Sue B
And Craig, let's not forget those nations who the United States aided and abetted in their efforts to cleanse some of these named and unnamed country s ills. The United States has a closet full of skeletons too Craig...and much the public is yet unaware of.
Let's pray that the next super power will not follow suit by establishing PEACE KEEPING bases in most, if not all countries in the world....that' means right here on our soil.
Sue B
"I suggest to you that The Empire of the United States is also in a decline and from within. Look to the Far East. That's where the next superior superpower is being nurtured.
Craig
Every nation that has been the most powerful eventually declines. The Egyptians, Greeks, Persians, Romans, Spanish, British, French, etc etc had their time at the top for a while, and then for a variety of reasons gave way to younger, more vibrant powers.
Our time will surely also come. And China and / or Japan appears to be the most likely country to take our mantle.
It will likely be 20 to 50 years, though, before we are deposed as the world's most powerful country. China has a long way to go, and thankfully Japan has become a very peaceful democracy. And China, despite a horrible history, is evolving into a successful "capitalist roader" regime, with vibrant free enterprise hobbled by a geriatric political system.
But all the America haters that long for the day when America is deposed should think twice. Professor R. J. Rummel of the U of Hawaii on his web page at http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/ has documented the worst mass murderer nations. *He uses the term "democide*", which he defines as the murder of any person or people by a government, including genocide, politicide, and mass murder. This definition excludes soldiers killing each other in combat or accidentally killing civilians when in accordance with the Geneva Convention.
Here are the 10 worst nations in the 20th century, with the numbers murdered rounded to the nearest million, up to 1987 (Rwanda, the Congo, Iran, and Iraq were trying hard to make the top 10 during the past 15 years, but we don't have a more recent count, and some of the top 10 (Vietnam, China) are likely slowly adding to their totals.
USSR
China PRC
Germany
China KMT
Japan
China Mao
Cambodia
Turkey
Vietnam
Poland
Note China made the top 3 different times
Communist regimes were the top 6 out of 10 times.
Also note that the charming regimes of Cambodia and Vietnam made the list. They are small countries, but they tried very hard.
Kudos to the "Ho Ho Ho Chi Min, NLF is sure to win" crowd. They can be proud of their success.
_________________
Sue B
In support of your view, perhaps it would be a good idea if you sent your son, or daughter to the 'hotbed' areas in order to secure your view. Germany, Japan and to a limited extent S. Korea were world wars. How do we justify the other areas we supposedly 'protect'? Lastly, if this country truly had 'The World's' best interest at heart, how come we haven't done 'Our Thing' by coming to the aid of Cambodia, the Sudan, the Congo and so forth?
It's one thing to view and nutshell the outside world in terms of friend, or foe, but what I find particularly annoying is the recent and steadily increasing (within the past 5 years) mindset of the 'Them and Us' categorization---liberals vs conservatives. We've always had a two party system. This is nothing new and suffice it to say, neither one is perfect, hence....imperfect people...imperfect world. There is enough blame to go around in both camps. Further, as much as I appreciate the freedoms (increasingly limiting as they are) we are fortunate to experience here in the West, the Democratic system of government is not without its corruption and sometimes narrowminded perspectives.
I am neither conservative, nor liberal. Both terms are limiting in skope. It's bad enought our high school years were pervasive with a 'them' and 'us' mentality.
Ken 67
Susan,I am not a liberal or a conservative either. This is why it is so easy to see the liberal bias of most media's of the world and clearly see the Rush Limbaugh's of the world. It is very easy to take the stance that we should all be more caring and that killing people is wrong. This is ignoring evil as the poor Jewish people did when Hitler rounded them up and slaughtered them. They didn't fight back. The radical Muslims (not all Muslims) would do the same thing if given a chance. They are evil. I fear people who refuse to see evil, they reject the concept of evil in the fear that they might have to judge someone. Judging someone as evil means you have to face the problem of removing them, dealing with them, yes even killing them. It is easier to deny the existence of the evil than it is to deal with it. Simplistic solutions, such as rejecting all violence, are seductive to undeveloped minds and altruistic religious people. It is disordered reasoning held out as some highly enlightened thinking. While I admire Dr. King, and Ghandi their strategy would have never worked with Hitler or the radical Muslims. Their philosophies do work in an ordered society, evil is not ordered. People fanatically espousing these tenants to others have chosen to close their mind to evil. The regression from true enlightenment to the illusion of nonviolent insight, in a sense is embracing evil, allowing it to rule you. Evil is not tolerant, you cannot reason with it. These people believe that saying someone is evil is prejudiced thinking.
We must teach them not to be evil they will understand. In trying to be kind, unselfish, nonjudgmental one allows evil to become more powerful. One has to fight for good just as evil fights for evil. To do otherwise would be to accept evil, to tolerate it among us. In a sense to accept death over life because evil will kill you if given a chance.
Yes, we are the police of the world and as all police forces fighting crimes against humanity we make mistakes. It is entirely unfair that we are not getting more support from Europe and others in our efforts. One cannot naively assume we have anywhere near the same corruption as most other governments of the world. There are a few others that have as little corruption as the US but not many. Most are wildly more corrupt than our government.
These are incredibly gray times, it is very difficult, if not impossible to find the true meaning of things. Both the right and the left have taken the easy way out. One does not have to think, worry, fret over the situation if one takes one of these positions.
As far as my children are concerned, we have a voluntary military today. It is their choice whether to enlist or not. I have a deep respect for our sons and daughters serving in our military.
Best Regards,
