Nikoko
17-01-2005, 03:49
I'm not anti-U.S. at all, I'm just in a rather odd mood at the moment and I feel like taking down the big guy a notch. Tommorow you can be sure I'll be defending American policies. :D
Why do they hate us? (http://http://www.peacepirate.com/argument/interventions.htm)
From linked article:
Below is an incomplete list of U.S. interventions into the internal affairs of, and U.S. incursions into, other sovereign states. Under both U.S. and International Law, these actions are illegal and furthermore are clearly acts of war. If you don't believe me on that point, then ask yourself what would have happened had the United States been on the receiving end of these actions. If you're willing to answer that question honestly, I challenge you to then ask yourself where the threats to our national security really originate from. (essay continued below)
The List:
1953: U.S. overthrows Prime Minister Mossadeq of Iran and installs the Shah as dictator.
1954: U.S. overthrows democratically-elected President Jacobo Arbenz of Guatemala at the behest of multinational United Fruit Company. 200,000 civilians are killed.
1963: U.S. backs assassination of South Vietnamese President Diem.
1963-1975: American military kills 4 million people in Southeast Asia.
September 11, 1973: U.S. stages coup in Chile to assassinate democratically-elected President Salvador Allende and install Dictator Augusto Pinochet. 5,000 Chileans are murdered.
1977: U.S. backs military rulers in El Salvador. 70,000 Salvadorans and four American nuns are killed.
1980's: U.S. trains Osama bin Laden and fellow terrorists to kill Soviets. CIA gives them $3 billion.
1981: Reagan administration covertly trains and funds "contras." 30,000 Nicaraguans die.
1982: U.S. provides billions in aid to Saddam Hussein for weapons to kill Iranians.
1983: White House covertly gives Iran weapons to kill Iraqis.
1989: CIA agent and Panamanian President Manuel Noriega disobeys orders from Washington. U.S. invades Panama and removes Noriega. 3,000 Panamanian civilians die.
1991: U.S. invades Iraq after Iraq invades Kuwait using American weaponry. Kuwaiti dictator is reinstated.
1998: President Clinton bombs "weapons factory" in Sudan which later turns out to be an aspirin factory.
1991-2003: U.S. military aircraft bomb Iraq on a weekly basis and almost unilaterally imposes economic sanctions. U.N. estimates 500,000 Iraqi children die from bombing and economic sanctions. Economic sanctions are illegal under the U.N. Charter to which the United States is a signatory state. Currently, the U.S. is still occupying Iraq.
2000-2001: U.S. gives Taliban-ruled Afghanistan $245 million in "aid."
There are other interventions that the author is currently researching.
(continued from above)
As the U.S. national security apparatus embarks on a dangerous policy of "pre-emptive strikes" in a drive to establish the "New American Century", it is significant to take notice of the prior interventions listed above. The history behind each one of these actions indicates that, contrary to U.S. governmental assertions, they were neither taken in the interest of freedom or democracy nor were they exceptions to U.S. foreign policy practice. All people, both Americans and the rest of the World, should be concerned because the "national security" rhetoric and actions of the United States are not those of a peaceful democracy, but rather another example in history of how a very privileged few are more than willing to sacrifice the common welfare and security of the People in the pursuit of ever more power. World history shows us that eventually empires fall and the People always pay the highest price. To these power-hungry interests, a nation-state is of no more significance than a corporate entity is to the business executive class - simply a legal fiction who's only purpose is to facilitate their personal gain.
Is America unique in history as an empire bent on world domination? No at all. The means employed by those in control of the U.S. national security apparatus may be more advanced than those used by previous warmongers, but the goal is still the same: subjugate the many to the service of the few. To that end, fear has always been a powerful tool of the oppressor to stop the public from thinking critically and asking questions about their government. In the United States, the domination of traditional pre-Internet media (television, radio, newsprint) by a handful of very wealthy, very powerful, anti-democratic interests has stifled the free flow of information to the People and has turned these sources of information into fear-mongering propaganda machines. By keeping the American public afraid, the warmongers are able to quell and attack those who challenge their policies by labeling challengers as un-patriotic and placing the country at greater risk.. All the while the warmongers manipulate the government into taking aggressive actions against other nations and reap the profits funded by taxpayer dollars. The recent $87.5 billion package that Congress approved in a roll call vote, and which the American media barely questioned and quickly forgot, is a glaring example of these forces at work.
But don't take my word for any of this. You've got Internet access. Look it up for yourself and form your own opinions.
I will continue to add more events to the above list (and there are more) as my research continues.
What's your take on this?
Note: Notice the "democratically-elected socalist President Jacobo Arbenz overthrown by the United States on the behest of United Fruit Company" and the "coup in Chile to assassinate democratically-elected President Salvador Allende and install Dictator Augusto Pinochet." If your going to defend America in a reply, begin with this! After all, we say we stand for democracy, how can we stand for democracy if we destroy it and install a dictator?
That said, I think America is the best damn nation in the world, I just think we can improve a few things. That's democracy in action, if I decide to flame a board once or twice, oh well. :D
Don't take things so seriously! Actually, now that I think about it, I think our nation is cleaning up past mistakes, removing all the dictators we helped to put in power.
P.S. I'm shipping off to basic training in four months, which is more then most of you Pro-Americans will ever do for your country, so PLEASE, I beg you, don't write me off.
Why do they hate us? (http://http://www.peacepirate.com/argument/interventions.htm)
From linked article:
Below is an incomplete list of U.S. interventions into the internal affairs of, and U.S. incursions into, other sovereign states. Under both U.S. and International Law, these actions are illegal and furthermore are clearly acts of war. If you don't believe me on that point, then ask yourself what would have happened had the United States been on the receiving end of these actions. If you're willing to answer that question honestly, I challenge you to then ask yourself where the threats to our national security really originate from. (essay continued below)
The List:
1953: U.S. overthrows Prime Minister Mossadeq of Iran and installs the Shah as dictator.
1954: U.S. overthrows democratically-elected President Jacobo Arbenz of Guatemala at the behest of multinational United Fruit Company. 200,000 civilians are killed.
1963: U.S. backs assassination of South Vietnamese President Diem.
1963-1975: American military kills 4 million people in Southeast Asia.
September 11, 1973: U.S. stages coup in Chile to assassinate democratically-elected President Salvador Allende and install Dictator Augusto Pinochet. 5,000 Chileans are murdered.
1977: U.S. backs military rulers in El Salvador. 70,000 Salvadorans and four American nuns are killed.
1980's: U.S. trains Osama bin Laden and fellow terrorists to kill Soviets. CIA gives them $3 billion.
1981: Reagan administration covertly trains and funds "contras." 30,000 Nicaraguans die.
1982: U.S. provides billions in aid to Saddam Hussein for weapons to kill Iranians.
1983: White House covertly gives Iran weapons to kill Iraqis.
1989: CIA agent and Panamanian President Manuel Noriega disobeys orders from Washington. U.S. invades Panama and removes Noriega. 3,000 Panamanian civilians die.
1991: U.S. invades Iraq after Iraq invades Kuwait using American weaponry. Kuwaiti dictator is reinstated.
1998: President Clinton bombs "weapons factory" in Sudan which later turns out to be an aspirin factory.
1991-2003: U.S. military aircraft bomb Iraq on a weekly basis and almost unilaterally imposes economic sanctions. U.N. estimates 500,000 Iraqi children die from bombing and economic sanctions. Economic sanctions are illegal under the U.N. Charter to which the United States is a signatory state. Currently, the U.S. is still occupying Iraq.
2000-2001: U.S. gives Taliban-ruled Afghanistan $245 million in "aid."
There are other interventions that the author is currently researching.
(continued from above)
As the U.S. national security apparatus embarks on a dangerous policy of "pre-emptive strikes" in a drive to establish the "New American Century", it is significant to take notice of the prior interventions listed above. The history behind each one of these actions indicates that, contrary to U.S. governmental assertions, they were neither taken in the interest of freedom or democracy nor were they exceptions to U.S. foreign policy practice. All people, both Americans and the rest of the World, should be concerned because the "national security" rhetoric and actions of the United States are not those of a peaceful democracy, but rather another example in history of how a very privileged few are more than willing to sacrifice the common welfare and security of the People in the pursuit of ever more power. World history shows us that eventually empires fall and the People always pay the highest price. To these power-hungry interests, a nation-state is of no more significance than a corporate entity is to the business executive class - simply a legal fiction who's only purpose is to facilitate their personal gain.
Is America unique in history as an empire bent on world domination? No at all. The means employed by those in control of the U.S. national security apparatus may be more advanced than those used by previous warmongers, but the goal is still the same: subjugate the many to the service of the few. To that end, fear has always been a powerful tool of the oppressor to stop the public from thinking critically and asking questions about their government. In the United States, the domination of traditional pre-Internet media (television, radio, newsprint) by a handful of very wealthy, very powerful, anti-democratic interests has stifled the free flow of information to the People and has turned these sources of information into fear-mongering propaganda machines. By keeping the American public afraid, the warmongers are able to quell and attack those who challenge their policies by labeling challengers as un-patriotic and placing the country at greater risk.. All the while the warmongers manipulate the government into taking aggressive actions against other nations and reap the profits funded by taxpayer dollars. The recent $87.5 billion package that Congress approved in a roll call vote, and which the American media barely questioned and quickly forgot, is a glaring example of these forces at work.
But don't take my word for any of this. You've got Internet access. Look it up for yourself and form your own opinions.
I will continue to add more events to the above list (and there are more) as my research continues.
What's your take on this?
Note: Notice the "democratically-elected socalist President Jacobo Arbenz overthrown by the United States on the behest of United Fruit Company" and the "coup in Chile to assassinate democratically-elected President Salvador Allende and install Dictator Augusto Pinochet." If your going to defend America in a reply, begin with this! After all, we say we stand for democracy, how can we stand for democracy if we destroy it and install a dictator?
That said, I think America is the best damn nation in the world, I just think we can improve a few things. That's democracy in action, if I decide to flame a board once or twice, oh well. :D
Don't take things so seriously! Actually, now that I think about it, I think our nation is cleaning up past mistakes, removing all the dictators we helped to put in power.
P.S. I'm shipping off to basic training in four months, which is more then most of you Pro-Americans will ever do for your country, so PLEASE, I beg you, don't write me off.