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but, .....I repeat myself.
Suppose you were a heartless bastard, and suppose you were a Republican, but, .....I repeat myself. Mark Twain
Thursday, June 10, 2004
 
Since the cold war justifies pretty much anything...
Ah, I see. (#167)
tacitus (User Info) Posted on: Tue Jun 8th, 2004 at 09:22:39 PM EST
Of course, we had no alliance with South Africa at all, so let's discard that.

It was Reagan who finally coaxed Marcos to leave the Philippines in lieu of deeply violent repression, so I'm not sure what your gripe is there, especially considering that the four Presidents before Reagan also maintained the alliance with that regime.

As for the rest, there's really little question but that supporting anticommunist forces was, at bottom, the right thing to do, with one exception. As a rule of thumb, their crimes paled next to the assured horrors of communist rule; furthermore, we simply could not afford to give further ground to Soviet influence. (The only place where I'd agree we should have withheld support was Guatemala, where the regime descended into outright genocide against the Mayans. This, however, was the exception rather than the rule among our allies.) Finally, I again note that in this, Reagan did nothing that every one of his postwar predecessors had not done. Your true complaint is with American policy -- specifically, American opposition to communism -- rather than Reagan per se.


How do you then justify US foreign policy toward Latin America & the Phillipines prior to the cold war?

 
Can we now call the Shrub administation Fascist?
I wonder how long it will be before the Memo that justifies disappearing the political opposition comes out?

Friday, June 04, 2004
 
Can we get our numbers straight?
Washington Times - 500,000 protest Bush's visit to Rome
Police deployed some 10,000 officers around Rome as an estimated 500,000 protested Bush's arrival and Italy's active support of the U.S. war in Iraq.


news24.com - 30 000 protest against Bush
Rome - More than 30 000 anti-war protesters were taking part in a demonstration in central Rome on Friday against the visit of United States President George W Bush, said reporters and photographers on the street.


CBBC - Huge protest for Bush Italy visit

Protest organisers say there were around 150,000 people but the police reckon there were more like 25,000.


Japan Today - Pope, Bush discuss Iraq as thousands protest
Not far from the Vatican walls, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets to demonstrate through central Rome, many with signs demanding Italy withdraw its troops from Iraq. A score of demonstrators hurling stones clashed with police during the march. Others threw firecrackers and set a trash can on fire.


Reuters - Pope Presses Bush on Iraq Amid Muted Rome Protest
The organizers of the march said 200,000 people participated. Police put the number at 25,000.


So how many people protested? 500,000 as per the Washimgton Times? 200,000 as per the organizers? 150,000 as per the organizers? more than 30,000 as per news24? 25,000 as per the local police? or tens of thousands as per the Japan Today?

so which is it?



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