From: Spudboy100@aol.com
Date: Sun Mar 30 2003 - 21:05:19 MST
Damien at Cal Tech claimed:
<<Wow. Ad hominem on the scale of whole nations. German and Japanese
opposition I suppose you'll dismiss because of WWII. The British, what, too
socialist? Ditto for the Canadians, despite all the peacekeeping troops they
send out. Eastern European opposition, despite their usually being our best
friends these days on account of deep appreciation for our role in the Cold
War, doesn't matter because...>>
Nations act out of perceived self-interest, is this a surprise? Also, no
nation that you mentioned experienced a 9-11. So I am guessing the majorities
think that the US should worry about it, not them.
<<Do you really think hundreds of thousands of people are protesting, and the
poll results are so opposed, because of oil? French and Russian governmental
concern for oil contracts I could believe. But we're talking about the
popular opinion of a majority of the First World. When they say that bad as
Iraq is it's not worth a war, when they question the claims of WMDs and of
support for terrorists, asking for more evidence than forged and plagiarised
documents, how are you so sure you can dismiss them?>>
My response is that yes, a lot of these other countries are interested in
lining their pockets. That like the French, they have a psychological need
for another "super power" to "counter-balance the US. That anti-Americanism
has become the latest fashion in hatred, long before 9-11 happend of Bush jr.
got put in office. That your accusation of forged and plaguerized docs seems
incorrect.
<<Oh, economic costs. I'd interpreted the claim about burdens we bore alone
as
referring to lack of moral support. Yes, we've spent 3x as much of our GDP
on
the military, and tended to have a bigger GDP, especially shortly after WWII.
-xx- Damien X-) >>
No, the US Taxpayer spent the costs in people and material, not the
Bundeswehr, not the Royal Navy, not the Norwegian Air Force. The United
States footed the bill, far and above and beyond was was allocated to Nato,
during the cold war. This was decades after WW2, right through the 1990's.
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