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Edited on Tue Oct-26-04 09:31 PM by lanparty
At some point EVERYONE must admit that some things are beyond our control.
If we were Roman instead of American, we would have burned Fallujah to the ground and killed 2/3 of the population. Then we would have enslaved the other 1/3 under threat that we'd kill their women and children if they didn't obey!!!!
In the empire business, THATS what works! The US Army is pretty lightweight in terms of controlling people and getting their point across. We have impediments like honor codes and "christianity". After all, Christ wouldn't burn down a mosque filled with townspeople!!!
We are not immoral enough to be Roman. Instead we always rely on 3rd parties like the Contras to do the dirty work of Empire. Hussein could control Iraq because he would kill anyone he needed to and wasn't worried about "innocents". We fail to learn the essential lessons from the imperial "professionals". Kill indescrimately, no smart bombs, no friendly hooches!!!
Marlon Brando was brilliant in Apocolypse now. He was a the inhuman moral manifestation of everything we were doing in Vietnam. We just couldn't face it because he was white, and he was a Colonel. He was us, and he was mad. His madness reflected our madness as a nation.
Well, if you can't hack off little kid's arms yourself, I think you should stay out of the empire business!!!! You need to dare to take the next step in civilization. We are in a state in between brutal thugs and truly evolved, peaceful society. As a nation we have two minds as to whether we should go forward, or back.
Every effort to keep countries OUT of Democratic-Socialist hands has resulted in the empowerment of brutal dictatorships. The problems of today's world is of our own making!!! When we turn our backs on a Chavez, we support brutality and dictatorships. When we presume to control the destinies of foreigners, we inevitably must rely on the thugs to keep order since we don't have the stomach to do what it takes!!!!
I vote forward. Get out of the empire business altogether. Let other people run their own houses. Be a good neighbor. Take care of your lawn! Make sure the kids stay busy and are happy. Lend tools to your neighbor, and make sure you get them back. Tear up any fences your neighbor misplants on your lawn!!!!!
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