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Politics : America Under Siege: The End of Innocence -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Machaon who wrote (7951)	10/19/2001 12:13:11 PM
From: Michael Watkins	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 27666

>> I can't see people traveling to Cuba, and partying within earshot of political prisoners, who's only offense was speaking out against Castro. << I don't know enough about the situation in Cuba to comment, except that as a dictatorship I'm sure Cuba shares many attributes similar to countries that the US does business with. Personally I don't have a well formed opinion about how to deal with oppressive regimes. Embargoes do not appear to work. Doing business with them and looking the other way does not work. There is no doubt that doing business with them, exposing a country to capitalism and democracy, eventually works but its a long slow process. What to do about a situation like Iraq, I wonder? From all reports Saddam Hussein makes Castro look like a kindly playground supervisor. Clearly being inclusive with Hussein is repugnant to us; yet the embargo doesn't hurt him, just his people, and still there has not been the drive for revolution from within that the world seems to want. Tough problems, I have no answers. A company I am familiar with - Talisman Energy - has operations in Sudan and has been roundly critisized for doing business there. Talisman is a good company, I know many people there, including some Canadians that went to work overseas. They are investing in the local population and trying to make a difference. Their opinion is that by being there, they do make a difference -- Canadian values and practices in action within Sudan. Some consider Talisman's operations there a repugnant act, since oil revenue eventually feeds the Sudan government who is involved in a civil war. Others believe Talisman's presence in the country is a moderating force; if they were not there, its likely that China or other partners with less concern for human rights would take a bigger stake in the project than they have now. I use Talisman as an example; clearly they can not make a truly meaningful difference all on their own. But I don't see how some of these regimes can be brought along the path to democracy without input from the west. The alternative, I guess, is time and bloody internal battles and eventually, one day, democracy will win since freedom really is such a compelling destination for humans. ? Gotta run - have a good day all.