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They don't LIKE us???
Provided by Joe Galloway, co-author of "We Were Soldiers" and is posted
as an item of possible interest. This one is definitely NOT tongue in cheek.
Sig, the author, was a teen-aged Marine who marched and fought as a rifleman
to and from the Chosin reservoir in Korea in 1950. He switched to the Army,
and served as a Special Forces officer in Vietnam. After Vietnam he joined
the CIA, and went back to Korea. He's been there, done that, and has some
specific thoughts on countries that don't "like" us.
If you aren't interested in the ramblings of an old man, please delete
now. If you're still there, pull up a chair and listen.
Is there anyone else out there who's sick and tired of all the polls being
taken in foreign countries as to whether or not they "like" us? The last
time I looked, the word "like" had nothing to do with foreign policy. I prefer
"respect" or "fear." They worked for Rome, which civilized and kept the peace
in the known world a hell of a lot longer than our puny two
centuries-plus.
I see a left-wing German got elected to office recently by campaigning
against the foreign policy of the United States. Yeah, that's just what I
want, to be lectured about war and being a "good neighbor" by a German. Their
head honcho said they wouldn't take part in a war against Iraq. Kind of nice,
to see them taking a pass on a war once in a while. Perhaps we needed to
have the word "World" in front of War. I think it's time to bring our boys
home from Germany. Outside of the money we'd save, we'd make the Germans
"like" us a lot more, after they started paying the bills for their own
defense.
Last time I checked, France isn't too fond of us either. They sort of
liked us back on June 6th, 1944, though, didn't they? If you don't think
so, see how nicely they take care of the enormous American cemeteries up
above the Normandy beaches. For those of you who've studied history, we also
have a few cemeteries in places like Belleau Woods and Chateau Thierry also.
For those of you who haven't studied it, that was from World War One, the
first time Europe screwed up and we bailed out the French. That's where the
US Marines got the title "Devil Dogs" or, if you still care about what the
Germans think, "Teufelhunde." I hope I spelled that right; sure wouldn't
want to offend anyone, least of all a German.
Come to think of it, when Europe couldn't take care of their Bosnian problem
recently, guess who had to help out there also. Last time I checked, our
kids are still there. I sort of remember they said they would be out in a
year. Gee, how time flies when you're having fun.
Now we hear that the South Koreans aren't too happy with us either. They
"liked" us a lot better, of course, in June 1950. It took more than 50,000
Americans killed in Korea to help give them the lifestyle they currently
enjoy, but then who's counting? I think it's also time to bring the boys
home from there. There are about 37,000 young Americans on the DMZ separating
the South Koreans from their "brothers" up North. Maybe if we leave, they
can begin to participate in the "good life" that North Korea currently enjoys.
Uh huh. Sure.
I also understand that a good portion of the Arab/Moslem world now doesn't
"like" us either. Did anyone ever sit down and determine what we would have
to do to get them to like us? Ask them what they would like us to do. Die?
Commit ritual suicide? Bend over?
Maybe we should follow the advice of our dimwitted, dullest knife in the
drawer, Senator Patty Murray, and build more roads, hospitals, day care centers,
and orphanages like Osama bin Laden does. What with all the orphans Osama
has created, the least he can do is build some places to put them. Senator
Stupid says if we would only "emulate" Osama, the Arab world would love us.
Sorry Patty; in addition to the fact that we already do all of those things
around the world and have been doing them for over sixty years, I don't take
public transportation, and I certainly wouldn't take it with a bomb strapped
to the guy next to me.
Don't get me wrong: I'm not in favor of going to war. Been there, done
that. Several times, in fact. But I think we ought to have some polls in
this country about other countries, and see if we "like" THEM. Problem is,
if you listed the countries, not only wouldn't the average American know
if he liked them or not, he wouldn't be able to find them.
If we're supposed to worry about them, how about them worrying about us?
We were nice to the North Koreans in 1994, as we followed the policies of
Neville Clinton. And it seemed to work; they didn't re-start nuclear weapons
program for a whole year or so. In the meantime, we fed them when they were
starving, and put oil in their stoves when they were freezing.
In a recent visit to Norway, I engaged in a really fun debate with my
cousin's son, a student at a Norwegian University. I was lectured to by this
thankless squirt about the American "Empire," and scolded about dropping
the atomic bomb on the Japanese. I reminded him that empires usually keep
the stuff they take; we don't, and back in 1945 most Norwegians thought dropping
ANY kind of bomb on Germany or Japan was a good idea.
I also reminded him that my uncle, his grandfather, and others in our
family spent a significant time in Sachsenhausen concentration camp, courtesy
of the Germans, and they didn't all survive. I further reminded him that
if it wasn't for the "American Empire" he would probably be speaking German
or Russian.
Sorry about the rambling, but I just took an unofficial poll here at our
house, and we don't seem to like anyone.
Happy New Year.
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