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Iraq, Vietnam, Cuba, and many others... whenever we sought to actively replace their governments... are you suggesting that we don't?
I believe we got into those wars because our leaders believed they were protecting and defending the country, not trying to kill people for their political beliefs.
I believe we got into those wars because our leaders believed they were protecting and defending the country, not trying to kill people for their political beliefs.
But we did chase after and "hunt" those in the political party in Iraq... We didn't stop any "ongoing" violence, even after the end of war, we still hunted political insiders of that group... its one thing to come in and stop the violence, its another to kill its leader and political party at a relatively peaceful period in that country... we also outlawed their political party... so in fact we did kill people for political beliefs... In Cuba, we came in stop the a nuclear weapon silo (does Cuba not have a right to self-defense?) but when no nuclear silos are built did we stop? We didn't, we continue to assault their political system through assassinations... In Vietnam we were stopping Communism transformation of the country, they weren't being invaded... they were already there... so, yes, we do kill political beliefs..
Saudi Arabia like the bulk of the Middle Eastern nations are various amalgams of dictators, monarchies, kingdoms and strong men and there is a reason for this. It has been the foreign policy of the United States since at least post WWII to support these types of countries as it was in our best interest to do so for a number of reasons.
When you support a dictator for instance, you basically have to deal with that one guy and while he may be a brutal oppressor of his people you still only have to grease the palm of one guy. Saddam was a great example among many in the region, as he might have been a bastid, but he was our bastid so long as he played our ball. Once he went off the reservation, things changed and to remove one guy is much easier than dealing with an entire nation of people.
Why are there so few democracies in the area immediately around Israel? Perhaps one reason is that if it were the will of a majority of people in most of the surrounding countries, they would probably end up at war with Israel before sundown at the first dust up. So it has been imperative that democracy doesn't take root in places such as these because to try and gain favor of an entire nation of free voting people is far far more difficult than greasing the palm of one family or strong man.
From a human rights point of view, yeah it is amazing we have much to do with Saudi Arabia as in my opinion they are a regressive and oppressive form of government. From a foreign policy stand point of a nation that is utterly dependent upon petroleum based products, they can do as they please and the US government will never do a damn thing to damage this vital relationship.
Harmid Karzai is just one more in a long line of US propped up straw men playing boss, of course now he is doing the ultimate sin, and it isn't so much that he is dealing with our enemies but because he is taking our money without playing our ball.
Yes, but why does Americans think its okay for political genocide... its clear we want to control the world (every country does) but why hide behind of guise of being "righteous"... is it so we feel better about our attempts to control the world?
Are you saying American exceptionalism is the ability to kill other people more efficiently? I just find it interesting with the people I talk to and they say it's the "right" thing to do because they probably would of done something bad in the future... I understand their point but we don't just take out one person, we take out an entire political party... and given our own politics, I don't think we should be the people to determine other country's politics.. much less, I don't even think America has a right to determine another country's politics...
Are you saying American exceptionalism is the ability to kill other people more efficiently? I just find it interesting with the people I talk to and they say it's the "right" thing to do because they probably would of done something bad in the future... I understand their point but we don't just take out one person, we take out an entire political party... and given our own politics, I don't think we should be the people to determine other country's politics.. much less, I don't even think America has a right to determine another country's politics...
I'm saying that American exceptionalism, this pervasive view that since we are exceptional, we are the exception to the rule, thus exempt from the rules of all others. As I pointed out, exceptionalism is something all individuals, groups, and nations share to some degree, but what sets us apart is that we are the sole global superpower and we aren't afraid to use it. Some will assert that this is a good thing, in fact, I think it was some guy from the National Review the other day on TV saying, "we should embrace American Exceptionalism" as though it were some kind of religion.
However most folks miss the point, it isn't a matter of whether we are exceptional or not, but what we do and how we act when we believe we are.
I'm sure you remember the NATO missile shield in Poland dust up with Russia. They were pretty pissed off about it and while we can say they were defensive missiles, we just couldn't understand or refused to understand why they would be pissed off. Now if Russia made a deal with Canada to place a missile shield near our border, it would be tantamount to war and we would be infuriated over it. Yet we cannot seem to understand how others view our actions. This isn't to say we should let other nations like or dislike of our policies or actions dictate how we operate, but it is that American's can't even seem to grasp why.
A more recent incident is the Gaza flotilla. The ENTIRE world condemn Israel's actions, but not the United States, in fact Congress is outraged everyone else in the world places such onus on them. Does it ever occur to anyone that if the entire planet believes one way and we believe another that they might have a point? I'm not saying we are right or wrong but that we refuse to even consider it.
I guess it is the sense that "USA right or wrong" is just something I disagree with and when we view it in such terms, any crappy leader we have we are supposed to follow them if they lead us over the cliff. I feel that offering reasoned criticism of our actions, whatever they might be and from whatever political view point is a healthy thing.
So then why are Americans unable to understand what seemingly is something that I think is so obvious... why? It is frustrating to think that thousands of years and we haven't really matured in our line of thinking that much... that we are in reality too busy thinking what others should be instead of its nice to be different...
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