Brickistan
10-11-2006, 08:19
This post (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=11926530&postcount=25) from Draiygen got me thinking. It is said, amongst many other things, that:
“If America Runs from Iraq why should anyone trust us to be their knight in shining armor?”
Has the Americans ever stopped and wondered: “gee, I wonder if the Iraqis really want us to ‘liberate’ them?”. Or: “hmm, I wonder what the Vietnamese really thought of our involvement?”.
It seems to me, from discussing politics on various forums,, that many Americans have this peculiar outlook on the world. America is ‘The Greatest Nation On Earth’, and everybody should be thankful when the marines storm ashore. And of course, ‘The American Way’ is the one and only way…
It sometimes feels, to me at least, that this notion is so prevalent that no-one ever questions it. No-one ever wonders if what America do is the right thing.
Draiygen also said that:
“The rest of the world does not play the game of diplomacy the way we do. Few countries do their international affairs with the same forthright honesty as the US”
That much is true. If America wants you dead, you’ll know it. But is this not the complete opposite of what diplomacy should be? Diplomacy is about solving your problems by discussing them peacefully. The American way of ‘diplomacy’ seems to be “do as we say, or your country gets flattened!”. That, in my own personal opinion, is not diplomacy – it’s simple and brutal domination by force.
Again, has the Americans ever wondered: “perhaps it would be better if we sat down and talked about it?”.
Where does this attitude come from? Is it truly as prevalent as the forums, and the real-life US politics, would suggest?
“If America Runs from Iraq why should anyone trust us to be their knight in shining armor?”
Has the Americans ever stopped and wondered: “gee, I wonder if the Iraqis really want us to ‘liberate’ them?”. Or: “hmm, I wonder what the Vietnamese really thought of our involvement?”.
It seems to me, from discussing politics on various forums,, that many Americans have this peculiar outlook on the world. America is ‘The Greatest Nation On Earth’, and everybody should be thankful when the marines storm ashore. And of course, ‘The American Way’ is the one and only way…
It sometimes feels, to me at least, that this notion is so prevalent that no-one ever questions it. No-one ever wonders if what America do is the right thing.
Draiygen also said that:
“The rest of the world does not play the game of diplomacy the way we do. Few countries do their international affairs with the same forthright honesty as the US”
That much is true. If America wants you dead, you’ll know it. But is this not the complete opposite of what diplomacy should be? Diplomacy is about solving your problems by discussing them peacefully. The American way of ‘diplomacy’ seems to be “do as we say, or your country gets flattened!”. That, in my own personal opinion, is not diplomacy – it’s simple and brutal domination by force.
Again, has the Americans ever wondered: “perhaps it would be better if we sat down and talked about it?”.
Where does this attitude come from? Is it truly as prevalent as the forums, and the real-life US politics, would suggest?