[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Because "God Shed His Grace on [We]," as one of our anthems says? Uh, I have a hard time believing that. With great power goes great responsibility. Interesting times ahead.
As far as "God shed his grace", I've often wondered if those words represent an invocation, an iteration of fact, or simply an excuse. (After all, who are WE to tell God to do anything?) But the claim rings false, as is evidenced by our collective behavior. We are no better than the great nations that preceded us, though we often like to think ourselves as qualitatively superior. (So did the Brits, so did the Romans, so did the Helenes, and so forth . . . )
Whatever the US role in those sanctions, it has always seemed to me that Saddam Hussein had the resources to address the basic health/sanitation needs of his people but instead chose to spend it on a lavish lifestyle for himself, his family, and supporters, and on other nonessentials compared to basic needs. Yet, almost without exception, the US gets blamed for this humanitarian disaster during the sanctions. Why?
The U.S. gets blamed for a LOT of the world's woes. Some of this is well deserved, some represents an oversimplification of complex issues for which the most obvious target of rage happens to be the biggest, easiest target. Saddam Hussein behaved in a deplorable manner during the conflict he had with the United States, but I wonder sometimes whether we are capable of fully understanding the cultural context in which men like him arise to power. Could we have done something different that would have attained our objective of getting his troops out of Kuwait (though it's been argued here that the Ambassador Gilaspie debacle sent Saddam the wrong signal about our intentions), while allowing Saddam to save face?
It's hard to keep track of what is relevant when all of the factors come up for discussion. We don't like to admit that our duplicitous policy toward Israel enters into the mix. Energy use and economic expansion rank among the most significant influences in our foreign policy. We're driven by fear, whether of foreign influence, communism, racism or Islam. We don't like to examine many years of political blundering, but also, many people outside our country don't really understand the complex religio-political milieu in the United States, (which we have discussed many times) and how the apparent impotence of our military after the Korean conflict plays into the perceived need for effective projection of power.
We end up, then, at an impasse with many people in the world who simply don't understand us, and for whom we have little sympathy. We become defensive when exposed to criticism, deserved or otherwise, and tend to attribute any disagreement with our foreign policy as anti-Americanism. Even when overseas friends warn us that our ways expose the cause of liberty and economic development to danger, we choose to lumber onward, ignoring the torpedoes, "sowing dragon's teeth" as Keith often writes.
Were the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki "terrorist" attacks? Was the allied bombing of Dresden? What about Tokyo? What other targets remained in Japan that HADN'T been heavily bombed prior to the use of atomic weapons? Until very recently, bombing has not been a terribly effective technique when it comes to destroying an enemy's command / control infrastructure or his ability to support ongoing warfare. But this issue has its root in earlier conflicts where the concept of "total war" began. How do we define terrorism in the context of warfare? When Grant invaded the southern states during the Civil War, was his conduct terroristic? Some people think so, yet he only had conventional artillery, willing troops and fire at his disposal.
Perhaps the best answer lies in addressing the root causes of conflict. We need to limit our own desires and work cooperatively for the benefit of everyone who lives in our world. Yet I see the seminal cause of human conflict every time I look in the mirror. Until I can deal with my own attitude, prejudices, rage and greed, I see little hope in avoiding terror in the future.
robert luis rabello "The Edge of Justice" Adventure for Your Mind http://www.newadventure.ca Ranger Supercharger Project Page http://www.members.shaw.ca/rabello/ _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
