There's been a lot in the news lately about the ongoing Iraqi political process, the 60% turnout at the polls (higher than America!) despite the constant threat of terrorist firebombing, how some of the Shia and Sunni leaders are stepping up to the plate and saying "gee guys, can't we all just get along," stuff like that. I'm not sure if things have taken this turn because of our military presence there or in spite of it, and to be sure the oversight of operations down there has left something to be desired... but it's clear that the situation is substantially more complicated either than "we're giving you back your freedom" or "no, you're just there for the oil" or what have you.
Was it right? Hard to say. Only time will tell, and quite honestly, maybe time won't even.
(I consider the question of prosecuting wars to promote freedom and end human rights abuses in other countries completely separate from the question of how our leaders motivate us to do such things. Of course, Bush's war would never have sold as such a war, so he had to twist the facts to get what he wanted. And that sucked.)
There's something about your response that suggests that you may not have caught the (admittedly subtle) reference that the author was making to our base at Guantanamo Bay, and our recent activities there.
It's not that we're doing anything new, or different. (And the perception that we're not is part of the problem.)
_This_ is the problem:
To multiply the impact of this bold example, we could find people from all over the world -- especially people from places where tyranny is rampant and democracy is only a vague, foreign word -- and invite them to come and live for a time in our model island outpost. There our guests would see and experience our American values firsthand.
Word of this experience would spread to their countrymen and their homelands: This is what America is really like. This is what America is all about. No amount of rhetoric on behalf of freedom and democracy could compete with the message such an outpost would provide.
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branchandroot
meh, I dunno.
Date: 18 February 2005 09:38 (UTC)Was it right? Hard to say. Only time will tell, and quite honestly, maybe time won't even.
(I consider the question of prosecuting wars to promote freedom and end human rights abuses in other countries completely separate from the question of how our leaders motivate us to do such things. Of course, Bush's war would never have sold as such a war, so he had to twist the facts to get what he wanted. And that sucked.)
Re: meh, I dunno.
Date: 20 February 2005 21:03 (UTC)OH no, not again. :(
Date: 21 February 2005 11:22 (UTC)Re: OH no, not again. :(
Date: 21 February 2005 12:20 (UTC)_This_ is the problem:
To multiply the impact of this bold example, we could find people from all over the world -- especially people from places where tyranny is rampant and democracy is only a vague, foreign word -- and invite them to come and live for a time in our model island outpost. There our guests would see and experience our American values firsthand.
Word of this experience would spread to their countrymen and their homelands: This is what America is really like. This is what America is all about. No amount of rhetoric on behalf of freedom and democracy could compete with the message such an outpost would provide.