Rasheed:
> I read the Declaration of Independence back in 8th grade and took my test and
> all, so im familiar with it. But im not talking about 200 year old American
> ideals, im talking about the present day. Totalitarianism is still rampant
> and there is little done about it. You know about the Hutu and Tutsi
> massacres in Rwanda, where one time 500,000 people were slaughtered with
> machetes? I wouldn't expect you to, because Americans weren't involved with
> that one. In fact, the only time Americans have recently been involved with
> giving their lives for sacred honor and the restoration of liberty was when
> we fought sadaam to keep our gas prices cheap. Don't get me wrong, i love
> this country, but i think that there is a pervading attitude among many
> people that our lives are worth more than the lives of others.
Hi Rasheed:
Yes, I’m familiar with the atrocities in Rwanda. We did not send troops
there for many reasons other than the one you offer. But you forgot to
mention American troops who lost their lives in Somalia and were sent
at the risk of their lives to Kosovo to aid ethnic Albanians who are
mostly Muslim. Were those actions taken to keep gas prices cheap?
And how about America’s support of Muslim countries like Egypt,
Turkey and Pakistan?
That America acts in her own national interest should come as no
surprise. I don’t know of any country that acts otherwise or pursues a
foreign policy inimical to its own welfare. In every case that I know of in
recent years, America has built a coalition of countries before
committing troops to battle. So your condemnation of the U.S. should
apply to other countries as well.
But perhaps more to the point, would you agree it is human nature to
value those close to you more than strangers, and to defend the ethnic,
racial, religious or other group you feel a part of against threats from
outsiders? Certainly I consider the lives of my wife and children to be
worth more than the lives of those who would kill them if they could. In
this regard, I don’t think Americans are different from any other
humans. However, in the actions of Americans and some in the
Muslim world, there is at least one huge difference: when people suffer
horribly as in Rwanda, Americans don’t dance in the streets.
Seems you are angry at the allied victory against Saddam who has
been condemned by many countries as, in Horse’s phrase a
"scumbag" and in mine as a "germ." I’m sure you have good reasons
for defending him but I can’t imagine what they might be.
Platt
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