orb@whuxl.UUCP (SEVENER) (11/21/84)
> from Tom Albrecht: > Haven't you heard of the Monroe Doctrine? Yeah, wasn't that the excuse Woodrow Wilson used when sending American troops to occupy Nicaragua for 19 years? > The issue is not whether > Nicaragua has advanced military aircraft, but who is doing the supplying of > such aircraft. The Soviet Union would like nothing better than to use > Nicaragua as a launching point for operations against El Salvador and other > Central American countries. Are we supposed to wait until there are Soviet > bases in Central America to do something? So why has the US done all in its power to prevent Nicaragua from getting weapons from Western Europe rather than the Soviet Union? A Nicaraguan delegation went to various European countries and were turned down due to US pressure. That does not mean that I support Nicaragua getting more weapons anymore than I think it wise for *any* country to get more weapons. But one can hardly fund a *secret* war to overthrow another country's government and then blame that country when they feel they are threatened! Then exert pressure to keep other governments from lending support and finally blame the Nicaraguans for being forced to ask Moscow for weapons. > > I think we have a responsibility to the other nations of Central > America to determine as best we can whether those MiGs are there and if > they are to dispose of them quickly. > The Reagan administration has already admitted there were no MIG's. It was carried in an AP story last thursday, as well as several times in the NY Times. > Only because the Nicaraguan government is doing its best to make > life miserable for its own people and surrounding nations. Evidence please for this statement. There have been severe problems with the Mesquit (sp?) Indians and food shortages. But the contras have certainly not helped this situation. There are a number of Americans from various groups in Nicaragua at this very moment. So far as I know there have not been reports of enormous discontent. Human Rights organizations have also pointed out that while there have been literally thousands of people murdered in El Salvador in the past few years, there is no evidence of massive killings in Nicaragua. These are the same Human Rights organizations who have reported on problems in Communist countries. They have tried to be as objective as possible in reporting Human Rights problems both East and West. > We did the same > thing to the Cubans during the missile crisis in '62 (when we were directly > threatened). Our only problem was that we didn't have the resolve to keep > up the pressure during succeeding years are we are now paying the price. > Cuba, the Soviet pawn, has been the cause of widespread chaos throughout > Africa and Central America. So why is Cuba a Soviet ally and China is not? Why is Yugoslavia comparatively friendly to the US? Have we learned nothing from the Chinese experience to suggest that the spectre of "monolithic Communism" is created as much by our own paranoia as by reality? We did all in our power to isolate Cuba and force them into alliance with Moscow. It worked brilliantly! To what purpose? Is it not possible that we could have kept Cuba as nonaligned as Yugoslavia with reasonable diplomacy? Do you remember what happened *before* the Cuban Missile Crisis? That's right, the attempted invasion of the Bay of Pigs. Will we force things to the brink again? > > As long as we perceive a threat to our own security we should do > what we can to neutralize the threat. How does Nicaragua threaten our security? Will Nicaragua be more of a threat to our security if they are forced into the Soviet camp or if we try to foster nonalignment? Has Nicaragua ever mined American harbors? Funded American terrorist groups dedicated to overthrowing our government? Suggested a campaign of assassinations against American officials? questions to ponder as our Nation prepares to go to War....... tim sevener whuxl!orb
orb@whuxl.UUCP (SEVENER) (11/21/84)
> Well, Sevener, I see your up to your old tricks again. Just when was > it that the Sandinistas travelled all over Europe looking for > weapons? Let's have some information. I think you will be eating your > words again. I never knew I ate any words to begin with! On the other hand those expecting Reagan not to raise taxes are in for a great shock! Isn't it amazing how just days after the election the deficit goes from something we can just "grow out of" to a matter of GRAVE concern? Anyway, my statement that the Nicaraguans went to foreign governments to ask for weapons is based upon two sources: NPR (National Public Radio) and the New York Times. I know that it is unfortunate that such "liberal" organs of information exist that bother to tell their audience such unsavory facts but they are usually accurate. I am not sure exactly which NY Times I saw it in. NPR reported it in a special report on Central America last week. Call them and ask them if you don't believe me. yours in truth, tim sevener whuxl!orb
jmm@bonnie.UUCP (Joe Mcghee) (11/22/84)
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I found Tim Sevener's views on US foreign policy particularly brilliant and lucid, especially since they happen to correspond exactly to my own views :-). I sometimes wonder if the State Department and the administration ever conduct post mortems to determine why US policy failed in a particular country or do they just stumble blindly onward without ever looking back? J. M. McGhee clyde!bonnie!jmm
act@pur-phy.UUCP (Alex C. Tselis) (12/02/84)
> I found Tim Sevener's views on US foreign policy particularly > brilliant and lucid, especially since they happen to correspond exactly > to my own views :-). I sometimes wonder if the State Department and > the administration ever conduct post mortems to determine why US policy > failed in a particular country or do they just stumble blindly onward > without ever looking back? > J. M. McGhee They just stumble blindly onward without ever looking back.
kevin@lasspvax.UUCP (Kevin Saunders) (12/03/84)
[] >> I sometimes wonder if the State Department and >> the administration ever conduct post mortems to determine why US policy >> failed in a particular country or do they just stumble blindly onward >> without ever looking back? >> J. M. McGhee > >They just stumble blindly onward without ever looking back. > (Alex C. Tselis) Not quite. The Pentagon Papers are an example of internal historical research, which--once leaked, at least--yielded a lot of insight into the "process" of Vietnam. Kevin Eric Saunders kevin.lasspvax@cornell.arpa