k-punk said:
the point about Americans not being able to find Iraq on the map is not xenophobic, unless it is xenophobic to report known facts.
errr, i'd say that's anti-american propaganda
it should suffice to observe that americans know less about other cultures, and are less versed in other languages, etc, than the citizens of practically any other nation
certainly americans' ignorance of iraqi and arab culture allows the former to think in terms of "us" vs. "them," and to view them as less than human and with little or no sympathy
nor can americans possibly imagine what it'd be like to be on the receiving end of american fire power
at the same time, i get impatient with people who lambast america as though other countries would not be similarly cruel/ignorant/callous if they had comparable military power
the people who run american foreign policy are ruthless and cold blooded -- this should be taken as a given for the ruling elites of any great military power at any time in history
the only real question is whether, in addition to being ruthless and cold blooded, the american policy makers are smart or foolhardy -- and on this one, the jury is still out b/c it isn't entirely clear on how things will go down in the middle east or even what the actual goal is (i.e., i for one think the main object is to park u.s. army in middle east and control oil supplies by brute force once the oil shortage turns seriously painfu)l
but of course they don't give a damn about the iraqi people -- nor do they care about most americans
and yet do you really think things would be better if another country were calling the shots???
or are you judging american power against the imaginary standard of a benevolent world socialist govt?
k-punk said:
I should have thought that a fear of Americans was pretty rational, really.
yes, now you're being reasonable again