i found something that seemed appropriate which i wanted to share, but by the time i'd gotten through just a couple of threads here all i had read was how american foreign policy is crummy
Xara, what I think those of us from outside the US, plus a few of us who live in the US, were trying to point out is that American foreign policy is essentially selfish - as is the foreign policy of any country - and that some of the decisions made in regard to it have not been, and were not intended to be, benign. Again, as with all countries, some US foreign policy is good and some is very, very bad. And I was also trying to point out that policy is one thing, the carrying out of that policy by the American armed forces is another, entirely. War is, after all, the extension of diplomacy by other means.
The major issue in this thread has been, at least from my point of view, trying to make you USn guys see why not everyone loves you and how something like the attack on the WTC and the Pentagon can happen. Those of us in the West (under US hegemony!) accept that not all US foreign policy decisions are going to be altruistic. How could they be? As an example, you may or may not remember that New Zealand is theoretically still out in the diplo-military cold because of its "no nuclear ships" policy. I think Zild accepts this as being a US decision which is completely understandable in the context of American foreign policy. We certainly didn't take it to heart and start burning American flags in the streets. Friends can disagree with each other.
Personally, I was shocked and angered by the attacks last week, as were most of us I would imagine. But surprised? No, not really.
