs on earth and practising murder and torture. Doing this has cost us support across the globe and will eventually cause the US problems far worse than our present conflict with terrorist.

We are trying to wage a holy crusade covered with mud.

Osama bin Laden was the enemy of our enemy. Making friends with him hasn't worked out very well for us.

__________________
the memories of a man in his old age
are the deeds of a man in his prime

roger waters

That was an excellent point, sputterman. Saddam Hussein fits in the same category (we supported him in 1980), as does Augusto Pinochet. We have to hold everyone to the same ethical standards- apart from our selfish "interests".

Ethiopia was a good friend from WWII through the Korean War. But then the US just used Ethiopia as a pawn in the cold war. It seems to be run by a dictator now and Bush calls him a progressive leader and a key partner.

What a pig Bush is. No wonder people all over the world hate Bush and the US. And it's just one more reason I hate Bush. And wherever Bush goes in South America this week, people will be demonstrating againt him and the US. I hope Chavez scores a knockout.

__________________
the memories of a man in his old age
are the deeds of a man in his prime

roger waters