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From: jdb@qubix.UUCP (Jeff Bulf)
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Re: Reagan's re-election
Message-ID: <1531@qubix.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 9-Nov-84 23:50:42 EST
Article-I.D.: qubix.1531
Posted: Fri Nov  9 23:50:42 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 10-Nov-84 20:40:53 EST
References: <6166@mcvax.UUCP>
Organization: Qubix Graphic Systems, San Jose, CA
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> Herewith I want to express my deepest feelings for all those poor and
> innocent people who are going to die in the next four years throughout
> the world and specifically in Central America.... only because of the
> re-election of Reagan.

    I share Piet's frustration and helplessness. It looks like our
government is hell-bent on treating Central America like they were a
small businessman who stopped paying his protection. ("Those are nice
teachers and children you have there...")

Analytically though, I have to disagree with Piet on two points:

1) It is not *only* because of Reagan. This is not a matter of personal pre-
   ference on his part: our government's control in its sphere of influence
   is at stake. A Democrat might have brought a different personal
   style to the job, but he still would hve had the same job to do (defend
   the sphere of influence) and the same resources to do it with (money and
   weapons). The problem here is the system of domination, not the senile
   chief salesman for the system.

> I also want to express my disgust for all those Americans who, by voting
> for this man, are co-responsible for the deaths of all those people.
> 
> America, this is one more black day in your history. There's nothing you
> have to be proud of.

2) Our country has dragged our government kicking and screaming out of
   Nicaragua before. (1930's) We also dragged presidents Johnson and Nixon
   kicking and screaming out of Vietnam. I expect we'll do it again. 

   [The Nicaraguan people understand this. While travelling there
   I heard a lot of bitter complaints about my government, but
   nobody ever took it out on me as an American. Nor did anybody
   suggest counter-terrorism against *our* country.]

   But unfortunately it takes time. Enough time to do bad harm to
hundreds of thousands of victims (including the marines who will be
told that they are dying for our country, and the middle class here
who will be ripped off for an obscene amount of our paychecks, and of
course the Central Americans themselves).


Finally, some of our own history, in hopes of remembering more and
re-living less:

    Our ministers accredited to the five little republics... have been
    advisors whose advice has been accepted virtually as law... We do
    control the destinies of Central America and we do so for the simple
    reason that the national interest absolutely dictates such a course...
    Until now, Central America has always understood that governments
    which we recognize and support stay in power, while those we do
    not recognize and support fall.
			-- State Department memorandum, 1927
			   quoted in El Salvador, the Face of Revolution
			   Armstrong & Schenk, South End Press, Boston

    Sure He[Somoza]'s a son of a bitch, but he's *our* son of a bitch.
			-- Franklin D Roosevelt
-- 
	Dr Memory
	...{amd,ucbvax,ihnp4}!qubix!jdb