Re: [OT] Cr*ppy Belgium
Hmm, hmm... such a menu of issues to comment on!
First of all, I think that the current European opposition to US policy on Iraq has more to do with the method than the content. If GWB had gone to the UN first, and with an attitude of really expecting to have to negotiate, there would be far fewer pissed off people in the world today. Instead the 'US Administration' simply announced that it was time for regime change in Iraq. As if this is a matter that can be determined in a cabinet meeting of the US government. Only after a lot of protest, domestic and international, was the case even taken to the UN Security Council, where it should have been started.
There are of course a certain number of countries that simply hate the US and resist anything the US wants, and they would oppose us anyway. They are no doubt in a state of glee over the way we have alienated most of our traditional allies in this debacle. Their work is much easier now.
That said, there is more than a little fault to be found with US foreign policy of late. Yes, Iraq has defied the UN mandates coming from the Gulf War for years, but that does not change the fact that it is the UN which must respond, not the US. The UN should have been primed and ready to get tough on Iraq, too. All it needed was some leadership which the US could have provided. But the many unilateral actions of the Bush administration prior to the emergence of this issue has soured the atmosphere and encouraged the other major players at the UN to think of ways to cut the US down a notch rather than how to advance international 'law and order'.
The behavior of the US Govt. on the domestic front seems to be just about the same as it is internationally. Gather all authority to itself. There is a push on to paper-over the entire constitution and create a police state with 'emergency powers' that have no defined limits and no defined times or conditions for their end. If you liked the 'USA Patriot Act' just wait for Patriot Act II which is rumored to be in the works.
[ February 12, 2003, 04:59: Message edited by: Baron Munchausen ]
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