i`ve noticed a lot of people getting their panties in a bunch over the election observers here in November, i find that tremendously amusing. there is a delicious irony to this.
for years in developing countries around the world the US has sent `observers` to monitor elections, in too many cases to mention there have been direct interventions in the politics of sovereign nations. not as spectacular or direct as an invasion in some cases, but attempted coups, strong arm tactics; both on a individual and national level, all of these are in the repertoire of US administrations in the developing word.
so having election observers here is an appropriate case of the chickens coming home to roost. whether people here care to admit it or not the US believes itself to be the police force of the world, although in truth it`s more like a security guard service; because the police would be beholden to respond to all complaints, security guards only respond to complaints related to the interests they are hired to protect.
to take the security guard analogy a step further, this particular firm believes itself to be above the law. this is a subject that is near and dear to me, the most recent former president of Trinidad is one of the people who helped conceive and create the International Criminal Court. it`s bad enough the US refused to be one of the signatories, because it would mean any US forces on `peace-keeping` duties accused of crimes could be tried in a court outside the US, but a number of developing countries were threatened with sanctions if they signed.
this an either or scenario, either the US wants to embrace it`s role as the guardian of the planet with all the associated pitfalls or adopt an insular policy and let the world deal with it`s problems on it`s own. i mean you can`t just stop with Iraq, if the freedom of the Iraqi people was the primary concern, what about the peoples of the Sudan, Korea or any other country on the planet where a dictator is oppressing their people, a precedent has been set here, the job has to be finished right?
this is not a criticism of this administration, this is criticism of the inconsistencies and vagaries of American foreign policy. i can talk about this with some clarity and accuracy, i`ve lived on the other side of the fence, i`ve seen it at work.
