Share
Strategic alliances are necessary in world politics. Partnering with a wide variety of nations that span the globe is a reality of today where the U.S. "empire" has interests that are truly global.
But the question is: what are the costs of cooperation with certain regimes? What do we loose by gaining a partner who clumsily sweeps the dirt of a corrupt and brutal style of governance under the proverbial rug? Do we loose our dignity? Our respect in the world? Our legitimacy in preaching peace, democracy, and freedom? Something more?
We have been doing it for years; many nations have, for that matter. We support un-American governments in their policies because they support American interests or provide a stable and reliable anchor for a strategic region. Using the strategic partnership excuse, we have supported the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia against the communist government in Hanoi even though they killed an estimated 1.5 million of their own people.
We supported the dictatorship of Zaire's Mobutu Sese Seko, who for four decades pocketed six billion dollars in personal accounts from America and the West despite the complete collapse of order within his country, simply because we didn't want him to fall under the U.S.S.R.'s sphere of influence.
Today we support "President" Musharraf of Pakistan who hinders democratic progress, restricts freedoms and liberties, and attempts to use whatever means necessary to maintain his tentative clutch on power.
We support him because we claim that he is a vital ally in fighting the war on terrorism. However, many suspect that Osama Bin Laden is somewhere in Pakistan but remains unfound due in part to Musharraf's unwillingness to allow the U.S. military to pursue leads which cross the border from Afghanistan.
We have supported Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan because they served as strategic nations in the War on Terror. Both have shown an inclination for brutally suppressing opposition and the recently deceased "president-for-life" of Turkmenistan issued several bizarre decrees before he died. The decrees included renaming the word for bread after his dead mother, ordering all libraries closed because people should only read books he had authored, and firing all health-system workers and replacing them with military conscripts for reasons unknown.
Leave a comment 2 Comments Write a letter to the editor
All letters to the editor must include a name, e-mail, daytime phone number and affiliation to Virginia Tech. Affiliation includes: year and major for students; position and department for faculty and staff; current city for alumni and parents.
You have outlined what we should not do. What, then, do you suggest that we do? The only good thing I can find about your argument is that we will save an awful lot of money because is we determined foreign aid based on your standard we would have a hell of a time finding a country that qualifies.
Reply to this Top
I would completely disagree. There are many nations with good, responsible governments and who have a serious dedication towards using aid money towards improving the quality of living and opportunities for their citizens. Botswana, Ethiopia, and Ghana are several examples and there are countless others. I wanted in this article to simply voice my opinion on using taxpayer money to support the destruction of freedoms, torture, corruption, and many other mis-uses.
Reply to this Top