My goodness. Where to begin? Scorp, I'll begin by correcting you: First off, Lakshmi is a woman. I would have thought her first name made that clear, but perhaps youve led a sheltered life. I wont hold it against you. Lets move to substance: Your definition of imperial only encompasses establishing a colony in another nation. Thats pretty narrow. Leaving aside Iraq, which meets your definition of colony**, dont you think that it is possible for imperialism to exist without a colony? For example, couldnt country A use its economic power to persuade country B to enact a certain polices that …
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Heath
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Sorry Mitch, but what's the difference between a "defensive" goal and an "imperial" one if they both have the same end goal, here being control of Middle East oil? Does the difference have to do with the state of mind, with "imperial" intentions being evil and nasty and "defensive" ones being more goodhearted because they're done out of necessity? If that's the only distinction, it's not a very useful one outside of U.S. debate. I don't think the people who live in the Middle East care what our intentions are, especially when they are the ones who have to deal with …
Posted to Why Pakistan Gets A Nuclear Pass
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Mitch, one last thing: are you kidding about Pakistan being a "better ally" that others? Seriously, did you read the article? Here's a quote from page 2: "More important, as Abbas argues, the Bush administration is investing heavily in a dictator who is increasingly unable to rein in the very extremists he needs to secure his political future. Not only have groups like the JUI and the jihadis in Kashmir become increasingly independent, but the regime no longer has control over critical regions such as Waziristan and Baluchistan. This is a very dangerous strategy, Abbas says. There is no doubt there …
Posted to Why Pakistan Gets A Nuclear Pass
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Thanks for responding Mitch. I don't ever recall saying that you were simple-minded. I did say that it seemed like you hadn't read the article, based on some of the assertions you were making. But maybe that's just me hair-splitting. Anyway, you begin your response by saying this: "Imperial ambitions are pretty much never-ending, either geographically or temporally; defensive ones tend to be limited by the needs of the time and are usually redefined by changing conditions, such as the ability of the people of the country itself to govern and defend themselves." First of all, that doesn't respond to my …
Posted to Why Pakistan Gets A Nuclear Pass
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Mitch, Sorry for the delay in responding. With regards to the condescension, your points are valid. I understand where you're coming from. My apologies for being an asshole. That being said, I still think you're wrong about China. Even if we become more vulnerable by not being in control of oil (and I'm not at all convinced that things in the world are such that only one country has to be in "control" of oil or any other resource), I don't think losing control of a resource can ever justify invading a county and costing thousands of people's lives. The money …
Posted to Why Pakistan Gets A Nuclear Pass
- Joined September 25, 2006
- Last Visit November 16, 2006
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