Again I’m afraid I’m in the uncomfortable position of having to apologise profusely for not having updated in so long (add to that the fact my last update wasn't exactly a masterwork)... So again, sorry.
I'm also afraid to say that today I will be venturing into realms of relative seriousness once again so, be warned, heavy subject matters lie ahead. (Before we begin, a * next to the name of a nation means that despite recent changes to their circumstances, the jury is still out regarding the results of those changes)
Some people may say this. 'Defence? Pah! An expensive excuse for thos e in power to justify their own evil imperialist foreign policies! Afghanistan is bad! Iraq was worse! OIL! RAAAH!' A simplified approach to the opposing argument perhaps, but it does not make it any less accurate, more's the pity. In my frank opinion the idea of military force being some sort of legitimised instrument for the evil whims of be suited devils stalking the halls of Whitehall and Washington is unbelievably stupid. That's not how the world works.
So how does it work? Well as you may have inferred from my previous posts regarding matters of defence and international relations, it doesn't. Well not really. In an ideal world, world leaders would meet on a regular basis, talk about how brilliant they all are and go skipping through a meadow while agreeing to share everything. Everyone would be well fed, well housed and happy. But that's communism, and Communism is EEEEVIL. Oh all right, flawed then, a political theory that relied on such an optimistic view of the enlightened state of man was doomed to fall victim to mankind's worst traits, which it did, and millions across the world suffered for it for nearly half a century, the poor Russkies are still suffering for it, more on that another time though.
...Kay so global communism is out? Now what? Global democracy? Nope, not gonna happen, people are at the end of the day, selfish, jealous, suspicious and fearful. There will always be those across the globe, in every political system that will take advantage of those facts. Dictators will exploit them to cling to power; democratic leaders will use them to point out the failings of opponents both at home and abroad. So in the grand scheme of things, there is no real good, just varying shades of grey. (No ladies, wrong website) There is however, bad. Historical examples include Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Imperial Japan and the USSR (yes they were bad). Modern examples? North Korea, Iran, Syria, Taliban controlled Afghanistan*, pre-'03 war Iraq*, pre-civil war Libya*, Zimbabwe, Eritrea, Sudan, Modern Russia and China... maybe the list could go on indefinitely. So now comes the hard part... Why are those particular nations bad compared to say... America? America starts wars for its own gain! Etc. Wrong, America gets involved in wars to maintain stability, yes the raw truth is that such actions enables it to maintain its position as top global power but think about this. Who would you rather had greater influence globally? America? Or one of those countries I just listed?
America might not be perfect, but it doesn't suffer from massive and endemic political corruption to the point that the country doesn't function, it doesn't slaughter its own citizens with weapons purchased to protect them, it doesn't murder journalists in cold blood for being critical of government policy, it doesn't starve its own people in order to keep a tiny minority wrapped in an insane power fantasy, it doesn't intentionally as a state, poison the minds of its children against any potential outside influences, religion is not state mandated and used as a political weapon to exert total control and incite mass violence.
All the states listed above do, or have done all of these things. Some may argue that America have in fact committed some of these acts, and I will admit there are some unfortunate historical examples of the misuse of force, most notably the Kent State University shootings on May 4 1970, wherein during an anti-Vietnam War protest, 4 students were shot by U.S. National Guardsmen and 9 were wounded. A terrible tragedy no doubt, but compare that to the thousands slaughtered, starved or beaten to death by the Taliban, the millions denied food by the North Korean government, the hundreds killed and thousands injured in the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989, the millions killed directly or otherwise by the Soviet Union, the massacre of thousands by Bosnian Serbs in the 90s (stopped by American led NATO intervention.) Again this list could continue and aside from this, think of the millions still that live in fear of those supposed to protect them, those suffering under the yoke of the Iranian Ayatollahs and their puppets, the Russian protesters arrested and thrown into jail for daring to question election results, Syrian civilians forced to endure rocket fire from helicopters purchased to defend their borders, and themselves, from invasion.
When was the last time you grumbled about a government policy? Yesterday? Today? Did you fear recrimination? Probably not if you're accessing this blog. Most likely you live in a stable, modern western nation that believes in the principles of free trade, free speech and all that good stuff. Is the continuing spread of this influence really such a terrible thing? Is it so awful to attempt to incite political change in a nation whose leaders sponsored terrorism? I certainly don't think so.
So to the anti-interventionist naysayers, anti-war activists and those who accuse defence contractors of exacerbating war, I pose the following questions. Would you rather the massacre in Srebrenica go unanswered? Would you not have the Taliban leadership and Al Qaeda commanders get away with their heinous campaigns of oppression and violence? Would you rather, instead, we destroy our weapons, as well as our ability to manufacture them, and turn our backs to the cries of the world?
Not everything can be solved immediately at the negotiation table, sometimes; unwilling parties have to be forced to sit there first.
Thanks for reading
Wheelchairman2
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