All opinions posted. None too pathetic or contrived. Everyone gets their say.

"...even the wicked get worse than they deserve." - Willa Cather, One of Ours

Wednesday, June 02, 2004

The US as the World's Policeman


D. Bishop asked a valid question:
"Today, most of Africa is enslaved by tyrannical tin horn dictators...

In 1994, the US looked away as a half million Rwandans were hacked to death. We didn't feel the overriding need to "liberate" those people. Did we?

I don't understand why we have decided that Iraq must be "liberated" when there are millions of people in other countries who certainly deserve our attention. Shouldn't we be invading all those countries, as well?...
This is a valid question, but the truthful answer is not pretty.

Why Iraq and not the others?

The Bush administration has proposed a myriad of reasons, some of them even have partial validity. But the real reason is: because we can.

One the most important reasons that the US is so distrusted, even hated by many people in the world, is becuase they recognize exactly the point you make: it is the US government, a government over which they have no control, that makes decisions that are fundamental to how they must live their lives. Their sense of weakness is based on an accurate perception on the world's power relationships. The power dispartity is so great, that no matter the good intentions of the US, the policies of the American government will decide issues that involve the well-being, life and death of most non-American peoples.

Power is real. It can not be wished away.

When you have a vastly superior power; even if you choose not to use it, your choice will effect the lives of others who have no control over us. Refusing to choose to act is still a choice; one that will fundamentally effect the lives of others.

They hate this about the US becuase their sense of powerlessness is rational.

Posted by: Zayphar / 6/02/2004 09:48:00 AM
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