a quote from marty on The Quiet American:
Haven't read the book. In the movie, the Americans look less well-intentioned than they do Machievellian and somewhat sinister. This is as it should be in light of our history. America is an empire and behaves accordingly. It kills people and takes stuff. The idea of blundering philanthropy is truly idiotic but it's something that citizens of empires seemingly need to believe. The English were spreading civilization. The Spanish were saving souls. You'd think by this time we'd be wise to it.indeed.
and here is a link from another reader, arkenor, to an article about the tactics being used in our name over in iraq. i'm sure it's winning as many hearts and minds as the tactics used by the israeli army against the palestinians.
choice quote:
US soldiers driving bulldozers, with jazz blaring from loudspeakers, have uprooted ancient groves of date palms as well as orange and lemon trees in central Iraq as part of a new policy of collective punishment of farmers who do not give information about guerrillas attacking US troops.The stumps of palm trees, some 70 years old, protrude from the brown earth scoured by the bulldozers beside the road at Dhuluaya, a small town 50 miles north of Baghdad. Local women were yesterday busily bundling together the branches of the uprooted orange and lemon trees and carrying then back to their homes for firewood.
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