Devil's advocate here: Should a country provide material support to the US for a cause which is opposed by the majority of their citizens?
America is a unique political institution in that it was founded on the ideal of self-government, that the people know best how to rule themselves. People's personal beliefs about right and wrong are vital to the institution. If the people are against a cause, should we expect them to go for it just because we have provided them aid? M -----Original Message----- From: Nick McClure [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2003 9:54 AM To: CF-Community Subject: RE: Time to pick on the Germans... I think the point, is that it seems when other countries ask for US support, it is given. When the US asks for other countries support, we told how arrogant we are. Of course this is not the norm, look at Afghanistan many countries provided support in one way or another, of course for that many of them will receive major aid packages, so it wasn't just because we asked. Germany and France were able to bounce back from WWII thanks to the support of other countries. I cannot find any numbers on how much the Marshall plan actually gave to those countries, so I don't know how much or who gave more. I know that this year we will give 11.4 billion in foreign aid money, not counting additional monies that go to Iraq, and 4.3 billion will be spent in UN peace keeping operations. Japan is second in foreign aid with 9.7 billion, then Germany (4.9b), UK(4.7b), and France(4.3b). My point here is that we do a lot for the rest of the world, and seldom ask for anything in return. Everyone should know that after WWII it wasn't the US that rebuilt the world; there were a number of countries who had hands in rebuilding the world But keep in mind, that when Britain said they could no longer afford to aid Turkey and Greece who were battling communism in 1947, it was the US who took over providing the money. The Marshall plan also did more than just give people money, it provided a way for the companies to get back on their feet, part of it stated that part of the money should be used to buy goods and services from foreign companies, allowing them to reestablish themselves in the market. The British often stand beside the US, and the US will always stand beside the British, if either side should ask for support, I am confident that the other side will provide as much as is possible, regardless of the endeavor, the British are our friends, and if it weren't for them we wouldn't be what we are today. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?forumid=5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?method=subscribe&forumid=5 This list and all House of Fusion resources hosted by CFHosting.com. The place for dependable ColdFusion Hosting. Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
