News and Politics Forum

Strike two, Andrew!

goddamn canadians.  go molest a polar bear eh?

FatSean wrote:

He makes a good point.

The current problems with terrorism have many causes.  It seems that people either want to blame it completely on the religion, or completely on the 'Imperialistic US'.  I notice on this board that a blind eye seems to be turned towards the actions of the US gov't and other western nations, which certainly influenced the current mid-east climate.

The US Gov't, after it rose to power following WW2, has taken a decidely arrogant stance on the world stage.  Hypocritical almost.  Meddling with other nations' elections, propping up insurgents who promise to put in a US-friendly regime once they topple the current one.  Money, arms and training all went to Afghanistani rebels in the name of keeping the 'evil' USSR from having power in that region.

Those who support these tactics use the tired excuse of "*insert name here* is doing it, so we have to do it too!".   WHen you try to lead from a moral high-ground (think: Freedom!  Democracy!) you can't really use the 'Might makes Right' approach as well.  You have to choose!

Let's see. We weren't aggressively involved when Hitler came to power. Would it have been better that we were? What do you think the outcome would have been had we gotten invoved "aggressively" earlier?

What do you think the outcome would have been had we NOT gotten aggressive about the Soviet expansion? Do you believe we ARE insulated by the oceans? What would our economy, or at least our national safety, have been like had there been Soviet control of the ME? And what were they in fact aggressively doing at the time? YOu can't just say "it's the US' fault" without making an honest appraisal of the situation that existed at the time.

Now, as to being "imperialist." How much national expansion has there been to the US throughout the last century? We won wars, yet did not take over territory as under our direct rule, as any other war-winning nation has done for centuries. Even if we put in power individuals or groups that were supposed to be allied with our interests, judging by the actions of some of them against us later, we didn't enforce that with an iron fist like truly Imperialist war-winning nations have done throughout the past.

And finally, even though the "terrorists" do call us part of the problem, the fact that they PRIMARILY state religious reasons of their own for their actions, or at least politically religious reasons (like the wiping out of all the Jews) then you can't blow that off as though it isn't the "real" reason, as it most certainly could be (and most likely is, considering that fighting has been going on longer than the US has been in existence, therfore removing it from the running of being the primary cause, or even a substantial cause, of the terrorist situation).

Last edited by ChrisV (08-24-2006 08:52 PM)