welsch@ihu1e.UUCP (l.a. welsch) (10/15/85)
Gary Kremen writes in "Another Reply to Tim Sevener:" > I am still not sure of what "American First" Paranoia Tim speaks. A > majority of Americans do believe in the right's of those Missing In > Action (MIA's) and respectfully in the underlying points in many of > these movies ["Missing in Action", "Rambo", >"Red Dawn", "Invasion USA"]. > In the large group of MIA supporters, there will aways be > some like this Dan Blockhead guy. But there is NO need to smear this > larger group because of universal dislike for a very small minority of > extremists. While I cannot speak for Tim it is paranoid to believe that there are American POW's being held by the Vietnamese. There just is not any evidence. It is also paranoid to believe that we are about to be invaded by either the Russian army or Russian terrorists. There just is not any evidence to support this line of reasoning. It is not paranoid to believe that we may be attacked by nuclear weapons (a lot of evidence to support this, just count the missiles), or that terrorists may attack us within our own borders (consider the FALN). But to see Russia as behind every attack and to attribute all anti-american activities to communists is simplistic and paranoid. Worse, it leads to the type of knee jerk foreign policy that loses Cubas, Vietnams and Nicaraguas. Please note, I am not saying that communists are innocent by standers, far from it! Communists are opportunists who take advantage of the problems of other nations to increase their sphere of influence. The myth these films promote is that by attacking communists we can somehow remove the underlying problems that gave the communists the opportunities in the first place. The belief that underlying economic and social problems can be solved only by the military is not unique to the USA. Russia uses the same solution in eastern Europe and in Afghanistan with about the same degree of success. Russia has been sending troops to put down rebellions in the Warsaw pact countries since the end of WW II and there is no end in sight. Larry Welsch ihnp4!ihu1e!welsch