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Re: wake and smell the fucking coffee (Re: gas out)
ok, i am cynical enough to say that i am sure the reason the American
government want to be over there is not purely moral duty. In fact i am
sure the only reason we are there is because self-interest is coinciding
with morality, but since it does coincide with it, then i am all for
supporting the action. The end justifies the means and the motives in this
case. And like said, containment is self-interest and its good for all
parties concerned.
A far as Rwanda is concerned, i can give you a couple good reasons why we
weren't there. First of all, after the Somalia incident where American
soldiers were ambushed and their corpses dragged in the streets by the
people they were supposedly trying to help, the political leadership and the
people had no stomach or the political will for another African adventure.
No politician can survive another fiasco in Africa, where there is a
tradition of abusing dead bodies. no one wanted to see American soldiers
abused after their death. Rwanda, I guess you can say suffered because
their geographical location. The second reason is more logistics, Force
can be easily projected into Yugoslavia, we have bases in Germany, Turkey,
Greece, etc, not to mention aircraft carriers in the Atlantic, the med, and
the Aegean sea. Where as in Rwanda, where the US has no military base on
the continent of Africa, and the logistic support for a prolonged operation
would be nightmarish. The Military Sea Lift Command and Airlift Command
would have been taxed to the maximum, and leaving no support for anywhere
else, if another brush fire flared up. And this is my military logistics
lecture for the day :)
kyle
----- Original Message -----
From: Gabe Cooper <Gabe at Distribution_com>
To: 'Kyle Howe' <howe.38 at osu_edu>; <over-the-rhine at actwin_com>
Sent: Thursday, April 15, 1999 1:53 PM
Subject: RE: wake and smell the fucking coffee (Re: gas out)
I was in agreement with you until this point. The reason the US is over
there is *purely* because the Balkans are a 'flash point'. The US may claim
"moral duty" but the fact is that they stood back and watched thousands get
slaughtered in Rowanda without taking significant action. There are tons of
moral attrocities in Africa and the rest of the world that the US does not
give a rip about. I agree that we should strive for justice outside of our
walls. But this war in the Balkans has nothing to do with justice and
everything to do with self interest.
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