From: bfrg9732@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Brian F. Redman)
Subject: Re: Don't be silly, please
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 15:12:12 GMT

davei@wam.umd.edu (The One True Dave) writes:



[...stuff deleted...]

>  Second of all, those who think the US has som ulterior motive: Like
>what?!? There's no oil in Somalia. There's no industry. That's like
>a multi-billionare feeding and housing a homeless family to get at
>their stuff.

My theory on the ulterior motive is that Somalia is a "back door"
into Bosnia. Now that we have gone to Somalia to help the people
starving there, we have established a precedent for intervention
in Bosnia. In fact, just last night I heard this idea floated on
one of the major network news shows, i.e. If we can do it for
Somalia, why can't we do it for Bosnia?

It seems to me that *someone*, and/or *certain forces* are really
hot to get involved in Bosnia. I base this on the constant barrage
of news stories we have been getting about that situation for
months now. The fact that they have put such an unending focus
on that region as well as on the "debate" on whether we should
involve ourselves makes me very suspicious. (I am not going to
mention specifics of media propagandistic theories, especially as
proposed by people such as Noam Chomsky and Edward S. Herman. 
Suffice it to say that there are *many* who view the mass media
as a propagandistic tool of the U.S. regime; there are many who
see the major media "news" as essentially a fourth arm of the
U.S. government.)

So, in my view the idea of an "ulterior motive" for our
involvement in Somalia is by no means far-fetched. This is
not to say that some good may not come from it, i.e. feeding
the many starving people there. *But that is not the only
reason we are there.*


Brian Redman
(bfrg9732@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu)
"What? Me worry?"




>  Thirdly, yes, the situation in Somalia is partly the US's fault.
>The Marxists were trying to take over by force, and we gave our 
>support to those who could stop the Marxists without forcing us
>to send an army. This is also what happened in many of the Central
>American countries. Failure to stay uninvolved militarily is what
>started Vietnam and failure to do anything is why China is communist
>now.
>  We thought we were doing what was best. We had evidence that to
>do otherwise would be catastrophic. Unfortunately, like elsewhere,
>here the fruits of expidency have come back to haunt us.

>  Those who say the United States is putting it's nose in other 
>people's business would probably say the same thing about an
>ambulance that came to the rescue of a man hit by a truck. It
>should be between the truck driver and the (dying) man, right?
>Get real. It isn't our duty as a nation to save Somalia, it's
>our duty as human beings. There is no difference between watching
>a Somali starve to death and watching it happen to your next door
>neighbor.

>  To the offended Canadians: Yeah, okay, you're helping. And you're
>doing a good job of it. Sure, America could (and would) take up the
>slack if you didn't, but it's a major help and it shows that you
>care. But, in reality, you lack the transportation, logistics, and
>materiel to ever do a job like this by yourselves. The US is pretty
>much the only nation that could. So, while your point that Canada 
>puts a lot of effort into these problems is well taken, you also
>have to consider that the US is putting in more.

>  As for Bosnia, well, tell me, who's right there? Those people
>have been murdering each other for 2000 years and they take turns
>being on top. I wish the fighting could be stopped, but that will
>never happen, in Bosnia or anywhere, until people stop being close-
>minded.

>  The United States has acted on its conscience to save the people
>dying in Somalia. If you can condemn them for acting out of conscience
>then you should resign your membership in the human race. Even if we
>do the wrong thing, at least we're doing it for the right reason.

>  (Feel free to flame me, but please, don't just tell me I'm a twit.
>Tell me why a twit so I can either a) tell you why I'm not a twit or
>b) admit my twitdom and bow my head in shame.)

>-Dave
>/=============================================================================\
>|	   davei@wam.umd.edu	      || "Do not expose to excessive moisture |
>|	 aka The One True Dave	      || or heat. Do not drop penguin on unit |
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