I'd like to call bullshit on this one.
The whole notion of the preemptive war that Bush has been pushing since 9/11 still sickens me. I mean, honestly, it's an absurd argument. It's like saying, oh look, that kid over there might grow up to be an evil man who kills people, so let's shoot him between the eyes right now.
Now let's expand that to an entire section of the world's population, go invade the Middle East one country at a time, and claim it was to "fight terrorism," a decidedly amorphous and ill-defined term in the first place.
This is not the way to win, folks. Israel tried it a few decades ago, attacking everyone before they had a chance to attack Israel. And Israel is one of the most-hated countries in the Middle East, aren't they? Suicide bombs and shootings and fights break out almost daily in the territories they occupy. Do we really think it'll be any different for us? "Oh, but we're giving them democracy and freedom," you might say. Let's get something clear, folks: some people do not want that. Some people have been programmed by their culture, or their family, or their religion, or by something to be unable to think in those terms. Democracy is not the end all, be all of government. There are other valid systems out there. It's actually, amusingly enough, very Marxist thought: Marx was convinced that the ultimate form of government was Communism, right? Thought all other forms of government were simply moving and progressing towards Communist socialism. Well, we in America have become convinced of the same thing with our democratic republicanism (republicanism as in the form of government, not the political party), and it's equally absurd to assume we were right instead of Marx. I'm not saying Communism is the best system of government, either, but maybe that what will work for one country will not work for others.
Bah. I'm just in a bad mood tonight. Come back tomorrow after I've worked all day to hear something potentially more interesting and less frustrated.
~chuck
Song of the Moment: Old 97s, "W-I-F-E"
Monday, August 22, 2005
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6 comments:
I'm sure that their reconstitution as a nation in an area occupied by a people who were then displaced had at least a little to do with their lack of popularity.
At least with the Palestinians...
True, but do you think we'll make anymore friends than they have by storming in and demanding they completely overhaul their governments one country at a time, threatening them with war if they don't comply? I doubt it.
No, but I suppose it is more socially acceptable, on an international scale, than, say, nuking everyone that pisses us off.
The nukes would be more honest, though.
feh...honesty. who needs it?
Alas, the Bushinistas have replaced our international policies with junkyard dog bullying.
However, let's be honest here -- the Bush regime's policy of conquest-as-defense has far less to do with the paranoid policies of Israel and far more to do with the policies of many an imperialist nation, far too many historically for me to pretend bothering to list.
Bushism may claim to be a policy of pre-emptive counter-attack, but in actuality it is nothing more than an effort to justify nation-theft by screaming, "But Mom! She was going to look at me funny!"
Anyone who thinks Hussein's mistreatment of his people meant anything at all to Bush and cronies beyond a convenient excuse for their imperialism is someone with a monstrous degree of stupidity, naivete, or slavedog pseudo-patriotism.
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