Ted, <If Iraqis wanted democracy and/or a better life, they would have overthrown Saddam long ago.>
History is full of success stories that have been started not by the wishes of a nation's own citizens. Germany is a lot better off without Hitler, despite not successfully overthrowing him themselves. Korea (well, at least South Korea) is a lot better off without Japanese occupation, even though Koreans failed to overthrow the Japanese themselves. It took U.S. intervention before that happened. Heck, even Japan is doing a lot better now than they ever could have by being imperialist. Unfortunately, it took two nukes before Japanese citizens realized this. And now Afghanistan, I'll argue, is a lot better off without the Taliban. But that didn't happen without America bombing the crap out of the Taliban troops. Pockets of resistance still remain, but I'd say Afghanis now have a measure of hope not seen before.
It is the trend in post-modern society to blame America for many things, including parochialism, arrogance, unilateralism, greed, etc. These "Blame America First" people seek intellectual honesty, but in reality they destroy the foundations that made America successful in the first place. It's a self-destructive philosophy that will ultimately bring about the downfall of our success.
Tenchusatsu |
