Quote: Captain Sammitch said: That's happened quite a few times, and a lot of the current shitstorm in the Middle East might not be quite so bad if we didn't have such a nasty habit of manufacturing dictators. But I still think our overall track record as a nation is pretty admirable. We're not the only ones to leave big-ass messes behind - we spent most of the twentieth century cleaning up the mess that imperialistic powers like Great Britain and France made of the nineteenth century. Everyone's got some skeletons in the closet. It's just that we as a nation aren't permitted the luxury of a closet door.
The point is not if we were the only ones to do it. The point is that Mxy should have a right to say what he feels without being marginalized because it goes against the grain of some of the posters on this board. This is one of our nation's fuck ups, and we need to admit it. We took out one possibly dangerous government to impose one that was friendly to our policies but harsh on its own people.
Quote: MisterJLA said: I already admitted that trying to stage a coup against an *elected *government and supporting the dictatorship that followed was wrong. I actually did this more than once.
Just because I'm not willing to join the "Blame America for everything bad that has happened in the world" crowd doesn't mean that I think America's perfect.
I do think America is the greatest and most important country in world, because we have done more to advance the cause of freedom more than any other country in the world. We did this through military, economic, and political means. We do the best job of providing opportunities for individuals to succeed, and that's the reason why people from all over the world fight to be here.
I think the people in Germany, Italy, Japan, Iraq, and Afghanistan (and more) can attest to the importance of Uncle Sam.
I have a problem with the people who did see no wrong in what our nation did in Chile and try to rationalize it while demeaning Mxy's point of view. There are some people, G-man especially, who should do the morally right thing and apologize to Mxy for distorting his words and treating him like a second class person for holding an oppossing view based on his own personal experiences.
We sure as shit helped out Europe and Asia after WWII. Iraq is going to be a country that decides where it goes from here on out because of us. But what happened in Chile and Cuba are also directly related to what our nation did in the past. As well as Iraq and Afghanistan turning into the nations they were before we went to war with them. We've done good and bad. I have a problem with people who think that we've only done one of those. We're not flawless, nor are we evil tyrants. We're Americans. Which means we can screw up while doing what we think is best.
whomod said: I generally don't like it when people decide to play by the rules against people who don't play by the rules. It tends to put you immediately at a disadvantage and IMO is a sign of true weakness. This is true both in politics and on the internet."
But I still think our overall track record as a nation is pretty admirable. We're not the only ones to leave big-ass messes behind - we spent most of the twentieth century cleaning up the mess that imperialistic powers like Great Britain and France made of the nineteenth century. Everyone's got some skeletons in the closet. It's just that we as a nation aren't permitted the luxury of a closet door. 
