View Single Post
Old 06-17-2004, 10:38 AM   #18 (permalink)
mml
Adrift
 
Location: Wandering in the Desert of Life
The Bush Administration has its own philosphy in regards to international agreements and conventions; they do not care for them. They are strong proponents of "the ends justify the means". They also have some very astute lawyers who help them walk the fine line between "legal" and "illegal" which are actually terms they seem to care very little about.

This administration has a "go it alone", "my way" mentality. They believe that America is the greatest country in the world(something I agree with them on) and since we know our intentions are good we can and frankly should do as we please(something I disagree with them on).

There is a large segment of the American population that agrees with these ideas and ideals and therefore the Administration still has strong support. However, IMO, these policies are frightfully short sighted and will, in fact, do greater harm in the long run.

If this incident was the first we had seen, I frankly would shrug it off as overstepping a bit in time of war; something that has happened in every war. However, there is a history with this Administration of bending and breaking international laws and commitments as well as U.S. and Military laws and conventions. The long litany of ignoring laws and agreements or bending them to suit their purposes has damaged our reputation and our ability to be a responsible player in world politics.

Maybe you do not agree, but I am not alone in my opinion:


http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepu...plomats17.html

Bush must be defeated, bipartisan group says

William Douglas
Knight Ridder Newspapers
Jun. 17, 2004 12:00 AM
WASHINGTON - A bipartisan group of former senior U.S. diplomats and military commanders said Wednesday that President Bush needs to be defeated in November for pursuing an overbearing, insensitive and ideology-driven foreign policy that has cost America credibility around the world.

The 27-member group, Diplomats and Military Commanders for Change, didn't endorse Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, but members said the only way that U.S. policy is going to change is by removing Bush from the White House.

"When there is one prominent rival to President Bush in this election, obviously we think Senator Kerry should be elected," said Bill Harrop, who was appointed ambassador to Israel in 1991 by President George H.W. Bush and ambassador to Guinea in 1975 by President Ford.

Members of the group include:


• Retired Adm. William J. Crowe Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President Reagan and ambassador to Great Britain under President Clinton.


• Charles W. Freeman Jr., ambassador to Saudi Arabia under George H.W. Bush.


• Arthur A. Hartman, ambassador to the Soviet Union under Reagan.


• Retired Marine Corps Gen. Joseph P. Hoar.


• Jack F. Matlock Jr., ambassador to the Soviet Union under Reagan.
__________________
Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so."
-Douglas Adams
mml is offline  
 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360