Comments on: Unrest in Middle East is all USA’s Fault… or it isn’t http://www.bloggernews.net/14625 High-quality English language analysis and editorial writing on the news. Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:42:27 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 By: Pegib http://www.bloggernews.net/14625#comment-1406000 Pegib Sun, 13 Sep 2009 23:09:45 +0000 http://www.bloggernews.net/14625#comment-1406000 I am just a 71 y/o none technology "Old Person" and my "Late" husband was a vetaren of WWII. I am a patriot with ancestors in the Revolution. BUT George W. Bush and Dick Cheny have turned my beloved country into a "Dictatorship" and I know that our founding fathers are turning over in their graves and I am also an addict to history! If you have any doubts then please research history!! And by all means study the presidency of Harry Truman. Need I say more??? I am just a 71 y/o none technology “Old Person” and my “Late” husband was a vetaren of WWII.

I am a patriot with ancestors in the Revolution.
BUT George W. Bush and Dick Cheny have turned my beloved country into a “Dictatorship” and I know that our founding fathers are turning over in their graves and I am also an addict to history!
If you have any doubts then please research history!! And by all means study the presidency of Harry Truman.

Need I say more???

]]> By: peterbroady http://www.bloggernews.net/14625#comment-1523 peterbroady Wed, 14 Feb 2007 19:03:11 +0000 http://www.bloggernews.net/14625#comment-1523 I think I might have made this comment to you before, but it bears repeating, as it is an obvious point that is often ignored. "Blaming America first" makes as much sense as "blaming yourself first" if we take both of these to mean that the ethical focus should tend to be on things we can change. After all, we have very little control over others or other countries, and so it makes sense to focus on bettering ourselves, which is exactly what "leftists" (basically meaning anyone who dissents from the status quo for ethical reasons) often try to do. Leading activist/thinkers on the left, like Noam Chomsky, make this simple point often. Without resorting to violence and aggression, there isn't much we can do to control other countries or peoples, and that only sometimes works temporarily (in the case of Iraq, it hasn't worked at all). We can control ourselves by making sure that our foreign policy is not an impediment to peace and security in the region. And yes, one must admit that in many ways it has been. If you read the writings of terrorists like bin Laden, or study Middle East opinion polls and attitudes toward the U.S., you find that the primary grievances concern foreign policy: wars, occupation, opposition to a reasonable two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, etc. I don't say that all criticism of the U.S. coming out of the Middle East, or some places here (see Dinesh D'Souza), is valid. Much of it is stupid, like some opposition to religious freedom, women's liberation, or tolerance of homosexuality. I think these are values that America represents well nationally, and that ought to be upheld and defended. But I don't think opposition to such things is exactly the driving force behind anti-U.S. terrorism, and this seems clear from the best studies that have been done. I hope you will take the time to read such studies, and recognize this simple point, which I think is valid. I think I might have made this comment to you before, but it bears repeating, as it is an obvious point that is often ignored.

“Blaming America first” makes as much sense as “blaming yourself first” if we take both of these to mean that the ethical focus should tend to be on things we can change. After all, we have very little control over others or other countries, and so it makes sense to focus on bettering ourselves, which is exactly what “leftists” (basically meaning anyone who dissents from the status quo for ethical reasons) often try to do. Leading activist/thinkers on the left, like Noam Chomsky, make this simple point often. Without resorting to violence and aggression, there isn’t much we can do to control other countries or peoples, and that only sometimes works temporarily (in the case of Iraq, it hasn’t worked at all). We can control ourselves by making sure that our foreign policy is not an impediment to peace and security in the region. And yes, one must admit that in many ways it has been. If you read the writings of terrorists like bin Laden, or study Middle East opinion polls and attitudes toward the U.S., you find that the primary grievances concern foreign policy: wars, occupation, opposition to a reasonable two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, etc. I don’t say that all criticism of the U.S. coming out of the Middle East, or some places here (see Dinesh D’Souza), is valid. Much of it is stupid, like some opposition to religious freedom, women’s liberation, or tolerance of homosexuality. I think these are values that America represents well nationally, and that ought to be upheld and defended. But I don’t think opposition to such things is exactly the driving force behind anti-U.S. terrorism, and this seems clear from the best studies that have been done.

I hope you will take the time to read such studies, and recognize this simple point, which I think is valid.

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