America's Moral Foreign Policy

[mazzie]

After seeing Hotel Rwanda last night, this hit me pretty hard:

"There cannot be an absence of moral content in American foreign policy," (Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice) says. "Europeans giggle at this, but we are not European, we are American, and we have different principles."


Granted, Rwanda was on Clinton's (and Albright's) watch, but *knock knock* hellooooooooo Sudan? I'm sure that's just the most publicized (though largely ignored by us from a Foreign Policy Standpoint) of many global atrocities not worth our very moral consideration.

I don't believe that morals have ever played a heavy hand in American Foreign Policy; sure, they can be a nice, righteous white horse from which we can wield our mighty sword, but when it's convenient to us and can be encapsulated in such a way that it makes our most heinous deeds seem like acts of God.



PS Europeans giggle? C'mon Condi.

Comments

From what I saw in the movie . . .

[phillyexpat.livejournal.com]

I got the sense that Europeans had a lot more outrage about Rwanda than we did. Granted, they didn't have nearly enough outrage, but it was more than the US said.

I think that Rice is referring to her party's morals, which are quite different than "morals." UGH.

Re: From what I saw in the movie . . .

[mazzie.livejournal.com]

that movie made me so angry - and sad, too, of course.
the predominant feeling i had coming out of it was "fuck the UN," which is really surprising coming from me.

Condi is buying and spewing the whole hypocritical discusting moral values horseshit. it really makes me sick.

Re: From what I saw in the movie . . .

[blueinva.livejournal.com]

Nope...We were utter shits too.

The French funded the Hutu militia (and in an almost ironic turnabout the South Africans supported the Tutsi whose eventual victory stopped the genocide at one million deaths).

I felt a great deal of shame as I sat and watched, and saw the Europeans and a freakin' *dog* evacuated as the poor Rwandans were left to almost certain death.

One line caught me - "there isn't a single vote in it for the Europeans and Americans" and then you realise just how little we care for those who aren't from our nation...

Disgusted.

[starcat-jewel.livejournal.com]

"Moral", when used in conjunction with foreign policy, is Republican code for "vital to the economic interests of the corporations who bought us the Presidency."

[blueinva.livejournal.com]

Hmm...The Torygraph will soon learn. Same wolf, new sheep's clothing.