[thechat] US vs USSR etc.

[Andrew Forsberg]

>given the extreme tension and competition during the US/USSR
>cold war times, we may all be "Soviets" now had we not done many of the
>terrible things we did? Understanding that we used the "pawns" to keep our
>position, what if we hadn't kept our position? Where would we be now?

I suppose it's one of those Luke Skywalker / Darth Vader death match 
things -- if Luke defeats Darth, he graduates to Darth-ness; if he 
doesn't, he's dead. The analogy is bad, I suppose, because of the 
empire strikes back 'light vs dark side of the force' emphasis. What 
I mean is: by adopting 'the end justifies the means' in their 
approach to the war on communism, the US govt and agencies, from a 
distance, looked a hell of a lot like they were more than happy to 
use the same methods as the USSR in a supposed war against those 
methods. And, worse, in the name of the freedoms and rights those 
methods violate!

And this foreign policy appears to continue right up to the present 
day, e.g.: Human Rights violations:
http://www.commondreams.org/views01/0404-03.htm

When looking for the above I found this:
http://www.enterstageright.com/archive/articles/0899un.htm
>Truth 1: The UN is no friend to American ideals.
>A. The UN's Founders were known Communists
[...]
>B. The UN's Charter is the antithesis of the US Constitution.
>Its Bill of Rights 10 creates radical new rights to include:
[...]
>The family threatening right for children to possess "freedom of 
>thought, conscience, and religion [which has led to children suing 
>their parents in the United States]," and the right to privacy (i.e. 
>the right for a child to seek an abortion without parental consent.)

It's hardly any surprise that shortly after the above veto (and some 
others, from memory):
http://www.salon.com/news/col/cona/2001/05/08/commission/
happened.

Sheesh! The right of children to possess freedom of thought -- where 
will it all end? Very scary.

-- 
Andrew Forsberg
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