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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group

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To: Sun Tzu who wrote (95602)	4/22/2003 3:21:20 PM
From: Clarksterh	Read Replies (1) of 281500

We are more temperate in our direct involvement but we've gotten our dirty work done via brutal client regimes. Undoubtedly true back in the cold war when we felt seriously threatened. But I might note that it was generally less true of us than of our opponent - the USSR. But not at all obvious now. Is there any brutal dictator out there that we would support were there to be an uprising? Mugabe? No. Sauds? No. Mubarek? No. Perhaps Karzai, but he is hardly a brutal dictator and there is some claim to saying he was democratically elected and neither are there any really clean alternatives when the society is tribal in nature. Perhaps Musharef, but only if the uprising was Muslim extremists and as dictators go Musharef is no Hussein. Most people outside of the US do not draw such fine lines between what it is that US is doing and what the US supported regime is doing to them. Ok, I understand and even empathize somewhat. But per my previous notes I think the tendency is to exagerate the US influence and blame. People do considerably better if they assume more of the problems are of their own making. I had to make this one bold because it is so important. Now why is it that when it comes to the problems that US is facing, the common explanation is that it has nothing to do with what we are doing wrong and everything to do with how, evil, jealous, stupid, etc, etc, the other side is? Interesting point. And I agree, but ... . It isn't at all clear that there is anything we could do about the hatred even if we accepted full responsibility. Power we have, but not god-like. For example if we did as you suggested a while ago inre Iraq and just buttoned Iraq up and prevented interference we'd be accused of causing every problem they have whether they be small or utter failure. "The US didn't do an adequate job of setting up the conditions." This is completely separate from the issue of whether this technique would work. Clark

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