Acts Of Hypocrisy: Why They Hate U.S.

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Acts Of Hypocrisy: Why They Hate Us

By Rufus G. W. Sanders, The Black World Today Contributor Article Dated 10/22/2001

During this unprecedented period of national trauma I have been asked time and time again why do so many other nations; especially many in the Arab world, hate Americans so much. Many of my inquisitors have been young people who are seriously historical and politically clueless. Unfortunately it is usually only doing times of grave international turmoil that we Americans take the opportunity to step back and take an honest introspective view of ourselves and what others really think of us.

Of course from our perspective we are the greatest nation on the face of the earth. We believe that we are the greatest society that has ever existed. We have been the most generous, sensitive, and caring country of any nation-state on the planet. Of the 39 different forms of democracy within the global community we consider ours to be the best and the most unique. We find it very easy to extol our virtues of patriotism and freedom, disseminating our values around the globe in an arrogance matched only by the legendary Pax Romana.

We extol the values of Democratic capitalism, but those values are actually an oxymoron of both language and morality. Because for every group that thrives under the American system of capitalism there is a larger group that suffers injustice at the hands of that same system. Therefore, in reality, what America actually exposes is a double standard. This is the beginning reason why we are hated so much by other nations. It's the economic and social exploitation that we perpetuate while yet preaching democracy and human rights for all that makes us so politically vulnerable. The world wonders openingly, how can America talk about global human rights when we won't even discuss reparations for African-Americans? Of course, bar none, not only is that our greatest shame and sin, but it is also our greatest hypocrisy.

How can America call the Taliban terrorist, they wonder, when we have always permitted terrorism in the Middle East by our major allies against displaced Palestinian people? How can we sit silently by and watch the Indian government commit acts of terrorism in disputed Kashmir against Pakistan and then blame Pakistan for defending herself? Why did we not do anything when the Soviets rushed in to terrorize the Afghan people in the first place? It was America who then helped to foster the growth of the Taliban to terrorize the Soviets. It was America who funded the Taliban terrorist operations. Something we continued to do right up to the September 11th attack.

It is America's inherent hypocritical policies that make us such a hated people. America talk human rights, but we then allow Saudi Arabia, one of major Arab allies, to practice some of the same human rights violations against their people that we demonize the Taliban for. We bomb the Iraqi people for supporting Saddam Hussein, but there was a time when we closed our eyes as Hussein repressed his own country. Our concerns seemed to have been, as long as he did not threaten our oil interest, he could do whatsoever he wanted. It was only when Saddam invaded Kuwait and threatened American oil claims that we went after him and then labeled him an evil man. And why won't we go after the Russians for the acts of terrorism that they are committing what in Chechnya? We are hated because of our glaring and infamous double foreign policy standards of economic and political imperialist arrogance.

We are hated because we are viewed by much of the Arab world, who are used to terrorism, as using September 11th as an excuse to further our imperialist hegemony worldwide in the name of combating terrorism. After all we have always known that Osama bin Laden was diabolical, but for years we have sat back and watched him amass power and influence and did virtually nothing to stop him until recently. Now we are bombing the Afghanistan people to smithereens in an attempt to flush him out of hiding.

We are hated because some Arabs see these bombings as an excuse to get the kind of control over the rich oil routes of Afghanistan, which the Soviets wanted so disparately, as well as the Iranians and the Pakistan government. Unknown to most Americans is that " Afghanistan's significance from an energy standpoint stems from its geographic position as a transit route for oil and gas exports from Central Asia to the Arabian Sea. This potential includes proposed multi-billion dollar oil and gas export pipelines through Afghanistan." Many Arabs feel that the only time that Arabic world is of any importance to America is when oil is the concern.

Its time that the United States take another look at her foreign policies, in the Middle East, but especially throughout the Arab world. Because until we fairly deal with the issues that causes this hate against us; it will be America that is actually helping to keep the global community a place of instability.

Copyright © 2001, The Black World Today, Fair Use for Educational and Research Use Only

-- Robert Riggs (rxr.999@worldnet.att.net), October 23, 2001

Answers

"How can America call the Taliban terrorist, they wonder, when we have always permitted terrorism in the Middle East by our major allies against displaced Palestinian people?"

HORSE MANURE!

-- Steve McClendon (ke6bjd@yahoo.com), October 23, 2001.


How can we sit silently by and watch the Indian government commit acts of terrorism in disputed Kashmir against Pakistan and then blame Pakistan for defending herself?

Rufus:

Did you ever stop to consider that maybe the Indians are defending themselves from the very same things we are?

Robert: Where on earth do you find such hogwash?

-- Steve McClendon (ke6bjd@yahoo.com), October 23, 2001.


What a pile of crap! Ask yourself: why do so many of them, as well as all other races and ethnic groups from all around the world, want to come to, and live in, the U.S.? If we are such threatening, world-wide, horrifying terrorists, would this be the case?

-- RogerT (rogerT@c-zone.net), October 23, 2001.

Everyone except Robert, he wants to leave.

-- Steve McClendon (ke6bjd@yahoo.com), October 23, 2001.

Did any of you flag draped patriots even read this piece?!? The wide "double standard" displayed by Yankee politico's and our Corporate masters is obvious to everybody else on the planet including I might add our own allies! As for why would people come here, it's obvious... wouldn't you rather "do" than be "done to"? Take the flag off your head and open your eyes boys and look at the real world for a change. Frank

-- Frank (frankly@I_dont_care.com), October 25, 2001.


Just curious.

What flag are you draped in?

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), October 25, 2001.


Martin (by the way this site is awsome, keep up the good work) My flag is Old Glory! I love that flag and all it SHOULD STAND FOR! I just hate to see the "shoulds" clouding our view of what actually "is" because therin lies the danger.

If we cannot honestly look at the problems we bring on ourselves by not critically examining the things done in "our" name by people "we" sort of elected (with either votes or dollars) how can we combat those that hate us?

Too often the CNN and Corporate view of America informs our view of the world and causes us to exclaim in disgust when the double standard is brought to our attention.

Wouldn't it be nice if we were really squeaky clean and could be sure our Government knew what was best? To bad the real world isn't like that! Frank

-- Frank (frankly@I_dont_care.com), October 25, 2001.


Democracy is everything. The golden gift of the USA to the world is: the working, inclusive, modern democracy. No other achievement of the USA can compare. The Hypocrisy is in the US foreign policy. Doh ... it should be as simple as three sentences: 1: Are you a democracy? ... we are on your side 2: Are you trying to be a democracy? ... let us help 3: You don't want democracy? Or your democracy is a sham? ... you're going down

And yet the history of US foreign policy since VietNam has been a litany of supporting princes and dictators (by definition anti-democratic); and feeding guns and money to police states.

Germany and Japan are examples of what can be done by introducing and supporting working democracies and trusting the people to run it themselves... peace.

-- Mark Blaine (ytokca@yahoo.com), October 25, 2001.


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