Let's start with the situation in Syria. Power-hungry elite that controls the economy, the media, the military, the judiciary, and the legislation has been cracking down on the citizens who are demanding more freedom (or in this case, the desire to sink deeper into radical Islam). The United States, itself partially controlled by the above factors, FINALLY decides to sponsor and refer Syria to the Security Council in the UN for censorship. This does not help the poor schmucks getting creamed on the ground, but it makes everyone feel better who does not live in Syria.
Syria is economically poor. It does not have much in the way of resources and gets much of its funding from Iran, Russia, and China. Boy, that list just makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. It never was a real powerhouse of trade and has always relied somewhat on immediate border trade and weapon's deals to bring capital into the nation.
Common decency, let alone common sense, dictates that Syria not be permitted to butcher the innocent in the streets like this.
Unfortunately, the Arab/Islamic cultural values ARE different from ours. It does not make their acts any less heinous, but we must view the situation with clear lenses. Power is what makes their world revolve. Concessions are just an admission that you do not have to power to rule them. Think on that very, very carefully before you rebut.
I believe very strongly that all humans wish to live in freedom. We all wish similar things for our children and for ourselves. Culture gets in the way, though. Their religion is the antithesis of freedom. Their history is one of repression, forced conversion, and genocide. Since the fall of the Romans, life has been decidedly short and violent.
Russia and China both are ruled by power restrictive Oligarchies that have no interest at all with sharing power with the masses. They too are willing to go to great lengths to maintain that power. They have no desire to harm a trading partner or a loyal ally. They also see no reason to knock off an ally and replace him with an unstable Theocracy. They are not stupid. A bit on the evil side, but not stupid.
The United States is what it is. We do not deal with nor trade significantly with "evil" nations. Nixon opened the door on China and they have grown very, very rich on wealth transfers from the United States. What did we get? Affordable rubber dog poo, apparently. Did we see a lesson there? In an attempt to split the alliance of China and the USSR, we compromised our ideals. We split the alliance, which was very shaky to begin with, and set the stage for a world-menacing China. Way to go Nixon.
We have woven our beds close to Russia and China and we can not simply pull everything, however, we must remember who we are what we stand for. No compromise.
If China sponsors terror, either directly or indirectly, then we need to pull our economic assets out of China. Ditto for Russia. Unrestricted Capitalism is just as bad as restricted Capitalism. We do not allow the sale of items that can be used to develop weapons, but we sell the technology to launch missiles more accurately. Error.
If we continue to work closely with China and Russia on "common" goals then we are no different then they.
Think on that. Listen to your Great-Grandmother. We ARE known by the friends we keep.
Live well.
--Zavost
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