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by TeMPOraL 2445 days ago
> It’s unwinnable. You go in and take sides, it’s interference, imperialism (you’re doing it for the oil). You stay out and let them work it out then it’s craven indifference.

But it is winnable. What people want is for you to for once just go in for the actual ethical reasons, fight for the actual rights, secure the freedoms, stop the injustices. Not go to a country to secure oil under bullshit pretext of WMDs and terrorism, only to destroy a nation and create a terrorist state next to it, and only then leave it to fend for itself.

(I think everyone would think better of the US if the government said, "you know what, oil is really fucking important for prosperity of our citizens, and we're willing to kill people to secure it". It still wouldn't be ethical, but at least it would be honest.)

People worldwide are not (just) unhappy that the US plays world police. They're unhappy that the US proclaims to be the world police, but is in fact a world gangster.
1 comments
mc32 2445 days ago
And yet as the US disengages people are saying on my god, we’re abandoning allies, we’re letting them fend for themselves. The alliances are going up in smoke. The world depends on you guys to keep the peace, send troops and quash problems. Now we’re going to have fight ourselves and send our troops in, you guys are bad!
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TeMPOraL 2445 days ago
Again, the point is: if you engage for wrong reasons (or lie about reasons), then mess up and disengage, people have a point in complaining. What's being asked is: don't engange in the first place, if you must start shooting somewhere then do it for the right reasons, and if you absolutely must do something for the wrong reasons, at least be up front about it and clean up your mess afterwards.
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mc32 2445 days ago
Can’t disagree with you there. Blame Busch and Obama and their SimCity approach to geopolitics. That said, things are thorny and messy there and they have to be resolved locally, though if international pressure helps that’d be good. Yet, the chasm is too big right now. They’re gonna have to get tired of war themselves as other places have. Saddam’s peace was a forced peace. International peace would be in similar vein.
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