It's come to my attention that some people are of the opinion that the USA and China are "peace-loving nations". Indeed this argument is an interesting one, and we only have to look throughout history to see whether we consider the rise and fall of nations as peace-loving or not.
The Roman empire was also a peace-loving nation, or at least that's how they saw themselves. But what about all the Jews they enslaved in the first century, or what about all the "primitive" nations that they "liberated"? Sure, from their opinion they were brining peace and prosperity to these places by overthrowing existing rule and order and bringing their rule and power.
Well not much has changed. The USA and China are a lot like the Roman empire. Other nations they see as developed and civilized, they're unlikely to invade. But if they see the nations as primitive or as uncivilized, then they have no hesitation in declaring war, leading an invasion and overthrowing the governments.
But there's also a personal side to this as well, that we shouldn't forget. Victims of the USA's system include David Hicks, Manadel al-Jamadi, and Sean Baker. Hicks was detained without charge, a charge was invented, and then he was convicted of it. That conviction has been overthrown because the charge was frivolous. Al-Jamadi was murdered in cold blood by US troops while he was a prisoner. Baker posed as a prisoner at Guantanamo, he war his military uniform underneath prison clothes and had a safe-word. The Guantanamo staff were not told who he was, and were sent in to retrieve him from his cell. He was beaten so badly that he suffered brain damage and now has seizures as a result of this single incident. All this despite screaming the safe-word and telling the screws that he was US military!
I've mentioned before that there is no justification for torture according to the UN convention on the matter. Ultimately the person who authorized the use of torture at Guantanamo was George W. Bush. We have never seen him, Dick Cheney, Barak Obama or George Tenet put on charges for torture, let alone anyone else. Now this is me talking, Aractus, you know I'm no left-wing tree-hugging humanitarian hippie. If I had the means I would have no problem putting these people under citizen's arrest and escorting them to the World Court in the Netherlands to face charges.
So the question is - are they peace-loving? Well to us - to Australians that is - then yes, they're peace-loving. They both want to trade with us, peacefully and diplomatically. What about Tibet or Iraq? Well not so peace-loving there are they? And it's patterned behaviour - history repeats itself - the strongest indicator of future behaviour is past behaviour - USA and China are indeed peace-loving to some nations, but to others they are far, far from peace-loving.
Your thoughts are welcome .....
The Roman empire was also a peace-loving nation, or at least that's how they saw themselves. But what about all the Jews they enslaved in the first century, or what about all the "primitive" nations that they "liberated"? Sure, from their opinion they were brining peace and prosperity to these places by overthrowing existing rule and order and bringing their rule and power.
Well not much has changed. The USA and China are a lot like the Roman empire. Other nations they see as developed and civilized, they're unlikely to invade. But if they see the nations as primitive or as uncivilized, then they have no hesitation in declaring war, leading an invasion and overthrowing the governments.
But there's also a personal side to this as well, that we shouldn't forget. Victims of the USA's system include David Hicks, Manadel al-Jamadi, and Sean Baker. Hicks was detained without charge, a charge was invented, and then he was convicted of it. That conviction has been overthrown because the charge was frivolous. Al-Jamadi was murdered in cold blood by US troops while he was a prisoner. Baker posed as a prisoner at Guantanamo, he war his military uniform underneath prison clothes and had a safe-word. The Guantanamo staff were not told who he was, and were sent in to retrieve him from his cell. He was beaten so badly that he suffered brain damage and now has seizures as a result of this single incident. All this despite screaming the safe-word and telling the screws that he was US military!
I've mentioned before that there is no justification for torture according to the UN convention on the matter. Ultimately the person who authorized the use of torture at Guantanamo was George W. Bush. We have never seen him, Dick Cheney, Barak Obama or George Tenet put on charges for torture, let alone anyone else. Now this is me talking, Aractus, you know I'm no left-wing tree-hugging humanitarian hippie. If I had the means I would have no problem putting these people under citizen's arrest and escorting them to the World Court in the Netherlands to face charges.
So the question is - are they peace-loving? Well to us - to Australians that is - then yes, they're peace-loving. They both want to trade with us, peacefully and diplomatically. What about Tibet or Iraq? Well not so peace-loving there are they? And it's patterned behaviour - history repeats itself - the strongest indicator of future behaviour is past behaviour - USA and China are indeed peace-loving to some nations, but to others they are far, far from peace-loving.
Your thoughts are welcome .....
For Religion & Health see:[/b][/size] Williams & Sternthal. (2007). Spirituality, religion and health: Evidence and research directions. Med. J. Aust., 186(10), S47-S50. -LINK
The WIN/Gallup End of Year Survey 2013 found the US was perceived to be the greatest threat to world peace by a huge margin, with 24% of respondents fearful of the US followed by: 8% for Pakistan, and 6% for China. This was followed by 5% each for: Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, North Korea. -LINK
"That's disgusting. There were clean athletes out there that have had their whole careers ruined by people like Lance Armstrong who just bended thoughts to fit their circumstances. He didn't look up cheating because he wanted to stop, he wanted to justify what he was doing and to keep that continuing on." - Nicole Cooke
The WIN/Gallup End of Year Survey 2013 found the US was perceived to be the greatest threat to world peace by a huge margin, with 24% of respondents fearful of the US followed by: 8% for Pakistan, and 6% for China. This was followed by 5% each for: Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, North Korea. -LINK
"That's disgusting. There were clean athletes out there that have had their whole careers ruined by people like Lance Armstrong who just bended thoughts to fit their circumstances. He didn't look up cheating because he wanted to stop, he wanted to justify what he was doing and to keep that continuing on." - Nicole Cooke
