Quote:
Originally posted by moe.ron
It's all about geopolitics. Nothing more, nothing less.
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It is about geopolitics, but to say "nothing more, nothing less" denies the existance of motivation, and that makes your statement false. Also to misunderstand the motivation to spread democracy, is to completely misunderstand wht the Bush administration is doing what it is doing.
This is purely 9-11 related. The Middle East needs to be changed, or there will be nuclear weapons detonated on American Soil in my life. That is especially disturbing because I live in Manhattan, and I live a short walk from the former World Trade Center. The motivation of the Bush administration to spread democracy is not born out "a white man's burden", which was a rather flippant and ignorant statement, but because there is no other credible means to transform the Middle East.
It is simply not acceptable to allow madrasas to continue to teach hate towards any nation, and to teach that dieing through a "jihad" against those nations is the most noble act one can commit.
It is no longer acceptable to broadcast that the failures of Middle Eastern societies are due to "U.S. Imperialism", and not due to the failures of Middle Eastern governments, especially when such notions of American imperialism are quickly watered down by the successes of other American allies like South Korea, Taiwan, etc.
The United States will no longer tolerate breeding grounds for terrorism. This means little to people who live on a different part of the planet. I lived by the ruins as the fires burned for months. I lived with that smell in the air for months; a smell of chemical and electrical fire that would not go away. President Bush visited that site, and like all who did, he was changed. Do not underestimate the power of such an experience on a person's world view. Do not underestimate how experiencing such a horror can effect the resolve of a leader. To do so is sheer naïveté.
War is not necessarily an extension of "international relation (sic)." Civil wars are not. But more relevantly, war has historically been born out of either the competition for economic resouces, or driven by a fanatical devotion to an ideology.
This war came to America. The US did not cause the decline in Arabian culture that bred contempt for European culture, and specifically for the European Enlightenment (which actually has its roots in Arabian philosophy.) That decline started centuries before the US existed. The US did not cause the creation of Wahabism; that cult came into being decades bofore the American Revolutionary War.
No, this war is not the fault of the US. Despite what so many non-American media sources like to broadcast. The enemy is clear, and it won't go away unless the root causes of the enemy are eradicated.
These societies need to be transformed. Period. Democracy is the most convenient vehicle to facilitate this change. This is American national defense, make no mistake about it. Bumper sticker slogans may disagree, but they can not disprove a truth. President Bush is resolved to not let a repeat of 9-11 happen again. Judging by the fact that Al Qaeda is now targeting Muslims in the Middle East, it looks like President Bush is on the right track.