Tiptop789 Loc: State of Denial

Muslims make a good target too h**e. Sure some (many?) are zealots and commit horrendous crimes. But not all. Even G.W. Bush realized this and as president, urged Americans not to indiscriminately attack those of Muslim faith. I always thought that stand took a lot of guts. Some would have fanned the flames of h**e and encouraged violence.

3507

The original post is approximately true.

I have a more optimistic opinion (well, not really opinion, just a feeling) of current foreign policy, as I assume there are positive elements in it (as I think there were in some of the earlier Democratic administrations), but much of it will be part of the same old thing (under both political parties).

Again regarding the original post, I would go back much further than WW II. For example there is a book, _The True F**g_: Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, and the birth of American Empire_, by Stephen Kinzer, 2017, which describes the battle of words and v**es over whether the U.S.A. _should_ be an empire, and how the U.S. took over the Philippines, and what was Teddy Roosevelt's attitude about war. But even before that, the U.S. had a concept that it could just take over land because it could, or because other kinds of people were inferior. And before that were the "papal bulls" read, in English, to native Americans by the European conquerors, as prelude to an excuse to ens***e, k**l, or otherwise overrun them. I think I read about those in Howard Zinn's _A People's History of the United States_.

"Commoditize" the world? I think the essential concept driving the events is more the feeling of superiority that so many U.S.A. people have, plus the simple fact of power (the ability to conquer). The base of the power is partly the land that was stolen from the native Americans, and that happened partly because they didn't have immunity to some European diseases.

moldyoldy

Damn, I totally agree with you!

straightUp Loc: California

Indeed, greedy profit is the fuel that powers this assimilation of cultures into a global market, that much is certain and what people like Bush forget to mention when they advocate free-trade is that "free" means anyone can bid but as we all know, the highest bidder always wins... So, when you are forced to surrender your precious resources to wealthy foreigners it called "free trade". It would be like being forced to put your wife up for public auction where anyone can bid and the auctioneer says it's fair because YOU can bid too... Nevermind the fact that you don't have enough money to save her from some rich bastard. It's really f--ked up. and every leader in the last 80 years who has ever stood up against free-trade to protect his people and his land has been attacked by the US.
Neoliberalism - 101


Granted, religious fundamentalists often oppose modernization but in a lot of cases, such as with the Baath Party in Iraq, their was no aversion to modernization at all and yet they still fall victim to forced free-trade. One thing is for certain, the exploitation of land and people is far more efficient using modern methods.


Absolutely!


Usually BECAUSE modern technology is being used to exploit their resources and oppress the people.


Indeed, there is no actual evidence that bin Laden was responsible. I remember when he released a tape to the American people (that was promptly ignored by Americans far too busy with their own conspiracy theories) in which he denied any involvement, but he did in fact, cheer the event.

What I remember most from that tape is how he described the war he was waging against the U.S. as a war of attrition. He said for every $5 they spend on munitions etc, America will spend $5 million. He also mentioned that from one generation to another, Americans lose interest in the wars they fight, where in his world the fight is passed on from generation to generation. In other words, his prediction is that the U.S. would go the way of the Soviet Union and collapse under the weight of their own military spending, leaving his people victorious. It only took 6 years after the invasion of Afghanistan for our economy to crash and 14 years later, here we are retreating from Afghanistan while I get a copy of Foreign Policy magazine that says on the cover... "Who won the war on terrorism?"

straightUp Loc: California

I am not speaking for ANYONE, sweetheart. I'm just telling it like it is.

Look, I don't know the precise reason why you had to escape the "clutches of c*******m" (I work with a lot of Russians that seem to have mixed feelings about c*******m) but I'm glad you were able to find sanctuary here (even though you picked a political side that is making enormous efforts to refuse sanctuary for others)

Also, keep in mind that I'm pretty specific about what I am saying... I'm not saying all Americans are guilty of the moral crimes I've described... I am blaming U.S. foreign policy, specifically. If I blame the American people (including myself) for anything it's being complacent about what our elected government is doing.

As for you last point. I disagree entirely. They did NOT attack us because we are "good". I think perhaps this is just a very emotional issue for you, probably having something to do with wh**ever happened to you in Russia. Lots of immigrants who like yourself found sanctuary in America have similar emotional feelings of American patriotism and typically overlook the divisions within the country that more rational people can see quite easily.

straightUp Loc: California

I'm soooo surprised to hear you say that, Rose. In a world where EVERYTHING is an opinion, your argument is to call something an opinion.

straightUp Loc: California

Well, there's no convincing a religious fanatic.

moldyoldy

Coming from Rose, that’s a ringing endorsement.

lindajoy Loc: right here with you....

Sums it up rather nicely regardless of the excuse, deflection etc...

Other countries h**e us but they certainly want to be us...

straightUp Loc: California

Dude... are you trying to rationalize with a fanatic? LOL

Very good point though... I have often stated how Muslims Fundamentalists and Christian Fundamentalists are essentially the same thing. Both wage war on the liberal and secular aspects of the countries they find themselves in.

I would even suggest that the differences between factions like the Taliban and the politically motivated Christian Right in America comes down the environment more than anything else and I wonder; if the Taliban was in America, would they be as contained as the Christian Right is? Indeed, there is less suffering in America to drive young people to their ranks while secular laws are firmly established and enforced.

I'm not making any assumptions here, but I do wonder.

straightUp Loc: California

Yes! As much as I dislike Bush politically, he DID make that very important point and he *did* run the risk of losing supporters because of it.

lindajoy Loc: right here with you....

Absolutely agree with you here~~” Some countries can go a lot further with a lot less but they get exploited by "richer" countries that have little interest in maintaining separate cultures respecting the values of a lesser country. It's all about profit and greed. And if a country don't want to go along and modernize their ways, they are trampled on anyway in the name of progress...

Power, control, greed motivates many a country and ironically most of them are looking to achieve what the United States of America has established...

As for bin Laden and his regime sorry but I must respectfully disagree...His mission was that of the mindset and ideology of the Middle East itself and supporting capitalism wasn’t his bag. Or desecrating “his holy land.”

Rose42

You called it t***h which is why I pointed it out

Not everything is opinion.

lindajoy Loc: right here with you....

Is it not an opinion?? What defines it differently?? And yes, isn’t anything that is debated an opinion??? Being so, is there any more value to one’s opinion over that of another???

Roamin' Catholic Loc: luxurious exile

Well said! And I would add to this list big d********g piles of islamist/jihadist a*********n...💩💩💩💩