Brian, I usually agree with you Brian but I would like to know which of these countries should have been left alone and what you think would have happened if we had. I was conscious for all but the China stuff in the forties and even now remember most of these skirmishes. Would you care to show where we were wrong in being there? Also many of these were under UN auspices.
I would remind you that there is a considerable side of Republicanism that is isolationist and totally against foreign involvement except when threatened at which point they simply would do what would kill the most "enemy" and endanger the least of our own. That could include such things as the same deal for Mecca as they gave Moscow with mutual destruction. There are many here who would just as soon point a chemical or biological bomb in the direction of the home countries of the people who would bomb America and say simply: "If you so much as bother one hair on the head of my son I will waste your country for generations." They do have something in common with the late Syrian Dictator Hafez Assad on that account. I remember sitting next to Chemical, Biological and Radiological folks when I was in the Army since we shared the same infirmary. You wouldn't want to know the cold clarity that they had towards "cleansing an area of its population" with as little collateral material damage as is possible. I enjoyed Steven Spielberg's "Alien" series "Taken" for the past two weeks primarily for the studies of American life that they did in tracing the history of three American Families from the forties to the present. The US Military is a sleeping giant Tiger that should not be fooled with. They are professional, cold, fanatical and believe in their righteousness. They are the military equivalent of a Nuclear Power Plant and we work constantly to keep them grounded and pointed in the least dangerous of the possible directions. Keith spoke of defections. Yes there were in Korea but those were not professionals but draftees. These folks have their own culture and they have grown it since the end of the military draft in the late sixties. I don't see any defections from that group. They are more likely to resemble the Turks of the UN Korea troops in the Korean War than the Americans of that era. The Turks had zero defections to the North. The Military and the amorality of science were two very realistic sides to Spielberg's series. The sheer sense of the game in pure science and how at home it is with pure capitalism apart from the Romance of 19th century Communism or Humanism. To speak of the murder of one's lover as "being deleted" was truly cold but frighteningly charming. I think the world doesn't truly understand what is going on here in this monster economy and the dangers of the place where the greatest pure science is done by the government, and most of all the military, because anything else would be the socialist system and the enemy of Capitalism. So police and bombs are OK but schools are suspect. This is not a place to fool around or to tease. Those little green cars are truly out there. So Brian, I suspect those bombs were only the least possible alternatives of what could have been if you hadn't had people like Truman willing to fire Douglas MacArthur and hold down the rest. In the American Military you are either advanced in rank or you are fired. You get two tries for promotion and wars are the only sure way to be advanced in your career if you like the military and considering what Krugman was talking about with the rest of the society under this "economist's paradise" the military is not so bad. I know a teacher in Medical school who recommends that his graduates apply to the military because HMOs are so bad and the private sector is such a mess for Doctors. I also know some wonderful professional composers and singers who have put in their time as NCO's in the Army and gotten their pension because they could do real music instead of teaching ignorant teenagers in heat to do nothing with all of the skills they are taught. It is better in the military for the workers in the Public Sector if you can put up with the tyranny and the brown lips. So Brian, which countries should we have left alone? Until we had problems here with them and then had another Civil War? We almost had it in the sixties. Americans don't like destroying their homes and they don't like change much in spite of the love of the newest widget. Real internal change is almost negligible. Beneath the latest fashions beats a wounded heart that still longs for some connection to its home and original family. Only a fool would stick a finger into that. It would be easy to stir up a murderous disdain for a life style that has multiple wives, chops off their heads if they cheat and makes a big deal if you see their long hair. There just isn't too much sympathy here for such things. Take my word for it. We have dealt with this and know firsthand. REH Cherokee Expression--- "When you were born, you cried and all the world rejoiced. Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice." ----- Original Message ----- From: "mcandreb" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, December 15, 2002 3:39 PM Subject: Re: FW: profiling at airports.... > Hi Arthur, > I got this bit of info off the New Internationalist web site. Perhaps > you could create some multiple choice questions about these: > > Since the second world war > THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT > has bombed 21 countries > > China 1945-46, 1950-53 > Korea 1950-53 > Guatemala 1954, 1960, 1967-69 > Indonesia 1958 > Cuba 1959-61 > Congo 1964 > Peru 1965 > Laos 1964-73 > Vietnam 1961-73 > Cambodia 1969-70 > Lebanon 1983-84 > Grenada 1983 > Libya 1986 > El Salvador 1980s > Nicaragua 1980s > Panama 1989 > Bosnia 1985 > Sudan 1998 > Former Yugoslavia 1999 > Iraq 1991-20?? > Afghanistan 1998, 2001-02 > > Take care, > Brian
