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Originally Posted by Jinn
It comes down to a personal ethos of whether you're "US VS THEM", "There's good guys and bad guys" and "My country above all others" or whether you believe in the common humanity regardless of nationality.
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There is often a "us vs them". For example we have a treaty with Israel and we believe they have a right to exist. There are some who don't want us to have a treaty with Israel and who don't want Israel to exist. How do you make that "us vs. them" issue go away? You can pretend that talking over coffee will make a difference but the reality is the "them", needs to understand that "us" is behind Israel - like it or not.
Or, how about when Russia invaded Georgia? At some point the "us" has to take a position. We are not Switzerland. So we can take a stand against Russia and support Georgia or the opposite. Either way, someone is going to not like us. If you say it is a false choice and we could straddle the fence, I would argue that we run the risk of being disliked by all. So my bottom line is that we need to do what we think is right, and not worry about who does and who does not like us.
-----Added 29/1/2009 at 11 : 50 : 34-----
Quote:
Originally Posted by roachboy
an indication is not only did obama do his first interview as president on al-arabiya and said what i would think any sane person would say, but he's also beginning the process of engaging with iran--which the iranians have been signalling they want via backchannels for a very long time.
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I am curious. What is Obama's position on Iran obtaining nuclear weapons and how is it different than Bush's position?
I don't think there is a difference. So if you suggest that President Obama having softball interviews with ME media will make a difference and that is actually true, I hope it works. But I doubt the leaders in Iran care about softball media interviews.
-----Added 29/1/2009 at 11 : 57 : 44-----
Quote:
Originally Posted by dc_dux
Bush's 'war on terrorism" has not endeared us to the world and in fact, by many intel analyses, has created more enemies among Muslim civilian populations.
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Here is my bottom line. Our nation can have a foreign policy that I respect and others like me or we can have a foreign policy that people in say France respects. You can not have both. If President Obama goes to far in trying to make French people like us, that is his choice, and my choice is to vote and be politically active. No nation can be liked by all.