if the united states just left it alone to fend for itself. it’s not our problem that foreign dictators oppress people. it’s no business of ours if countries don’t get along with each other and make threats about destruction of their opposition with bombs and guns and shiny WMDs. why should we care if one country wants to invade another country, as long as we are not the target for possible invasion? after all, we have no right to tell other countries how they should act.

so don’t call the united states anymore. talk to the UN. see how well they help countries in need. why not just let the UN take charge of foreign affairs? after all, they have been so effective in controlling rogue elements in their membership and handling peacekeeping missions. why not let them handle military action in rebellious countries which may or may not have WMDs yet? this is a great idea. then none of the chaos happening in the world today can be blamed on president dubya or on the united states.

i would argue that the failures of the UN to deal with their own members have made US military action necessary in Iraq and elsewhere. maybe that’s just because i hate the UN and recognize how much they have screwed up their role in the international community. maybe not. in any case, i think the contributions made by the united states to the rest of the world have been generally positive, and that, while we have not handled every situation perfectly, we deserve much more credit that we could ever expect from the rest of the world. criticism of the united states is sometimes justified, and not entirely unexpected. i’m not asking for the international community as a whole to be our new best friends, just that they would say thanks for the help once in a while.

that’s all i have to say about that. comments return with future posts.