orb@whuts.UUCP (SEVENER) (01/05/86)
> U.S. foreign policy has been far from perfect; but no other nation with > anywhere near our power has behaved nearly as well. > > Frank Adams ihpn4!philabs!pwa-b!mmintl!franka "Far from perfect", hmmm, let's see now: American wars with the Indians and their virtual extermination 1848 - American war with Mexico to obtain California and the Southwest 1898 - American war with Spain to obtain Cuba, the Phillipines and other Spanish colonies 1920's - American troops sent to occupy Nicaragua 1954 - American overthrow of the democratic government of Jacob Arbenz to be replaced by a military dictatorshil until the present 1956 - American overthrow of the democratic government of Mossadegh to be replaced by the military dictatorship of the Shah 1940's-1954 - American support of the French attempt to regain their Indochinese colony with aid of advisers and military supplies 1954-1973 - American military intervention in Vietnam, in contravention of 1954 Geneva Accords to settle Indochinese conflict. American support for the refusal of Diem to hold elections called for in 1954 Geneva Accords 1973 - American covert support for the overthrow of the democratic government of Salvador Allende ending decades of the tradition of stable Chilean democracy. Military dictatorship of Pinochet immediately got American and international loans denied to Allende's government as he killed and imprisoned thousands. Including the bombing of a former Allende government official in Washington, D.C. (needless to say this was not in the medias headlines as a case of horrible "internation terrorism") 1965 - American troops sent to the Dominican Republic 1984 - American troops overthrow the government in Grenada (note: human rights groups reported last week that labor organizers and members of the opposition to the current government have begun mysteriously disappearing. Of course others are in jail) 1983 - American mining of Nicaragua's harbor in violation of international law and the Treaty of the Organization of American States 1981-? American funding for contra campaign of terrorism in Nicaragua including bombing, killings, and mutilations. 1981 American resumption of arms sales to South Africa's apartheid government ?(coming soon!) - American funding for Jonas Savimbi's UNITAS party and its campaign of terrorism in Angola with the usual bombings, killings, and mutilations. Savimbi's current major supplier is the South African apartheid government which aids him with its own troops. Before that Savimbi got support from China as a self-proclaimed Maoist. Interestingly Savimbi has never said he is *not* a Maoist. Needless to say his organization is a bastion of the democracy of Jonas Savimbi - "one man one vote" (HA! HA!) I hope our foreign policy can come a lot closer to perfection than this!! tim sevener whuxn!orb
franka@mmintl.UUCP (Frank Adams) (01/06/86)
In article <458@whuts.UUCP> orb@whuts.UUCP (SEVENER) writes: >> U.S. foreign policy has been far from perfect; but no other nation with >> anywhere near our power has behaved nearly as well. > >"Far from perfect", hmmm, let's see now: > >American wars with the Indians and their virtual extermination I am not going to defend early American policy towards the Indians, but as usual you greatly overstate your case. By the estimates I have seen, there are about as many Indians in the U.S. now as there were in 1492. Oppress them and suppress their culture, yes; virtual extermination, no. >1848 - American war with Mexico to obtain California and the Southwest > >1898 - American war with Spain to obtain Cuba, the Phillipines and > other Spanish colonies The Spanish-American War was hardly a moral outrage. The one American venture into true colonialism didn't create any new colonies, just transferred ownership of some existing ones. >1920's - American troops sent to occupy Nicaragua > >1954 - American overthrow of the democratic government of Jacob Arbenz > to be replaced by a military dictatorshil until the present I don't recognize this reference. >1956 - American overthrow of the democratic government of Mossadegh > to be replaced by the military dictatorship of the Shah I am not an expert on Iranian history, but I think it is stretching a point to call Mossadegh's government "democratic". (The Shah was an absolute monarch, not a military dictator. I have no more love for one than for the other, but there is a difference.) >1940's-1954 - American support of the French attempt to regain their > Indochinese colony with aid of advisers and military supplies > >1954-1973 - American military intervention in Vietnam, in contravention > of 1954 Geneva Accords to settle Indochinese conflict. > American support for the refusal of Diem to hold elections called > for in 1954 Geneva Accords We have discussed this elsewhere. Suffice it to say that the morality of American involvement in Vietnam is a debatable question. >1973 - American covert support for the overthrow of the democratic > government of Salvador Allende ending decades of the tradition > of stable Chilean democracy. Military dictatorship of Pinochet > immediately got American and international loans denied to > Allende's government as he killed and imprisoned thousands. > Including the bombing of a former Allende government official > in Washington, D.C. (needless to say this was not in the medias > headlines as a case of horrible "internation terrorism") Again you overstate your case. Allende ended the tradition of stable Chilean democracy all by himself. I think it is clear that Pinochet's regime (as it turned out) was not what the U.S. was bargaining for there. >1965 - American troops sent to the Dominican Republic > >1984 - American troops overthrow the government in Grenada > (note: human rights groups reported last week that labor > organizers and members of the opposition to the current > government have begun mysteriously disappearing. Of course > others are in jail) Of course, nobody disappeared or was put in jail by the regime which was deposed. >1983 - American mining of Nicaragua's harbor in violation of > international law and the Treaty of the Organization of > American States > >1981-? American funding for contra campaign of terrorism in Nicaragua > including bombing, killings, and mutilations. > >1981 American resumption of arms sales to South Africa's apartheid > government This is still part of an American policy whose purpose is to encourage South Africa to abolish apartheid. Misguided at worst, but it may be absolutely correct (I don't think it is, but I do admit that it might be). >?(coming soon!) - American funding for Jonas Savimbi's UNITAS party > and its campaign of terrorism in Angola with the usual bombings, > killings, and mutilations. Savimbi's current major supplier > is the South African apartheid government which aids him with > its own troops. Before that Savimbi got support from China > as a self-proclaimed Maoist. Interestingly Savimbi has never > said he is *not* a Maoist. Needless to say his organization > is a bastion of the democracy of Jonas Savimbi - > "one man one vote" (HA! HA!) > >I hope our foreign policy can come a lot closer to perfection than this!! U.S. foreign policy has been far from perfect; but no other nation with anywhere near our power has behaved nearly as well. Britain instituted the anti-Indian policies which the U.S. and Canada carried through; it (as well as Spain, when that country was dominant) took over large fractions of the world, over the armed objections of the inhabitants, and ruled them for its benefit. Russia holds half of Europe and half of Asia in its empire; it has eliminated the native culture in most of northern Asia, and is well on the way to doing the same in the Baltic states. Frank Adams ihpn4!philabs!pwa-b!mmintl!franka Multimate International 52 Oakland Ave North E. Hartford, CT 06108