Quote:
|
Originally Posted by ArlJim78
First of all I don’t believe for a minute this statement. Yes we’ve supported and propped up and used despots, but what was the choice? There’s not a lot to choose from in some cases. Should we have postponed any and all strategic relations until democracy was in full bloom? Even without our involvement I don’t believe that you can say for sure that the same regimes wouldn’t have thrived anyway, or that even more tyrannical ones would have existed in their place.
|
Jim ... here's how to answer that ridiculous statement.
"You're confusing objectives and strategies. Our objective in places like Taiwan, South Korea, The Phillipines, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Chile was to help establish freedom and democracy.
But there were times when our strategy was to support authoritarian dictators in order to thwart the greater evil of communism. And that strategy worked perfectly.
Communism was defeated ... and Taiwan, South Korea, The Phillipines, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Chile all became free democracies.
We employed different strategies in Eastern Europe, South Africa, and many other places ... and those strategies achieved our objectives as well ... all those countries became free democracies.
So you see ... don't be confused by strategies ... keep your eye on the objective ... the way savvy Americans always have ... and you'll have a much clearer understanding of why we did what we did ... and how successful we've been."
That's how you handle chumps like that, Jim. Good night !!