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Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2002 17:12:58 -0500
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Stephen Meyer wrote:
> Yes, the US - having the size of an elephant - produces more 'shit' than a
> mouse. I do not want to know how much 'shit' Switzerland would produce if
> they had the size of an elephant!? Yes, unfortunately, the US currently has
> one of the worst presidents ever.
No, the average american wastes enormously more energy than the average
European. No again, he's a quite standard president, certainly as bad as Reagan
and his father. But Clinton was not that great either (Sudan, for instance...)
> Yes, the US is playing a power game; they are defending their No. 1 status.
> Which country would not do that (France!? UK!?) ? Which other country would
> you want to see in No. 1 position? China??
Why do we need a No. 1? As a matter of fact, right now only the US are racing
the new military race. Their military budget is 40% of that of the entire
planet. More than Russia + China + the entire Europe.
If at one point China feels too threatened, they will join the race, and the
future of the planet will seem rather compromised. To put it simply, the US are
promoting violence.
> I can not recall any war in history that was started by the US. Let me know
> if I am wrong.
The USA have supported many repressive dictatorships, and their direct
(the US have bombed tens of countries since the WWII) or covered
interventions in many countries have resulted in civil wars and in
numerous civilians deaths. The US destroyed (at least) two legitimate
democracies: Chili and Nicaragua. In the case of Nicaragua,
the international court of justice has found the US responsible
for the death of 50 000 people. No UN sanction could be passed
because the US vetoed it. When they bombed a civil pharmaceutical
plant in Sudan in 1998, they killed indirectly several tens of thousands
of Sudanese because of the shortage of medicine it had generated
(UN estimates). They did not propose to help in the reconstruction
of the plant. As a British history professor stated two days ago on
NPR: "When the US go and destroy everything, then Europe has to
pay for the rebuilding and pacification of the area, which costs
much more". To protect their supremacy, the US waged wars
that killed many civilians in Korea, Vietnam,...
The US have used the atomic bomb twice on big cities; not once;
not in the countryside... It's debatable whether one was needed as
Japan was collapsing; but any case the second one is just
a mass murder. They also bombed with similar "efficiency" Tokyo
and Dresden. The estimated total of casualties is over 500 000,
without taking into account delayed effects caused by radiations.
500 000 Iraqi children have died because of the economic
sanctions imposed by US and its vale, which absolutely
cannot be justified, even though Sadam Hussein is "evil",
as the simplexissimus said. The US try confuse everybody's
mind by equating Al Qaeda with Talibans with Afghanis. They
were supposed to fight terrorists, but end up killing and
starving many more civilian people than the victims of the
terrorists attacks on the US. Note also that a Haitian terrorist
which is responsible for the deaths of 5000 Haitian civilians,
has found political asylum... in the US.
The issue has nothing to do with being pro-American vs pro-Swiss.
The point is whether you want to be pro-human or not...
If you are interested objective information about
about the national and international situation
(quite US centered, but not exclusively) without
propaganda read "Zmag"
http://www.zmag.org/ZNET.htm
I also strongly recommend to read or listen
to Noam Chomsky if one wants to understand better
what are the great contributions of the USA
for this planet:
http://www.zmag.org/GlobalWatch/chomskymit.htm
Mona
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Received on Wed Feb 27 2002 - 22:27:30 PST
