For ****'s sake, I think
I'm going to snap if you keep going on like this, Bobb. (Note: I will probably swear a lot more in this post. If you are sensitive and/or stupid, please look away now).
Originally posted by Bobboau
Anytime we hear about some injustice we do care, but because the residence of a certan old world continent would whine about it being none of our business we do nothing.
Ah, the "blame Europe" ploy. In fact, blame
anyone as long as it's not America. Good, glorious America, that only does good things in the interests of other people and at its own expense, expecting nothing in return. I'm not saying that Europe is sanguine - we're likely just as complicit (the Germans sold Saddam the gas that he used on Kurdish villagers, for example). However, the US has blood on its hands too, and you can't get away from that by
making things up.
Look, I have no problem about the US being the world's policeman, so to speak, if it had to abide by the same rules that genuine police do - ie. habeas corpus, human rights and so on. I realise fully that if the West did not intervene anywhere for any reason, things would be worse. However, don't pretend that you
care as a nation about every conflict you never stopped. The US stands by idly and does nothing about Chechnya, and about Kashmir, and so on, despite having the power to do so - and the precedent, given the intervention already in "other people's wars" in Israel, the Phillipines, etc. And there are a litany of past conflicts where nothing was done - or even worse, when outright lies were told by the US leadership - like in Hungary, or the Gulf War. So don't say you care about the people. Like any nation, it's all about what you can get out of a 'regime change' or whatever.
We let Afghanistan go to hell for the last five-ten years because setting up a real government wasn't our business, even though our involvement in the region demanded we clean it up...So instead of doing what we are doing now
Setting up a halfway decent government...[/b]
Actually, US aid to Afghanistan in military terms is now virtually non-existent since the war is over. As for financial aid, I do believe that the administration just pulled the plug. It's just European peacekeepers there now...y'know, the ones who never get involved in any conflict. Oh, except that one. And Bosnia and Kosovo. Oh, and Iraq. Ah, and remember those pesky little World Wars? 
Well who the **** were the taliban, well they were some of the people we armed to get rid of the USSR, but they were from the reagon so somehow they were allowed to subjugate the country without condemnation[/b]
So now you say that you didn't condemn them? So you didn't care about the people, did you? Is that right?
Same thing in Yugoslavia, people getting killed, we see this, are outraged want to do something, Europe says no (well they do have more of a right here seeing as this was in Europe, but), impose sanctions, apply political pressure, just what ever you do don't actually go in and physically stop it. Well after a few years situation goes from worse to crimes against humanity, and eventually we somehow convince you all, yes we must go in and do something, wam! bam! Two months later, situation resolved
[/b]
No, wait. IIRC, the US was never particularly outraged and we had to convince you to help us pass the UN resolution and bomb Yugoslavia. As for imposing sanctions prior to invasion - I think that is called using the minimum necessary force first - to avoid casualties on both sides if at all possible. Otherwise we may get straight onto the nukes and save all the bother of trying to save lives.
The reason we didn't like communism is because they sent tanks after people in there own country asking for change, they shot people trying to leave, and because they had nukes pointing at us (we probably have that last one in common with them)[/b]
Oh wait, and what the **** were those National Guardsmen sent to break up the peaceful protests against the Vietnam War? And did those unfortunate students just die of surprise, or something? 
Was it our business when Germany was laying waist to Europe?[/b]
Actually, the Berlin-Tokyo-Rome Axis Alliance forced you into war with Germany through the attack on Pearl Harbor. You couldn't exactly have avoided it.
We need to cut oil consumption, we need to get fuel cell cars, and nuclear powerplants, we need to do it now, not just because of the Arab oil thing but also for the environment. Why the hell don't we have this stuff!! (I know, I know, evil corporations...)[/b]
1. Big Oil has influence in Washington.
2. It would be costly.
3. People are scared of nuclear reactors and whine like *****es about wind farms because they 'look ugly'. Well, so does burning black bits of rock. 
So you see, we do have one thing in common. 
