Freedom is on the March
Having come from a country that experienced dictatorship and seen the brutality of a megalomaniac, I am always glad when I see nations liberated from the clutches of dictatorship. It feels my heart with joy to see a nation fight (or be assisted) to free itself from the bear hug of authoritatian rule. I enjoyed watching Slobodan Milosevic toppled from power, the site of young (and old people) demonstrating in emmase and forcing him out. I loved watching "People Power 2" remove the corrupt regime of Joseph Estrada. I was heartened by the toppleing of Servanadzes regime in Georgia and many other examples of people taking control of their own destenies and toppling unpopular govenments. With this in mind, I must say that i am glad the Iraqis are know free, they have been able to shake of the shakles of dictatorship, and I can only wish them well in theire struggle to form a new and thriving democracy.
The reason for my writing this is not to argue about the war, I agreed with the war (to use Colin Powell's words) in Substance, but not in Process. I believe Saddam snookered himself, he probably knew he had no WMD, but could not just fully account for them. It is good for the Iraqi's (in the long run) that Saddam miscalculated the fervent intent of the America to disarm him. However, I do believe that the US could have waited for 1 more month and one more resolution. It should be noted that the African nations in the council and Chile, had circulated a final resolution that would have given the inspectors one more month, authorized the war if Saddam did not comply and given the US one more month to plan for the post Saddam era. One more month would have made little difference to the War effort, but could have been used to develop a plan to win the Peace. It may also have forced the opponents of the war into a corner, forcing them to either Veto a strong resolution or abstain, and they would probably have been forced to join the war effort.
Any who, I wrote this piece in order to vent on what I see as blind optimism in the ranks of the Republicans. The president constantly says that Freedom is a gift from God, all people of the world deserve freedom and freedom is on the march. The president has called for freedom in Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Syria and other unfriendly nations. However, he continues to coddle the dictators in Pakistan, Saudia Arabia, Uzbekistan, Tajikastan and other Central Asian countries. These friendly countries are not asked to become democratic, they are not asked to get rid of their torture chambers, and rape rooms, no they are countries to sell weapons to, countries to for Rumsfeld o visit and call great allies. This leads me to question whether democracy really matters to the head honchos in the US government.
I believe it does, but only when it serves its foreign interests. I believe that democracy,and morality in general, only matter to states when they have a stake in it developing (or not) and they will ignore its non-existence, if it serves their interest. Consider Reagan's belief in democracy and his support of Pinochet, Surhato, Mobutu and other dictators. It sickens me when I hear Republicans just motuh off about freedom being on the match, and ignoring the blatant duplicity of the Bush foreign policy.
The reason for my writing this is not to argue about the war, I agreed with the war (to use Colin Powell's words) in Substance, but not in Process. I believe Saddam snookered himself, he probably knew he had no WMD, but could not just fully account for them. It is good for the Iraqi's (in the long run) that Saddam miscalculated the fervent intent of the America to disarm him. However, I do believe that the US could have waited for 1 more month and one more resolution. It should be noted that the African nations in the council and Chile, had circulated a final resolution that would have given the inspectors one more month, authorized the war if Saddam did not comply and given the US one more month to plan for the post Saddam era. One more month would have made little difference to the War effort, but could have been used to develop a plan to win the Peace. It may also have forced the opponents of the war into a corner, forcing them to either Veto a strong resolution or abstain, and they would probably have been forced to join the war effort.
Any who, I wrote this piece in order to vent on what I see as blind optimism in the ranks of the Republicans. The president constantly says that Freedom is a gift from God, all people of the world deserve freedom and freedom is on the march. The president has called for freedom in Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Syria and other unfriendly nations. However, he continues to coddle the dictators in Pakistan, Saudia Arabia, Uzbekistan, Tajikastan and other Central Asian countries. These friendly countries are not asked to become democratic, they are not asked to get rid of their torture chambers, and rape rooms, no they are countries to sell weapons to, countries to for Rumsfeld o visit and call great allies. This leads me to question whether democracy really matters to the head honchos in the US government.
I believe it does, but only when it serves its foreign interests. I believe that democracy,and morality in general, only matter to states when they have a stake in it developing (or not) and they will ignore its non-existence, if it serves their interest. Consider Reagan's belief in democracy and his support of Pinochet, Surhato, Mobutu and other dictators. It sickens me when I hear Republicans just motuh off about freedom being on the match, and ignoring the blatant duplicity of the Bush foreign policy.
posted by Githush at
1:28 PM
1 Comments:
Your posts contain at lot of the word "I" indicative of egocentric individual. Granted, this kind of communications is all about ourselves, but it is to wonder if such good thought could be conveyed in the third person, will they become more appealing and interesting ? Give it a try. You might surprise yourself.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home