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Current Events » in reply to re: raising my hand

re: raising my hand
McFly — (archived)

I think the contribution the west in general, and arguably America in particular, has made to the creation and continuation of monstrous regimes definitely implicates us in their crimes.

Sure, he's a bastard, but at least he's our bastard.

Yeah, yeah, the line's attributed to a Democratic President, but I think it's indicative of a general western attitude toward "usable despots." When they can used for our purposes, it doesn't matter how many people they kill or how many lives they destroy. Saddam was a friend to America while he was having a go at Iran, a brutal mass-murderer when his usefullness waned. As for his invasion of Kuwait, he cleared it with us before proceeding.

It's not right that the lives of foreign nationals are unimportant when the west is trying to decide which governments to jump in bed with. Either we hold human rights dear--and universal--or we don't.

I think America has got a ways to go yet before we're really walking the high-ground. We've got to be more sensitive to the plights of foreign populations, more careful about the huge impact of our foreign policy, and much more careful about who we sell or give arms to. With our enormous international clout, we could truly give a remarkable gift to the world by taking leadership in the quest to limit the arms trade...not just the big guns, but the small ones too.

True, plenty of countries export arms. But if plenty of countries killed all their firstborn, would that make it right for us to do the same?

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