Too Much To Dream

Frank observes -

"It's the 21st century, and there are still too many evil dictatorships out there".

Would that include the nuclear-armed, terrorist supporting, military dictatorship which stole power from an elected government in Pakistan?

Or does he only mean evil dictatorships that aren't armed and financed by Washington?

Do you truly want that done?

Ah yes. Let us remember, Washington is responsible for every bad thing that Musharaaf does, because they put him in power and he is but their puppet.

Pakistan's dictator is not a good man. He was trampling all over democracy long before Washington asked for his help against the Taliban. But he has helped us in our war against terror. That, to me, is enough for now. The world is an imperfect place, and we cannot always have everything the way we would like it.

Or how about the evil, communist, dictatorship of China?

You could hear tales of evil that would impress Saddam Hussein, from those dissidents that haven't been crushed by tanks, the Tibetans, or Falun Gong practitioners.

Or should we hold back on criticising Beijing while Washington sends all the jobs there?

Analogue Voter - Are you suggesting that we should cut off all diplomatic ties to Pakistan and China? Should we criticize them more often? Apply sanctions? Invade?

Or should we just accept the fact that evil dictatorships happen, put Saddam, the Baathists and the meat grinders back where we found them, let him reinstate his ‘socialist’ government and say ‘sorry about the mess’? Or should we leave Iraq and let the UN reinstate Saddam?

What ARE you suggesting? What is your point?

Analogue has no point. He just thinks he's being oh-so-clever. I'll bet he and his college roommates high-five each other under thier posters of Ché and Mao each time he fires off one of his "biting" comments.

True - their idols are probably those stoner characters that Jimmy Fallon and Horatio Sanz do on Saturday night live - the only difference is, Fallon and Sanz are funny. Analogue's just pointless.

Uzbekistan might be a good candidate too. Democracy is totally off the agenda and its human rights record makes the blood curl. It's very likely to have nuclear weapons, too.

Torture? Oh yes.

Political prisoners? They got plenty.

Free elections? Are you kidding?

Or perhaps better to just totally ignore it, now that Washington has got a shiny new military base there?

I'd rather Washington do what it always does, has always done: pressure such regimes for reform with whatever means we reasonably have at our disposal.

I suppose Analog Voter doesn't believe that people who support the Iraq effort have ever actually expressed displeasure over these other dictatorships. By which I mean, I suppose Analog Voter is a troll who doesn't bother to read much.

I'm just for going door to door killing all bad people wherever they live, but no one ever asks me :)

What about the Gulf States?

They might be worthy targets for righteous concern about evil dictatorships. After all, they are all unelected feudal tyrannies, where political parties are banned, sham trials and executions a regular event and the treatment of women abysmal.

But then again, Washington has its new base in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are one of Washingtons best customers for weapons, so perhaps we should turn a blind eye, eh?

A_V - Your comments sound as if they’re being spewed by a random troll-comment generator. Is this some new type of leftie spam?

Looks more like the usual excuse pseudo-liberals use to justify doing nothing. If we can't stop all dictators, we should stop none.

sigh

The "If we can't stop all dictators, we should stop none" should have been in quotes.

Andrea -

As a footnote to my earlier reference to the evil Communist Dictatorship of China, now that Levi Strauss are pulling all production out of the U.S. and shipping much of it to China, shouldn't you be using this site as a call to boycott Levi jeans?

After all, buying stuff from evil dictatorships = supporting evil dictatorships.

And you're against them, right?

Yep, it's a troll.

Please hurt it, Andrea, and let us all watch.

Dean says, of evil dictatorships, that Washington should continue to ...

"pressure such regimes for reform with whatever means we reasonably have at our disposal".

Gosh, Communist China must feel really hurt by the pressure of the U.S. sending all the jobs there. Washington's lobbying for China's membership of the WTO must have have made Beijing think twice about remaining a repressive, brutal, one-party State.

I expect Pakistan is groaning from the pressure of billions in loans and arms sales from the U.S.

The Gulf States will feel really pressured to stop being dictatorships by all that investment from the U.S., the weapons sales, and the oil purchases.

Dean also says, of terrorist supporting, nuclear-armed, military dictator, General Musharraf ...

"he has helped us in our war against terror. That, to me, is enough for now".

Clearly the people of Pakistan are of no consequence, nor the terrorism sponsored by Musharraf in Kashmir, where levels of indiscriminate violence (by both sides) are truly astronomical.

No doubt Dean would have employed the same excuse to justify our support of Saddam Hussein in the 80's. "Hey, he might have just murdered 5,000 Kurds with gas, but he's helping us by fighting Iran. He's on our side".

Can it be that the evils of dictatorships only concern you when you are told to show concern?

In the manner of a deluded moron that refuses to see that Washington (and others) are currently and actively supporting evil dictatorships across the globe?

As a matter of fact, Anal dear, I don't buy Levi's jeans -- I prefer other brands. But if you are so concerned about the shenanigans of these other countries, and if you are as important as you seem to think you are, why don't you do something. Go on, stick your neck out instead of harrassing an obscure blogger.

Incidentally, I notice that you have not gone to the webpage I linked to and given them your kind suggestions. They're the ones coming up with the idea, not me. Why don't send them your off-topic little missives? What's the matter, afraid of Frank?

But still, I want to help. Assuming you actually have a real email address of your own, here are some addresses to some institutions that might actually have some influence over these areas you are so concerned about. (By the way, I'm sure that nothing you type on, sit on, use to see with, write with, drive with, or decorate your crib with was made in China or any other Bad Country. You aren't a hypocrite, are you?) Anyway, the addresses are:

The US State Department: go to the webpage for contact info.

President (or Dictator -- whatever) George W. Bush: president@whitehouse.gov (more contact info on the website).

The UN: inquiries@un.org. Here is the website. It comes in different languages, for my foreign trolls.

Well go on. Let's see if you're serious, or if you are the hypocritcal coward that I think you are.

Off topic?

I thought evil dictators, do-gooders and the corporate media were the topic. You say they ignore successes, I say they (and you) ignore our continued support for the bad guys. We disagree, you hurl insults.

Harrassing you?

Ouch, that hurt. I thought girls who carried vipers in their handbags didn't do harrassed. My mistake.

Besides, I felt quite harrassed when you remarked "Anal Dear". Don't you know it's banned in several states?

I guess that makes you a terrorist supporting pervert, busy perfecting the art of mediocrity.

An obscure blogger?

You certainly are. But as one that appears to support terrorists and evil dictators it's still a swamp that needs draining.

The foolish A_V troll doesn't even bother to read my obscure little blog, or he'd know what I've said about human rights around the world.

Which is why it's a troll, a hateful nasty ignorant little troll. Ah, but is there any other kind?

Feh.

As I thought, A_V, you're a common, cowardly troll. Any further comment of yours will be deleted, as you obviously have nothing valuable to say. I don't pay for this space so I can get insulted by strangers hiding behind fake names.