[Mike Blackwood]

On Thu, 10 Apr 2003, Anna Offler wrote:

I find it amazing that both sides of these kinds of debates feel they have 
a monopoly on truth and unbiased judgement.  Life is a damn messy affair, 
so there is a lot to decry AND a lot to support about the US-led invasion 
of Iraq.  Personally I support it, though with great trepidation and 
regret.  But that's not what I want to talk about in this post...

Instead I'd like to point out that because the US is a global superpower 
and its power structure is still essentially in the hands of rich whites, 
people feel justified and free to make the kind of blanket anti-US and 
stereotypical comments that would have those same people foaming at the 
mouth with rage if they were made about any other cultural group.

Your run-of-the-mill American is no better or worse than the average joe 
from any other nation.  And whatever their faults, the people of the US 
have created a society with MANY elements to be damn proud of, even if 
many others still need a lot of work...  The same is true of all our 
modern democracies, and we have no right to be smug and sanctimonious 
towards Americans.

I know this is a bit off-topic, but I've heard so much virulent 
anti-Americanism here, and more disturbingly amongst my fellow Canadians, 
that I just wanted to show in a public forum that (whatever our 
differences) The Great White North is still friendly territory for our 
American cousins.  I suspect this is particularly true here in 
Newfoundland, where we only joined Canada in 1949 and have long-standing 
and close historical ties to the US (not that Canada doesn't, which is why 
my fellow Canadians should know better than to have a "high and mighty" 
attitude towards our southern neighbours).

Mike Blackwood
(puts on flame-retardant gear just in case)

> Craig,
> You must have star spangled eyes If you dont think that American Govt and
> its business partners are not after the control of oil to preserve its way
> of life and most importantly get Dubya re-elected as it's economy benefits
> from this and the post war recovery contracts.
> Since when has it ever been interested in democracy in other countries
> unless it matches US business interests. The democracy the White House wants
> is the freedom for US interests to make lots of money in those countries.
> I thought the article gave enough examples of that, Chile, etc. These have
> been well documented in more than 1 independent source. Pinochet killed tens
> of thousands with his death squads.
> Why else were our Oils singing about US Forces, Short Memory, My Country.
> The only WOMD we have heard about so far are some drums of pesticide in the
> countryside. Surprise surprise they use it to kill locusts that eat the
> grain. If he had them why were,nt they used. Someone of his warped mind
> would not have hesitated.
> I have had my rant for now folks. It just baffles me that people cannot see
> the woods for the trees. The old Anti-Israeli chestnut comes out again.
> Sounds like John Howard. If you dont support the war then you dont support
> our troops.
> Lew
> 
> 
> Craig Jacobson wrote
> -----Original Message-----
> From: powderworks-admin@cs.colorado.edu
> [mailto:powderworks-admin@cs.colorado.edu]On Behalf Of Craig Jacobson
> Sent: Thursday, 10 April 2003 8:57 PM
> To: Alister Thomas
> Cc: powderworks@cs.colorado.edu
> Subject: Re: [Powderworks] Fwd: The war ... not funny
> 
> 
> Alister Thomas wrote:
> 
> > Have a read of this....
> 
> What crap.  This is too long to rebut point by point, but some folks out
> there really should get help for their paranoid delusions.
> 
> I'll only say that before even skimming the article, I knew there would
> be some anti-Israel angle to it.  And of course there was.
> 
> At least the author failed to uncover that the next step in our world
> domination is to invade Australia in order to dominate the vegemite market.
> 
> 
> 
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