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[QUOTE]Originally posted by First of Two: [QB] or "Everybody has 20/20 hindsight." The title of this thread is the most important lesson I have learned from the endless pontificating by talking heads of all breeds on America's foreign policy decisions of the past years. We hear over and over again how the US government screwed up (repeatedly) in giving arms and assistance to the Afghan rebels during the Cold War, and then once the war was over, leaving them be, only to have them turn on us twenty years later. The goal of our intervention in Afghanistan back then was to prevent the spread of communism, which we saw to be a coruppt and detrimental political system (we were right, but that's another argument.) We accomplished that goal, dealing the Soviets a defeat which in no small part contributed to the eventual collapse of the USSR and the move towards freedom in Eastern Europe. We avoided a wider war, by fighting by proxy. The alternative, which no one found acceptable, were either sending in our own troops, or letting the USSR take Afghanistan, thus bringing them one large step closer to controlling the lifeblood of the Western World, the oil fields of the Gulf. (Remember, there were numerous other pro-Communist groups in the Middle East, including 1/2 of Yemen for a time.) It WAS the best decision that could have been made at the time. Unfortunately, it required the use of some unstable characters. Some say we should have stayed around and helped rebuild. Very possibly. We WERE the largest international contributor of money and relief to Afghanistan, before these recent events. (One wonders how much the talking heads gave.) However, the presence of so many westerners in that area would not have had a stabilizing influence, either. In fact, it is one of the main reasons cited for BinLaden's attacks. Some say we should reconsider our support of Israel. That is exactly what the terrorists want most, which is the reason we should not give it to them. What they seem to be forgetting is that the Israelis twice defeated massed armies of several nations arrayed against them, BEAT them, and doubled the size of their held territory. WE are the ones who got them to give the Siani BACK to Egypt. We have done a great deal to KEEP Israel from retaliating with full force when it was attacked. Remember the Gulf War? Iraqi Scuds hitting Israeli cities? Did they strike Back? Who convinced the not to? Tell you the truth, I'd wager the Israelis would have tripled their territory by now, if we hadn't been holding them back. So we return to what I've been saying. These talking heads haven't made a policy decision in theior whole lives beyond what color socks to wear. The decisions that have been made were the best that could be made with the information available. Those who disagree should present their own, viable solutions, or cram their criticisms where the sun don't shine. [/QB][/QUOTE]
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