Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

WCGreen

(45,558 posts)
6. Look, for the last 50 years or so, we have supported the strongmen in the middle east...
Sun Aug 5, 2012, 03:18 AM
Aug 2012

We were behind Saddam, The Shah and anyone else who would keep their people quiet so we could get their oil.

Now that we are helping "liberate", loosely speaking, the people just might start recognizing that the US truly has their best interests in mind.

It's going to take a long time but the only way we can get the people in these countries into the 21st century is to get the idea of the strongman out of the way.

It won't take as long as we expect, once the control from the top is loosened and the people feel empowered and part of the country, have a legitimate stake in their country, they will look toward stability. The only way to get there is to get rid of the strongman mentality.

Oh, great. U.S. Intervention in another foreign mess. Zalatix Aug 2012 #1
bad. fucking bad. cali Aug 2012 #2
After a while you get to see the whole pattern repeating itself... indie9197 Aug 2012 #3
I still can't see how the far left thinks that the people of the Middle East UnrepentantLiberal Aug 2012 #4
you have a naive and child like understanding of the situation Douglas Carpenter Aug 2012 #7
Did someone take a poll of the people of Syria? UnrepentantLiberal Aug 2012 #11
no and that is the point. It is naive to imagine that Syrians are all of one mind. They are deeply Douglas Carpenter Aug 2012 #12
no reliable poll that is for sure and that is the point. It is no more true that the Syrian "people" Douglas Carpenter Aug 2012 #13
It appears that minority groups will be executed first by the "freedom fighters" indie9197 Aug 2012 #14
Liberals arguing that the U.S. should give weapons to Syrian rebels underestimate Assad's power Douglas Carpenter Aug 2012 #5
Look, for the last 50 years or so, we have supported the strongmen in the middle east... WCGreen Aug 2012 #6
What is so great about the 21st century? indie9197 Aug 2012 #8
There is more citizen participation than there was in the 20th century... WCGreen Aug 2012 #17
I think we are talking about different countries here indie9197 Aug 2012 #21
Your right. WCGreen Aug 2012 #27
the US has the people's best interests in mind? oh, please. HiPointDem Aug 2012 #9
Then why would we be supporting the rebels. WCGreen Aug 2012 #18
you can't be serious. first, who are the fucking 'rebels'? have you looked into it? HiPointDem Aug 2012 #22
So we should do nothing and let it all go to hell... WCGreen Aug 2012 #26
do nothing about *what*? there are people dying all over the world -- 6 million died in the wars HiPointDem Aug 2012 #28
One thing you forget about Africa is we have no staging ground to deploy troops from.... WCGreen Aug 2012 #30
do you think the Saudis who are by far the biggest supporters of the opposition have the best Douglas Carpenter Aug 2012 #10
Tell me that getting Assad and his cronies out of Damascus wouldn't be better for Israel WCGreen Aug 2012 #19
There is no reason to believe that Sunni dominated militias running the country would be better for Douglas Carpenter Aug 2012 #24
It's got to be better than it is now.... WCGreen Aug 2012 #25
Of course the CIA is being authorized to seek to depose Assad... and the explanation is simple LooseWilly Aug 2012 #15
+1. the best i can figure, all our official enemies are those who try to maintain some semblance HiPointDem Aug 2012 #16
Follow the money... LooseWilly Aug 2012 #23
Based on their track record the US will never run out of enemies indie9197 Aug 2012 #20
And, given the probability of blowback from this, the US will never run out of 9/11s. leveymg Aug 2012 #29
Latest Discussions»General Discussion»Obama signs order support...»Reply #6