stratohawk wrote:You explained in detail again why you so much dislike the EU. But what you didn't answer was my question: What about US governments doing business with Saddam in the 80s?
Did you get a chance to see the response about this earlier in the thread? If not, what I'd said regarding U.S. support for Saddam was the fact that there was indeed an alliance, which was intended to use Iraq as a stop-gap or bulwark, if you will, to prevent Persian (Iranian) power and influence from spreading in the region. It certainly looked plausible and even like an attractive option, at least on paper, at the time. Saudi Arabia, in addition to Kuwait, were also contributors to this effort. History will ultimately judge the results.
stratohawk wrote:About arming the Taliban?
The US, or more specifically, the CIA armed the Afghan Muhajadeen, during the Soviet-Afghan War. The Taliban did not appear until the Communist regime in Kabul fell after the Soviet withdrawal in 1988-89. The Taliban actually did not make an appearance until several years later in 1993 and 1994.
However, the key points that I have been making is the America need not answer to the EU regarding the conduct of the war, prisoners at Guantanamo, nor does the Iraqi court owe the EU any explanation for Saddam's sentence whatsoever. If the EU wishes to sit on the sidelines and complain endlessly about the war, that is okay with me. However, the EU missed a great opportunity to shut up when the court handed the sentence down to Saddam.
My criticism of the EU does not preclude the notion that my government is perfect on any count, but the endless complaints coming from the EU regarding American defense and foreign policy is certainly an irritating phenomenon for millions and millions of Americans. I think that the bulk of the EU's criticism is completely ridiculous, and that in the end, they end up sounding like whiners and crybabies.
stratohawk wrote:At least nobody can blame them for doing nothing in international crisis, as the UNIFIL fleet is guided by German ships,
I consider the UNIFIL ground troops to be little more than acting as forward observers for Hezbollah rocket batteries. This does not mean that the Deutsch Marine's presence off of the coast is necessarily a bad thing, either.
Germany, like all NATO members, are obligated via treaty to come to the aid of any member nation that is attacked. However, I am sure that the young men and women of the Deutsch Heer have served in the ATO (Afghan Theater of Operations) with bravery and distinction. If you know of no American that has thanked Germany for its contribution there, then please allow me to extend that thanks.stratohawk wrote:or German soldiers are in Afghanistan,
stratohawk wrote:Guantanamo (is that what you ment with Gulag? Sorry, my English abilities are limited), because Guantanamo is a tool in the "war on terrorism", which in my (and many others) opinion is simply against human rights.
Sorry, but we'll probably have to agree to disagree here. These are enemy combatants with no military rank or association. There have been some inmates that were released, only to show back up on the battlefield against US forces. Guantanamo may not be Club Med, but it is a far cry from a German or Russian POW camp.
stratohawk wrote:So, I know we differ in opinions and that's nothing bad. Just for example like in this topic, where I expected some controverse discussions about death penalty, I again had to read your accusations based on a mixture of facts and your own imagination against my country.
What specific parts of my posts would you consider to be a figment of my imagination?
stratohawk wrote:Oh, what just comes to my mind: Politic of appeasement is not always something bad. Think of the Cuba Crisis. If GWB was President at those times, WWIII would have been inevitable.
The Cuban Missile Crisis is not exactly what I'd call appeasement. The President convened a special task force known as ExComm- the Executive Committee for the National Security Council. The committee agreed first to impose a naval blockade on Cuba. President Kennedy also condemned the Kremlin publicly for "secrecy and deception."
There was a deal, which essentially meant that Khrushchev removed the missiles from Cuba, while the US did quietly remove a few missiles from Turkey. The Kremlin was embarrassed by the entire ordeal, and it is probably not a coincidence that Khrushchev was removed from power about two years afterward.
Thank God for that! There are enough problems in life than to go around listening to that type of garbage!stratohawk wrote:Though I might like the music, I don't listen to many cause of Satanistic contents or glorification of violence. I would never listen to the music of right extremist nazi bands (we have them here just as in any other country,