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"Do As I Say, Not As I Do"
by James Glaser May 28, 2009 When I was growing up that line drove me nuts. My dad used it all the time. When I would say, "But you did it." He would say it didn't matter what he did, but that I had to do what he said, because he knew what was best for me. Washington is telling the rest of the world that we know what is best for them. North Korea just tested their second atomic weapon, and Washington thinks that is just terrible, and they had better not test any more. North Korea and the rest of the world know that the United States has tested over a thousand nuclear bombs and that the bomb North Korea exploded was tiny in comparison to the kind of bombs we have today. Washington is trying to tell the world that there should be a test ban on all nuclear weapons, but the fact is there already is a nuclear test ban treaty. The truth about that treaty is that our Congress won't ratify it. As of April of this year, 148 countries have sign and ratified the treaty, but the United States has not, and we are telling the world, "Do as we say, not as we do." Like I said, the rest of the world knows we have set off over a thousand nuclear explosions while we developed bigger and bigger bombs. The world also knows that the United States is the only country that has killed hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians with our use of the atomic bomb, when we totally destroyed two Japanese cities in World War II. In fact, we are still the only country to have used this weapon for killing. Still, Washington thinks it can tell the world what to do. Washington thinks it knows what is best for the world. The only problem with that way of thinking is that the rest of the world no longer believes Washington. America has had too many wars, has killed too many innocent people, and Washington is no longer thought of as the "good guy." For much of the world we are the "Empire," and nobody ever likes the empire.
You may not know this, but Iraq is getting bloodier. May, has already become the bloodiest month in the war this year with 20 American troops killed so far. Somehow, the Obama administration has been able to keep our war dead out of the media. But the families of those troops killed and those troops who are maimed know the horror that is going on over there. Afghanistan is even worse with 22 coalition troops killed so far this month. Just like the Bush Administration, the Obama administration keeps the number of troops wounded pretty much a secret. American troops killed in Afghanistan are totaled with all NATO troop deaths. One Department of Defense list shows 55 Americans wounded in Iraq from 5/1 to 5/19. They have no list for Afghanistan. |
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