Quote:
Originally Posted by Urbane Guerrilla
Reagan took down one dictatorship -- Noriega's -- and stymied a Cuban takeover of Grenada, which certainly hardly deserved being sucked in by Cuba, of all places and régimes. Bush took down two dictatorships: Saddam's Iraq and the Taliban's Afghanistan, both of which were universally acknowledged to be worldclass examples of suckass misgovernment.
This is more zealotry for human liberty than very many here have shown, and more effectually than any Democratic President since Truman, and it's to W's credit. And of course, this is why you should share my zealotry for human liberty rather than the passive-ism that breaks out in buboes all over the American Left when it's time to make men free -- by making their enslavers cease and desist. Should you really tolerate suckass misgovernment solely because it's, er, someplace else? Some of the people who argue with me really seem to believe that one. Sounds about as smart as insisting the world is flat.
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UG....Reagan didnt take down Noriega. He was still on the CIA payroll during the Reagan administration and helped funnel US funds to the Contras in Nicuagura. GHW Bush (who when he was CIA director also had Noriega on his payroll) took down Noriega.
I know you didnt mention Nicaragua, but Reagan's Iran/Contra scheme to promote democracy in Nicaragua broke the law....a number of officials in the Reagan administration were convicted of crimes in the pursuit of Reagan's illegal support of a more "democratic" movement in Nicaragua.
I dont even want to begin to discuss the lies, deceptions and potential illegal activities in regard to our invasion and occupation of Iraq.
We should absolutely be promoting freedom and human rights around the world....by supporting internal democratic movements and by working with allies (and even adversaries when appropriate) to isolate and pressure oppressive regimes, not by force of invasion and occupation....and NEVER by breaking our own laws or violating international treaty obligations to do so.
Zealotry that abuses or debases our democratic process in order to promote democracy elsewhere is immoral, unethical, anti-democratic and just plain wrong.
In the end, if history is a measure, the Reagan/Bush way generally comes back to bite us in the ass.