Chan:

"Our interventionism has been going on since at least the end of World War II."

That is true. We were isolationist up until WWII with the exception of sending troops to Europe for WWI. However, Bush has been a particularly unpopular president generally throughout the world.

"It isn't going to happen as long as either a Democrat or Republican gets elected" (in reference to rehab from Bush).

Obama represents a change in directions. It looks like McCain does not as he has adopted Bush policy in all major areas.

'Well, getting rid of the neo-cons at the cabinet level is easy enough if Obama gets elected but it's the neo-cons deeply entrenched in the various deputy undersecretary for this or that jobs that will be harder to dislodge."

I would agree this is going to be a problem in government bureaucracy, but low than the undersecretary level, as each new cabinet picks their under secretaries.

Donkey Jote:

I agree. Non intervention does not mean isolationism. Ron Paul is not an isolationist.

No. You practiced imperialism. Cuba was invaded, as was the Phillipines and puerto rico to name but a few.

History of U.S. Military Interventions since 1890

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Viva Fidel

"If there ever was in the history of humanity an enemy who was truly universal, an enemy whose acts and moves trouble the entire world, threaten the entire world, attack the entire world in any way or another, that real and really universal enemy is precisely Yankee imperialism"

"North Americans don't understand... that our country is not just Cuba; our country is also humanity"

I'd rather this not become a discussion of the pros and cons of AMERICAN foreign policy. If you want to discuss that, start a thread.

This is about why a country, any country, with a democratic government has a bad foreign policy.

The fact that US, and other international powers, have bad foreign policy is a given for the purposes of this thread.

If you disagree, start your own thread.

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"Have you no decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"
-Joseph Welch

I don't want to debate such issues. I did however have to correct such a blatant inaccuracy, we can't allow for things like that to go without correction.

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Viva Fidel

"If there ever was in the history of humanity an enemy who was truly universal, an enemy whose acts and moves trouble the entire world, threaten the entire world, attack the entire world in any way or another, that real and really universal enemy is precisely Yankee imperialism"

"North Americans don't understand... that our country is not just Cuba; our country is also humanity"

No, we were at war with Spain (arguably under dubious circumstances; I think Teddy Roosevelt, who had been Secretary of the Navy earlier, was itching for a fight). We defeated Spain and took possession of Spain's territories.

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A panda walks into a cafe. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and fires two shots in the air.

"Why?" asks the confused waiter, as the panda makes toward the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder.

"I'm a panda," he says at the door. "Look it up."

The waiter turns to the relevant entry and, sure enough, finds an explanation.

"Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves."

That doesn't mean it wasn't imperialism.

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Trust me, I'm a socialist!

There's power in a factory,power in the land, power in the hand of the worker. But it all amounts to nothing if together we don't stand, there is power in a union.
The union forever defending our rights, down with the blackleg, workers unite. To our brothers and our sisters in many far off lands, there is power in a union.
Money speaks for money, the devil for his own. - Billy Bragg

Whether it was is subject to debate depending on whether Spain started the war or the United States started it.

__________________
A panda walks into a cafe. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and fires two shots in the air.

"Why?" asks the confused waiter, as the panda makes toward the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder.

"I'm a panda," he says at the door. "Look it up."

The waiter turns to the relevant entry and, sure enough, finds an explanation.

"Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves."

I am gonna agree with Chan, here.

I am by nature a non-interventionist (at least foreign policy-wise). We should trade equally (best price on oil, regardless of regime), and certainly provide aid when asked and our fair quota of UN troops.

Non-intervention doesn't necessarily mean a complete withdrawal from the world. I think a policy of co-existence is far superior that continually demanding everyone dance to our tune. The debacles in Iraq and Afghanistan have only reinforced my view.

That said, our economic fates are rather interwined with the world's. It is in our best interest if we mellowed out and became trusted partners, rather than bullies. And, yes, sometimes that means doing things that are NOT in our immediate best interest, like abiding by the Kyoto Protocols, as a show of good faith that we are responsible members of the international community, not simply the biggest kid in the sandbox.

Rather than railing against the UN for eroding our sovereignty, I'd love for the UN to take the brunt of international peacekeeping. We've emasculated it by ignoring it when it was convenient, undermining the point of what it's suppsed to be. I say, if they want the job, they can certainly have it!

All of a sudden, we'd have removed a huge source of animosity towards us in the Middle East. They'll never love us, true, but in time they might be able to calm down. It's no coincidence oil shot through the roof, when we decided to destroy Iraq.

There's nothing wrong with being the biggest/best nation. But, there's honor in being at least a "gracious winner". That's what I think of, hearing the term "Citizen Superpower".

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"All those in favor of referring a study of leadership feasibility to the political viability subcommittee to consider forming a task group, signify by saying aye!" -- Congress

I disagree, a war started by another but continued unnecessarily by the previous defender still shows imperialism.

__________________
Trust me, I'm a socialist!

There's power in a factory,power in the land, power in the hand of the worker. But it all amounts to nothing if together we don't stand, there is power in a union.
The union forever defending our rights, down with the blackleg, workers unite. To our brothers and our sisters in many far off lands, there is power in a union.
Money speaks for money, the devil for his own. - Billy Bragg

They were both empires.

Empire pissing match. Nothing more.

__________________
"Have you no decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"
-Joseph Welch