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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: el_gaviero who wrote (165423)	7/8/2005 10:47:08 AM
From: Sun Tzu	Respond to of 281500

I didn't mean to imply it was an adequate defense of Bush, but rather it was the best one I have seen. There were a few points in the article I did not agree with, but this is what the argument boiled down to: Over the years US has cozied up to various thugs and dictators. This has given America a bad name (to put it very mildly) in the developing world. Here is George Bush arguing that U.S. policy over the past 60 years has been wrong and that hatred of the governments we supported is going to bite us in the rear...ultimately, the article says, if US is not the instrument of change who will? I can't argue with this. I said as much a few years ago and extensively wrote about this and the fleeting window of opportunity that America is missing in making the world a better place. The problem is: (a) Credibility: Bush has about zilch in that department. His own conduct and election has been less than stellar in the democratic department, to put it mildly. (b) His ability: Right from the start some Bush supporters stated publicly that the real reasons for the war cannot be articulated publicly. Leaving aside the great lack of respect for democracy implied in that statement, the truth of the matter is that there were many many unarticulated reasons for the war ranging from love of Israel to Oil to war profiteering, to some actual noble causes. The problem is that in the long run no one can have more than one master. Supporters of this war will diverge on the best conduct based on the goals they each had when they entered it...so this is a doomed endeavour. (c) The methods used to achieve the stated nobel goal: There is huge incompetence (some would say by design) in the way funds, resources, and lives are allocated to this venture. Over all, I remain convinced that people everywhere are capable of finding their way, if only we keep greed in check, act as decent human beings, and keep from interfering in their internal affairs. ST