Friends Today, Enemies Tomorrow

Now that everybody and his brother is ganging up on Gaddafi as the worst of the worst, it's interesting to note that, according to documents uncovered in the aftermath of his ouster from power, there was a quite cozy relationship between American and British intelligence and the Libyan government. In fact, the U.S. and Great Britain used the Libyans to carry out some of their dirty work and torture supposed or actual terrorists. They also shared information with that country.

So, how come the Libyan regime was good enough to serve Western interests, while it was doing all those awful things to its people? Surely, the Americans and the British were not unaware of what went on in that country. Still, they turned a blind eye to all this during all that time. No wonder Gaddafi had all those pictures of Condoleeza Rice! Now, all of a sudden, they have "discovered" how bad the Colonel really was, and, in what is a monumental display of cynicism and hypocrisy, Obama and Cameron called for his stepping down and used their combined firepower to help bring him down.

This is just the latest chapter in the history of the American foreign policy that supports ruthless dictators for a long time and then denounces and ditches them when it's convenient.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Low, Low Tactic

Here's a significant little item. Wal-Mart, the world's biggest retailer, has announced that it will increase the number of stores in which it will have weapons for sale. Although it had cut back in that department in 2006, slow sales have convinced that selling rifles, shotguns and ammunition in half of its stores is the way to increase profits. So, the next time you, as an American citizen, feel like going on a shooting rampage against family, friends or coworkers, just go to the nearest Wal-Mart, where, for a "low, low everyday price", you'll be able to pick up a nice little arsenal, courtesy of the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America. Happy hunting!
Read more

Don't Know, Don't Care

I's been called "the dumbing down of America", a recognition of the downward spiral of American education. The average person in the U.S. is ill-informed about national and international affairs. Thus, they are easy prey for demagogues who trade in false patriotism, fear and prejudice. A recent study of political views confirms just how ignorant and gullible is the typical U.S. citizen. For democracy to work, there has to be a well-informed citizenry. The men of 1776 knew this, and pinned their hopes on it for their political experiment to succeed. They would be extremely disappointed in 2011. Ironically, with all the freedom of information and multiple outlets to obtain it, the American people have very little political culture and their participation in the democratic processes is far from what it should be in an advanced society.
Read more

Columbus' Curse

Although it wasn't altogether new, the 1992 celebration of the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America made it fashionable to malign Columbus big time.  From Indians from all over the Americas, who still hold a  grudge against the Spanish conquistadores , to latter-day revisionist historians, everybody got into the act of pissing on the erstwhile "Grand Admiral."  Year after year we keep hearing the same old story: he wasn't the first to come to America (everybody and his brother had been here before); if he was, it was only because he had some maps given to him by somebody else (or stolen) from somebody else; it was just a fluke, etc. It has become politically correct to badmouth Columbus. I suppose all those purists would have preferred that he stay home, leaving us all in a  perpetual Garden of Eden, untouched by the European culture.  This is nonsense.  No matter if, objectively, he wasn't the first to set foot on this part of the world or whatever adv
Read more