U.S. policies cause other countries to suffer

[Pepper32]

MATARAM, West Nusa Tenggara (Antara): Chairman of the country's second largest Muslim organization Muhammadiyah on Sunday scolded the policies of the United States saying it "caused many countries to suffer".

"We should not hate the American people but we should detest this superpower country's policies," he said.

"The U.S. always claims to be the protector of small countries but now it turns out to be the predator."

<snip>

Despite its national status, the meeting focussed it's attention on the repression of Muslims around the world, such as in East Timor, France, Iraq, the Philippines, Palestine and Thailand.
MORE...

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaillatestnews.asp?fileid=20041205190157&irec=0

[Deja Q]

1. Well, what else is new? People going topless for evening news?

Wait, that's been done too.

I worry that the US will find out the hard way that it really is part of a world community, and not just in the form of offshoring jobs.

[colonel odis]

4. agreed. the u.s. is going to learn some hard lessons, i'm afraid.

though the bush bunch thinks the rest of the world is there to use when they feel like it (what a rich fuck attitude), if the world were to band together against us we'd be screwed.

bush has already created so much ill will, the chinese and russians are both rushing in to fill the vaccuum the u.s. has left. yet the neo-cons go blithely along, convinced that they have the world by its short hairs.

if the world bands together it will cripple us economically and it could conquer us militarily with less trouble than we've had conquering iraq.

[llmart]

11. Well, September 11th was a lesson......

but did we learn? No. We went ahead and did something so outrageously assine by starting a war in a country that wasn't a threat and didn't ask for our intervention that I swear, I think we're a nation of idiots. How many more "lessons" will it take before we get it?

[Deja Q]

12. That's probably why the right-wingnuts like the 2nd amendment

:scared:

[eleonora]

2. it's versus its

This ever present mistake never fails to make my head spin.

[TahitiNut]

13. It's just a speedbump on the reading driveway.

:evilgrin:

[booksenkatz]

3. Why shouldn't they hate We the People?

We (collectively) just voted for 4 more years of this shit. The rest of the world is being too indulgent to continue saying, "we don't hate Americans, just the policies of their country." If we Americans are actively voting for those policies, haven't we become one and the same?

The rest of the world needs to stop forgiving Americans, otherwise you guys just become enablers to this nightmare. THE ENTIRE U.S. SHOULD BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT WE HAVE WROUGHT. If the rest of the world ever unites to invade the U.S. and get rid of our dictator, those of us who supported Kerry will just be collateral damage anyway. "Gee, we hate it that innocent Kerry supporters had to die in the invasion, but it was necessary in order to eliminate the threat Bush presented to the world." The fact that there are dissenters in America will no longer matter. Did the Allies tiptoe around dissenting Germans in WW2?

[HysteryDiagnosis]

5. Did the Allies tiptoe around dissenting Germans in WW2?

Nah hardly.... the civilians took a beating... no mercy, no humanity.... but hey... we did it to promote democracy. I have no problem with taking down Hitler, another prick we helped to power... but to anhiliate the civilian population just about puts me over the edge....

http://www.cambridgeclarion.org/press_cuttings/dresden_ft_11feb1995.html
The night the innocents died
Judy Dempsey, Financial Times, February 1995
Allied bombing flattened Dresden exactly 50 years ago. Judy Dempsey asks survivors what it was all for
As happened when Hamburg was bombed in the summer of 1943, the first raid over Dresden created a firestorm in which super-heated air rose explosively, pulling in cool air from the periphery in hurricane force winds which fed the central blaze. Within minutes, more than 15 sq kms of the city's elegant buildings, streets, museums, churches, and art galleries were engulfed in the flames.


This text from a site with a too graphic photo of the dead....
On the 13th February 1945, 773 Avro Lancasters bombed Dresden. During the next two days the USAAF sent over 527 heavy bombers to follow up the RAF attack. Dresden was nearly totally destroyed. As a result of the firestorm it was afterwards impossible to count the number of victims. Recent research suggest that 35,000 were killed but some German sources have argued that it was over 100,000.

[booksenkatz]

7. That's what I'm saying (or trying to)

...that when push comes to shove, the rest of the world will be forced to do to our cities what we did to Dresden, regardless of whether we voted for Bush or not. At some point, the rest of the world will hold ALL of us responsible for Bush's policies, especially now that we've actively voted for him to continue with his "mandate." As a country, we are now collectively responsible for the shit that's flying today. Before, it was easy to say, "Well, Bush was installed, so it's not really the fault of the American people." BUT IT IS NOW. Regardless of how we might feel about this recent election, the record shows that he won fairly and squarely. The record shows that we like his policies. The record shows that Bush's policies and the American people fit beautifully together and can no longer be separate entities.

I'm ashamed of what America has become, but unfortunately, I'm going to have to suffer the results along with the rest of my fellow citizens. Either we find a way to stop Bush, or the rest of the world will (eventually) find a way, because he won't stop himself.

[Chicago Democrat]

9. but, but, but....they cheated in Ohio!

its too cold to protest, plus I got this great new video game and I need to do Christmas shopping.

[cliss]

10. Unfortunately, I have to agree with you.

I think the last time around, the rest of the world was willing to forgive us since BeelzeBush got in illegally.

This time it's a little harder to explain. I know, I know. But does the rest of the world know? Will they believe us?

Re: the rest of the world: why should we care about our neighbors? They're of no use to us. We just think about them in terms of what natural resources they have. What can we take? We certainly don't need them for anything else.

I've posted the Aesop's Fable about the lion and the mouse a few times here. It's really appropriate.

Could anyone imagine us ever NEEDING the assistance from another country in the future? Visualize us being devastated by some event. Now imagine us reaching out to the world for help. Try Iraq. Or Latin America. Guess what they will say?

[HysteryDiagnosis]

15. because he won't stop himself.

persons with addictive personalities... oh wait... they already have that. Nevermind.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=3907037

Morning Edition, September 9, 2004 · In his new book Intelligence Matters, Florida Democrat Sen. Bob Graham -- a former chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee -- accuses the Bush administration of hiding evidence linking Saudi Arabia's government to the Sept. 11 hijackers. Graham speaks with NPR's Juan Williams.

[Flagg]

6. Sure, French muslim girls in public schools can't wear a headscarf.

It's true that they often live in poorer neighborhoods and have a harder time finding a job.
But isn't that true of any minority anywhere in the world ?
Ok, except for one.


But comparing the "repression" of French muslims with those of East Timor, Iraq, the Philippines, Palestine where thay actually get killed by the thousand is ridiculous.

I mean they have free education and healthcare. There are a lot muslims worldwide who wish they were "persecuted" in France.

[Chicago Democrat]

8. Yummy little country, yum

I love you so much I want all of you!

[Darranar]

14. Well, what a surprise!

Here I was thinking that the US government was the epitome of benevolence and compassion, and wouldn't dream of, say, brutally invading a nation to steal its oil....