| > why did you cite them as the reason for China's authoritarianism becoming a problem China annexing Taiwan wouldn't merely be "intervening in foreign affairs". When an authoritarian regime conquers a liberal democracy, the people in the annexed area are no longer free. It's the same reason we couldn't just ignore Hitler taking over half of Europe. If he'd just stuck to oppressing the people in his own territory it's possible the rest of the world would have let him and Germany might still be an authoritarian dictatorship today. > the CIA funded the Taliban Iraqis were hardly free prior to that. Short of direct military intervention, you often have to choose between what you believe to be the lesser of several evils. I'd agree that was probably a misguided choice in this case. > Why is this a good thing? See previous question about "Why does the US get to unilaterally decide which forms of government are acceptable?" See my answer to that question. Human freedom is an inherent good. > "When the U.S. pulled out, their puppet government collapsed immediately." True democracies can't be puppets; they're controlled by the people they govern. And it wasn't voted out by the populace, it fell to a military attack by a theocratic regime. |