Re: OT Hatred (was Re: New Ada compiler for .NET)

[Hyman Rosen <hyrosen@mail.com>]

John English wrote:
 > but only Iraq out of all these gets slated for regime change.

For now, John, for now... :-)

> I find these a lot more credible than the
> ostensible reasons that the White House is giving out.

But that's because you're already predisposed to dislike
the US government and believe the worst about it.

> execution without trial of some people in a jeep in Yemen

Certainly. That's pretty much the definition of war.

> and hundreds more are locked up in Cuba with neither trial,
 > access to a lawyer or even the protection of the Geneva Convention.

Sure. More war stuff. I believe they're occasionally visited by
the Red Cross, and are able to mail letters out.

> a global school bully

Rather, we are acting unilaterally in our own interests,
attempting to ferret out those we see as ideological
fellow travelers of the people who attacked us.

> It seems to believe that it can imprison foreign nationals without trial

We can. We have.

> tear up international treaties

If we can enter into them, I don't see why we can't exit them.

> and impose "regime change" on foreign states
 > (even if democratically elected, as in Chile)

Well, we can try. It doesn't always work out well.
I assume we did it in Chile to fight Communism.
That's not an unreasonable thing to do, since that
was the great evil of its day. Democracy is only a
good way of running things when it's associated with
a constitutional system protecting everyone. For
instance the hardline Hindu nationalist BJP party
was just overwhelmingly elected in Gujarat. That
might be democratic, but somehow I doubt that the
Muslim minority will take any comfort.

> the world finds it easy to mistrust the US

The world assumes that it can heap calumny and abuse
upon the US without consequence, and for the most part
it is correct. Then it becomes shocked when the US does
begin to exert its power becuase something has finally
roused it. It reminds me of when Argentina thought it
could just go and take the Falkland Islands away from
England.