Saturday, May 05, 2012
Another heroic Dissident ... Oops
The dictatorial government of Bahrain has arrested a major "human rights" activist, Nabeel Rajab.
Well, I assume we're going to move in and give him asylum, and then arm the opposition forces and give them air cover to help attack the Bahrain government, right?
Wrong.
Hmm. I guess dictatorial regimes are Young Democracies when we say so, and Evil Dictators Who Need To Be Overthrown when we say so.
I don't have any problem with a major power using money, economic tactics and propaganda to enforce its preferences. That's foreign policy. Decide who's likely to be a useful friend and who's likely to oppose our interests; support the friends and make life difficult for the enemies. Normal and necessary for a big nation.
I do have a huge problem with the Orwellian nonsense about "Human Rights", which gives a completely illegitimate "moral" and "religious" flavor to these practical decisions. When you move these decisions into the "religious" realm, you have to start wars to change the habits of "immoral" nations. You kill thousands of Afghans and Iraqis to bring the alleged benefits of Feminism and Critical Queer Studies to the "primitive" "savages" who persisted in following the old rules for civilization. These self-destructive wars do not actually bring our insane suicidal "morality" to the "primitive" country; they only leave permanent death and destruction and create permanent hatreds. When you play the "moral" game, nobody believes or trusts anything you do, because each shift of allegiance suddenly becomes the new "universal moral rule" to be enforced with bombs everywhere.
We didn't always play this game. Between Wilson and JFK our politicians and media described our maneuvering in strictly practical and commercial terms, and our maneuvering was only rarely lethal. Our foreign policy was trustworthy and credible because it didn't claim Divine Authority.
JFK brought back the nonsensical "religious" overlay and it's grown worse ever since, reaching its current maximum lethality under Soviet Agent Bush The Son. ¶ 5:38 PM
Well, I assume we're going to move in and give him asylum, and then arm the opposition forces and give them air cover to help attack the Bahrain government, right?
Wrong.
... the US has been arming Bahrain’s monarchy against peaceful demonstrators.
Hmm. I guess dictatorial regimes are Young Democracies when we say so, and Evil Dictators Who Need To Be Overthrown when we say so.
I don't have any problem with a major power using money, economic tactics and propaganda to enforce its preferences. That's foreign policy. Decide who's likely to be a useful friend and who's likely to oppose our interests; support the friends and make life difficult for the enemies. Normal and necessary for a big nation.
I do have a huge problem with the Orwellian nonsense about "Human Rights", which gives a completely illegitimate "moral" and "religious" flavor to these practical decisions. When you move these decisions into the "religious" realm, you have to start wars to change the habits of "immoral" nations. You kill thousands of Afghans and Iraqis to bring the alleged benefits of Feminism and Critical Queer Studies to the "primitive" "savages" who persisted in following the old rules for civilization. These self-destructive wars do not actually bring our insane suicidal "morality" to the "primitive" country; they only leave permanent death and destruction and create permanent hatreds. When you play the "moral" game, nobody believes or trusts anything you do, because each shift of allegiance suddenly becomes the new "universal moral rule" to be enforced with bombs everywhere.
We didn't always play this game. Between Wilson and JFK our politicians and media described our maneuvering in strictly practical and commercial terms, and our maneuvering was only rarely lethal. Our foreign policy was trustworthy and credible because it didn't claim Divine Authority.
JFK brought back the nonsensical "religious" overlay and it's grown worse ever since, reaching its current maximum lethality under Soviet Agent Bush The Son. ¶ 5:38 PM
