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Anaxagoras -> RE: Is Anyone Else Annoyed.....? (2/27/2011 11:21:26 AM)
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I think the US is the victim of decades of left-wing demonisation. It has become ingrained in Western culture and it is very difficult to fight against. Since World War Two by far the most suffering in the world has come from revolutionary causes, be they nationalist, socialist or Islamicist but the US is seen as the bad guy. I don't agree with some aspects of US foreign policy. I think the war in the Balkans was not justified morally, and of course the Iraq war was a terrible move. I have to say though that in general terms US policy is no better or worse than other nations. It's sin in the eyes of others is just having a lot of power. I recall there was outright envy of this expressed by senior French politicians years ago. They saw it as some sort of implicit right that they should have influence elsewhere. Thus the issue is power and whilst the US has made numerous bad moves, historically speaking its power was used quite benignly. In the long term we may see a re-allignment of power toward China and Russia. Then it will be seen how destructive power-politics in foreign policy really is.
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ORIGINAL: tweakabelle
Here's an interesting perspective on the history of US-Egypt relations. According to this view, it has little to do with Egyptian or American welfare. http://www.ifamericansknew
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ORIGINAL: tweakabelle
The West is caught on a hook of its own making. A long history of complicity with dictators and autocrats and support for Israel has made the West anathema in the Arab world. So any ground forces are out of the question.
One thing we all can do is educate ourselves about the Middle East and the Arab world. Judging by some of the posts I see, there is a definite need for it.
IMHO there's no better place to start than Robert Fisk's "The Great War for Civilisation" (Harper Collins, London 2005). Fisk is a legendary award-winning Middle East correspondent for leading UK paper "The Independent", Beirut resident for 35 odd years, fluent Arabic speaker and probably best known as the only Western journalist to interview Osama bin Lost.
His book covers over a century of Western involvement (interference?) in the Arab world and Iran. Factual, comprehensive, easy to read and passionate - highly recommended!
When the current turmoil settles down eventually, the West is going to have to devise new ways of dealing with a resurgent Arab world. Knowing our history and acquainting ourselves with the Arab world will enable us to make better decisions and policies than we have in the past.
Since Tweakabelle can't let the Israel issue drop even where it has limited relevance I'll reply briefly. The West has not supported Israel to any great extent since OPEC. France led the EU/EEC in the 1970's to demand that the PLO be involved in peace negotiations even when they were attacking Israel. They nailed their colours to the mast with successive declarations criticising Israel. The US is probably the only genuine allie Israel has. Yet Arabs/Muslims the world over hold the "West" responsible because the EU and UK didn't go as far as to hang Israel out to dry. That is the issue here, whether to allow a small state to be destroyed or not to keep out Arab friends happy so they will give us plenty of cheap oil. That was the message from OPEC after Israel defeated the pan-Arab attack in 1973. The US did not cowtow to this blackmail, unlike other sectors of the West, and yet it is the very one commonly described as having an unethical foreign policy with respect to this issue!
Also beware of any recomendations from Tweakabelle, be it for "If America Knew" or Robert Fisk. She mocks my justified concerns about media bias but cites the most extreme sources to back up her views. Fisk is a pretty sickening individual. I remember him being challenged on Irish TV about his claims over the supposed "genocide" in Jenin by one of the other guests, and he went mad threatening to sue the programme, and calling it "blood libel"!!! Here is an account of his antics http://archive.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=26988 - BTW he also supported military intervention in the Balkans back in the 1990's, so it seems he is pretty selective in his stance when it comes to American foreign policy.
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