This is an irrefutable argument. By this argument
of course the acts of every genocide and cruelty becomes justifyable
because one can always ask a rhetorical question "Can you name a
country which would not act this or that way." Every country has
its share of sin but that does not absolve any other country from its
own dirty laundry. America is responsible for its dirty acts and
pointing fingers at other countries won't help.
[AS] :
{snip}
little children are all now dead. They were killed by Saddam's chemical and biological weapons.
Yes this boils my blood. Yes this makes me angry. But instead
of placing the blame and anger solely at America's feet for
what happened, let us retrace this history to see how it
actually unfolded. When in 1979 the IRI (Islamic Republic of
Iran) took American diplomats as hostages and millions of
Iranians were shouting "marg bar Amrika" , or death
to America and were saying "Today Kabala, tomorrow Qods
(Jerusalem)", Iran was at the beginning of a revolution
that would turn it into a rogue nation. The mullahs, or
spiritual leaders of Iran, were not withholding or covering up
their expansionist, political ambitions for Islam. Out of this
revolution this new country, now the Islamic Republic of Iran,
became upfront in its goal of exporting this revolution to
other Islamic countries. In so doing this Iran suddenly became
a threat to the peace and the security of the Middle East as
well as to the rest of the world. For this reason the
IRI had to be contained or the consequences would have been
too devastating.
[NB]
You seemed to have forgotten who engineered the
coup to oust Mossadeg, the democratically elected prime minister of
Iran and brought in the brutal dictatorship of the Shah.
[AS] :
It is true that
America has supported many dictators and evil characters. The
Taliban, the Contras and the terrorists in Nicaragua, were
allies and agents of America. And the list goes on and on. But
America like any other country of the world is after her own
interests. America is neither a villain nor a savior. It is a
player, trying to make the most in an anarchic world. This is
the world we live in and this is our reality. If you don't like
it, don't blame America; let us instead change the world.
America is playing by the same rules that your country and my
country is playing, i.e. no rules. We are all abiding by the law
of jungle. If it is not America it will be other countries.
[NB]:
But currently the villain is America- so lets
call it a villain and stop finding silly rationalizations.
[AS] :
However, given the fact
that America is a democracy, it is still better than most other
countries. Imagine if Russia were the sole superpower of the
world? Do you think the Russians would have respected human
rights more than the Americans? What do you think would have
happened if the Chinese were the sole superpower? What if an
Islamic country had the power that the America has today? Can
you imagine the disaster? Some of us would be dead as Kafirs and
other would be paying jizyya as dhimmis. Suppose America stopped
meddling in the world affairs. What do you think would be the
scenario for the Middle East then? Madmen such as Saddam Hussein
would be allowed to engage in their reign of terror virtually
unfettered by outside control. Under such a condition people by
the thousands would likely be killed, on a daily basis. Don't
forget that this man killed more than 30,000 Shiites in Southern
Iraq and massacred innumerable Kurds after the Americans stopped
bombing him in 1991.
[NB]:
Every victor thinks of itself as the epitome of
morality. What would have been the condition of the world had say
Russia been the sole superpower is at best speculative and at worst is
a red herring. Talking of the the murder of Kurds in 1991, I hope you
know that America incited them and then denied them support while
Saddam slaughtered them.
[AS] :
Let me say I hate
America's bullying as much as anyone else, but I dread even more
to think what would happen were America to wash its hands of
world affairs. Then nothing can stop the maniacal Saddams, Kims,
Bin Ladens and Khomeinis of this world from indulging in wanton
terror.
[NB]:
If you hate America's bullying as much as you
claim to be then you would not have provided these silly
justifications. Also do note that Bin laden was given training and put
into Afghanistan by the US SIX MONTHS BEFORE the Soviets were to come
to that country. Bin Laden was introduced into the country to fight a
government which included women ministers. I think had America not
intervened there Afghanistan would have had a government with women
ministers and Taliban could not have assumed power.
[AS] :
Calling America's
military intervention in Iraq (both in 1991 and 2003), in
Yugoslavia and in Afghanistan terrorism is like saying that
domestic police forces in every country are also terrorists
because they bully the criminals and use force to subdue them.
[NB]:
In Iraq and Yugoslavia and Afghanistan (and of
course in Cambodia, Vietnam, Nicaragua, Columbia and so on and so
forth) countless civilians were indiscriminately killed. That is
terrorism.
The solution is contained in the problem. The
world needs an international police force. In the absence of such a
legitimate, worldly acknowledged peacekeeping authority, America is
forced to assume that role. This is on one hand a burden on America
and on the other hand a source of resentment for other countries.
Why is America forced to assume this role?
Here is a set of references for you:
1. A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn--look
particularly for the description of how American's killed 10% of
Phiilipinos in an effort to "civilize" their country.
2. 9-11 by Noam Chomsky
3. Rogue state by William Blum
Also here is a quiz for you
1.Which is the only country to have been ever convicted by the
World court for terrorism?
2.Which country holds the record for violating the most UN
resolutions?
Answers:
1.USA
2.Israel
