I just can't believe some ppl!

I promised myself I would try to post something here from time to time, lets see if I can keep it.

Just a while ago I finished discussion with a friend on IM. A fellow fan of military sf, I was amazed to learn he was not only against the current involvment of US in Iraq, but against Kosovo, cold war and even IIWW. A 100% anti-american...(btw, I am *not* american in case u wonder).

So I thought that that the topic of today's post will be 'Why I am not anti-american').
I wil try to keep it simple.

Let's review a few arguments my friend did, and my replies.

A: Americans are not perfect. Many of them are poorly educated, think they are the center of the world, and care nothing about anything else then themselves.
Sure.
R: Sure. So what? The same is true for any other nation on Earth. Face it, most ppl are like this, no matter where they live. And that means democracy with it 'one person-one vote' is not a perfect system, but thats for another rant.

A: They do what they do becouse of their own self interest, nothing else! And their McDonaldPopCulture sucks!
R: Yes, it is a shame. Show me a US action anwhere that was not cold blooded and in their own interest. But that doesn't mean it is bad. Coincidently, American self interest is very close to mine, yours and rest of the world. Their ideals of democracy, capitalism and human rights are much better then visible alternatives.
Would you prefer 'kill the infidels and silence the women' islam? Maybe 'individual right must always be second to the needs of the group' confucianism? Or 'laisse-faire', do nothing of Latino culture? Shell we go down to the cultures that allow ritual killings and such? No need? Tnx, I was getting sick of that.
As for their popculture, yes, it can be sickening sometimes. But then, it produced much of what I and you love - like many of the best sf authors. And you are not forced to join it. Feel free to do whatever you like. That is the essence of it, you know. Much better then the cultures that have a long list of forbidden things, starting with satelite dishes and internet.

A: But they are after the oil fields and money!
R: Yep. Shame they dont do it for the good of the world, but you take what you can, and dream about ideals. In the end, Iraq will end with industry, workplaces and a nice source of income. And if the Americans end up with weapons tested on the battlefield, contracts for rebuilding Iraq and the ability to stabilize and lower oil prices (which will benefit rest of the world 2!), well, they r the ones dying out there, y know. I just hope they will not try to cheat to much on their poorer allies like Poland, that also should get a piece of cake for their efforts. Think they will at least remove the visas for their allies for their efforts...but that is another story.

A: They invade for their own interest, so how do u know that tommorow they will not invade UK? Or Argentina? Or Poland?
R: Becouse that would never be in their own interest. Either their economy is 2 much tied with those countries, or/and their own citizens would not approve of such plan. They r not bloodthirsty monsters, politicians must work damn hard to make them support even the current war (and half of them is still not convinced). And even for mighty America, wars are extremply expensive. Believe me, they dont have the money and equipment for any other invasion right now.

A: What about the civilan casualties? The bombed hospitals, houses...
R: First of all, imany of those places were used by the bad guys as miliary outposts. In effect they were using human shields, and endangered their own citizens by choice (and I am pretty sure those citizens were not happy about it).
Second - look at mass graves, malnourished children, tortured prisoners (yes, Guantanomo Bay is a good example US is not perfect, but still better then the alternative!) and such - if killing 1000 innocent ppl in a war now means that from now on, the rest will be safe (and those mass graves and such, they contain much, much more then a 1000 ppl!) - it is a fair bet. After all...how many ppl do u hear complaining about American support in Germany, Japan or Korea?

A: But they have no right to invade other countries! It is the same thing Hitler did!
R: There is a diffrence between policeman and murderers in a shoot-out, don't u think so? Both are doing the same thing, but I prefer the blue guys to win.
Remember also, that FOR EVIL TO TRUIMPH, IT IS ENOUGH THE GOOD GUYS DO NOTHING. Think what that means.

So in the end, what Americans are doing, will benefit not only them, but the citizens of the countries they are fighing in, and citizens of the rest of the world. Sure, they r doing it for their own good, not for others. It is realpolitik. But as long as their good means good things for the rest of the world (by a really lucky coincidence) - I am a pro-american.

Now go teach those stupid iraqi militias a lesson for their own good!

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Some links for further reading.
Blog by an Iraqi: Where is Raed?
Blog by an US soldier: Citizen Smash
Article on Why Democracies are better then non democracies?
Article on American culture superiority
Article on 'Why America cannot fight a war after war'
Statisctics is a great lie, but still, take a look on this survey. After all, Read himself recommends it for a reading.