I gotcha, DTB...name-calling isn't very constructive criticism (re Bush as clown comment). I do agree, though, that he has little responsibility when it comes to making decisions concerning your (oops...I mean 'our'
) national security(ies), or much else that goes on. He is (allegedly) involved in such things, but a major responsibility of his is to be a representative of the people. As such, he is their (your...ours, almost...) voice; he is, as well as other things, a spokesperson. At the very least, relative to other American presidents that I have heard speak, he is not very articulate. Hence the ad hominem attack.
By the way, you left out a number of other countries that aren't 'amused', such as Indonesia, China, Syria, Iran, lotsa-istan's, a number of South American countries, several African countries, ad absurdium.
I just don't know if they feel so much
afraid , as you sorta imply, rather than peeved, threatened, humiliated, etc. One popular method of acting against such feelings is to take a defensive posture, including relying on so-called
weapons of the weak such as atomic bombs and terrorism.
Feelings safe and Being safe are two different things. Several unclassified documents, and other overt publications, have quite clearly shown that policy-makers have discussed influencing public opinion by instilling fear of both foreign and domestic threats. Hey--it's great to feel safe. I generally feel safe walking around even the crappier neighbourhoods of my city. That doesn't mean that I'm not watching my back, though. Depending on the situation, my experiences, and my mind-set, such minimal anxieties can border on paranoia. Disinformation can make it hard to assess where the real threats lie.
Disinformation, I believe, is my biggest obstacle as I now try to assess what the real problems are in our world. Many will, and probably should, scoff at such a line and say 'f-it, mang...just live your dang life and let it be,' or what-have-you. Believe me, I'd like to; often I wish that some kind of head injury or something else would change me so that I was more accepting of much of the adversity that appears to be affecting our world. It just doesn't seem to be in me, though; many things are going on that seem truly unfair to many people...and it sure as hell pisses me off. I was heavily into studying ethics at University, both before and shortly after Sept.'01, until I became rather disillusioned with the cheap, fruitless, academic games that appear to go on in such pursuits. A year-and-a-half experiment with hedonism (mostly the pursuit of ganja, rock n' roll, ganja, women, ganja, you get it, aye?) finally, somehow, started to get boring. Currently, I'm working in the non-profit sector, as well as conducting my own research on some possible strategies to improve some aspect of the world, what-with my rather marginal resume (the french-sounding kind).
Enough bs about me.
Sure, it's good to see the Taliban gone, but even more moderate Islamic groups are starting to feel threatened. Besides, Afghanistan doesn't appear to have improved much the past few years, unless opium production is a true measure of success. Last I heard, the oil pipeline project, for that country, is still on hold due to the region's major instability.
Saddam was dick, to be sure (there's those ad hominem's, again); he was continually lying about his military initiatives, there is no doubt. Some sources (even left-wing, liberal, or what-have-you) suggest that he was well aware of an eventual attack on the U.S. before Sept.2001, whether or not he was complicit (given the opportunity, I'm sure he would have been). However, I don't think that the war in Iraq can be completed until a Iraqi military regime (i.e. dictatorship) takes power; one that can subject the people to the will of whoever might, in fact, be pulling the strings (and, no, I'm not siding with Chomsky, or whoever, saying the U.S. has global Empire aspirations, or what-have-you, but that's another story...yet to be completed...hopefully without the need to succumb to reptilian shapeshifters or some other BS...yet another story...)
(crap...now I REALLY want a toke...do have two beers in the fridge...hang on...(yes I'm sober--may be the problem))
I'd comment on the rest of your post, DTB, but let me merely recommend a listen to Pink Floyd's
Us and Them .
A 'bomb in the marketplace, killing 50
random slobs ', appears, to me, to marginalize the lives of 50 people. I hate to agree with this one, but it IS surprising that we haven't even seen a (relatively) small terrorist attack upon U.S. soil since the big one. Something that, undoubtedly, should be credited to the diligent work of American Intelligence agencies and police forces. The 'battle for world domination ... in the realm of warfare' is where you lost me, yyz. My idealistic, utopian delusions escaped me sometime before my hedomistic flirtations, but is this the new agenda since the end of the cold war? Oh...I forgot...there's also that helium-3 that they discovered on the moon...
Cancel my subscription to the resurrection
Bush didn't seem very accurate when he discussed the economy, including job-creation statistics. A search for (U.S.) unemployment statistics on the web appears, to me, fruitless; I've seen sites that include people only up to the age of fifty, sites that include Americans employed overseas (or up here, aye), and sites that include people aged 21 or older.
Here's a fun one...next time that you call any 1-800 # (or, even, when a telephone solicitor calls you), ask them what country their calling from; I even know of some Canadian phone-sales companies--ones that used to rely solely on calls to the U.S.--that have now moved their offices to India.
I don't know that I'd want to spend a night in Iraq even if I was invisible. Certainly not in any areas where serious military action has happened. Some reports have shown that radiation levels there are pretty high, alleged due to the depleted uranium being employed by the American military. Stuff was in use during the first Gulf War, too. Some are arguing that Gulf War Syndrome is NOT the result of any bio-or-chemo-weapons that maddaS had, but due to technology created by Bechtel and friends.
I'm not bitching about Americans, here. On the contrary, I'm sympathising with Americans, here. Reports that I've seen claim that many combats vets are having a helluva time getting proper medical treatment, often with government lawyers arguing that ailments are not combat related when the clearly are.
Try checking out some veterens websites; there you'll find many who have not been indoctrinated sufficiently so as to not gripe about and even (gasp) criticize the policies of the U.S military.
Forward he cried from the rear
and the front rank died
And the General sat, and the lines on the map
moved from side to side
(Waters&Wright-Pink Floyd-Us and Them)
