So what your saying is…..we should only concern ourselves with ourselves, to hell with the rest of the world. ... So we shouldn’t step into help other nations? No military help, even if in the end it benefit us.
No. What I'm saying is, when we decide to get involved in other nations' affairs, we should do so on the basis of what benefits
us, what benefits our allies, and what benefits our trading partners. In that order.
And, we need to seek out and utterly destroy the misguided moral belief that victimhood is somehow equivalent to virtue-- that just because something bad has happened to someone, that they deserve our help.
We didn't used to think that way. As a matter of fact, we didn't start out as a friend and ally to Israel, either; we waited until they proved that they were worth the effort and that they were going to survive with or without our help.
I just get sick and tired of listening to people talk about how the world-- and especially the United States-- owes Israel something for what happened to the Jews... while forgetting that it was the United States and the Soviet Union that
ended the Holocaust. And I am especially sick of seeing a strong, proud, and militant nation being viewed as a victim and an object of pity.
FreeThinker said:
Let's apply your logic to someplace other than Israel.... hrm... Darfur?
Well, if we're going to compare the two, I might point out that 500 million dollars is a pittance compared to what we've given Israel, and what we continue to give Israel.
I might also point out that, unlike the Jewish genocide, the Darfur genocide is actually still in progress.
I'm not saying that we shouldn't continue to support Israel; as I've noted repeatedly, they're a staunch and competent ally and our relations with them has been beneficial. But we shouldn't allow the fact that they were the victim of war crimes sixty years ago influence our decision-making; it is irrelevant to both of our strategic goals and soft-headed sentimentalism at best.
FreeThinker said:
So America shouldn't be sending 500 million in aid right? Since it is their responsibility and not ours.
To tell you the truth, I'm not sure we should be sending aid to Sudan. I'm not entirely convinced that it's helping the situation, and I certainly don't see how it's going to benefit us in the long run.
On the other hand, 500 million dollars is a drop in the bucket and it makes people feel better about themselves. I'm certainly not going to complain too much about it.
