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Originally Posted by OldSchlPunk
The Marshall Plan +50 years doesn't look all rosy now because there are a couple of generations who don't understand the history. Or don't care.
Lead by example is a great theory, too bad it doesn't work all the time. The rest of the world can't work out their own problems because the thugs won't let them, be it the radical Muslims, some damned dictator, whatever. Not everyone is as brave as our forefathers and England was nowhere near as ruthless as a Hitler, Saddam Hussein, or Pol Pot.
Getting into this war was just a matter of time really. If you look at it, radical Muslim has been building in various parts of the world since Jimmy Carter allowed them to get a firm stronghold in Iran. They hate what we stand for - freedom of choice, and will do anything to undermine us.
Yes, we have caused some of our own problems by nosing around other's business, but to some extent, we need to know what is happening in certain areas of the world for strategic purposes. Like it or not, oil is one of those strategic purposes, and that isn't just the oil companies' problem to be dealt with.
Sitting back did nothing for us but make them grow more bold until they had the courage to bring it to our shores. Saddam may or may not have been directly involved with Al-Queda, it doesn't matter. They watched and saw that time after time nobody did anything to stop him, thinking nobody would do anything to stop them.
And finally, Switzerland is a non-issue. What the hell do they have that anyone wants? That's really why nobody fucks with them.
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Of course leading by example doesn't work *all the time*.
But it works some of the time, and whether or not it works is not really our concern. It's entirely up to other people whether they want to folllow any example or not; that's their rights.
Yeah, "the rest of the world can't work out their own problems" and "not everyone is as brave as our forefathers", etc., etc. All those poor inferior people need the great white hope to come and save them from themselves and teach them how to live. How f'in arrogant can you get?
Radical Islam is an internal struggle (or is if left alone), concerned primarily with control over the Islamic world, it's more like the Protestant Reformation than anything else, with Radical Islam playing the part of the Catholic Church struggling to maintain control over the faith. We played a significant part in the radical takeover of Iran, by propping up the Shah for decades and pissing off all the Iranians thereby. (Yet another example of why we oughtn't be doing this crap.)
And if we have allowed ourselves to become dependent enough on someone else's resources that their internal politics can threaten our security and "strategic purposes", then we have made a mistake, and we need to change our own policies so as not to be in that vulnerable position. And it still isn't right for us to use that position as an excuse to stomp all over someone else's sovereignty.
It still comes back to behaving well and being a good and responsible country. Watch the world, defend ourselves vigorously and in a clear manner when attacked or threatened, keep the response focused on those who did or intended us the harm, and leave anyone who isn't doing us harm alone. It's wrong to start fights, but right to act in self-defense. How hard is that to understand?
PhilB