No - the Taliban were not terrorists. That would make the US Govt a terrorist organisation also. Both govts shelter, aid and abet terrorists.
Regarding Iran - in the harsh real world they have as much right, if not a whole heap more, to be involved in Iraq. Damn sight more than us as it is on their border, invaded and occupied by an aggressive hostile nation.
They’d be derelict in their duty to their people if they were not involved.
If the US Govt has the right to bomb the IRG as terrorists then Iran has the right to bomb Langley.
IMHO neither have that right and both should cut out the terrorist shit.
As other posters have said, the definition varies. You are a terrorist organisation, we are bringing the benefits of capitalism to the World…
When the Russian invaded Afghanistan, the CIA financed violent resistance.
When the US wanted to overthrow the Taliban, they allied with murderous warlords.
Saddam Hussein was helped into in power by the CIA.
A democratically elected Chilean Government was overthrown with the help of the CIA.
The US is basically a decent country and a force for good. (Just like the British Empire was.)
But it is prepared to use force and ignore international law when it wants to. Guantanamo Bay and the Iraq invasion are unpleasant examples of this.
Lovely and benign take on the two Empires that have obvious blood-ties. Bet I could make the same generalities about just about any others. Heck, I’m ready to put up a fight against your made-up “Black Legend” bullshit any day. Not because I think our Empire was better, but simply because it was no worst that you’d like to make yours to be…
Meanwhile, you might want to ask 1-what do the (few) Native Americans that are left think of your assessment and 2-what has the US done, specifically, since WW-II, to be considered a “force of good” as opposed to just another self-serving Superpower – just as all the other ones before it.
Cheers. Or not.
ETA: Love the way you just “drop” the fact that the US can basically shit on any international law it wants. Sure points to “benign” :rolleyes:
Would the world be better off if the USSR had won the cold war?
Vs. killing off most of the populace who followed these warlords? Vs. having to fight them in addition to the Taliban? Sometimes compromises are made. Do I agree with them? Not hardly.
According to Wikipedia the CIA helped him in 1958 in a failed attempt to overthrow Qassim who had recently overthrown the Faisal government. He managed to escape the consequences and, finally, in 1979 he became President although he had gained increased influence in the years leading up to that time. It looks like the help of the CIA actually had a better chance to getting him killed as opposed to gaining power.
A government who was nationalizing industries that US companies had stakes in. During the height of the cold war. Imagine the US government trying to protect the rights of its own people over those of others. I mean what are they paid for?
[QUOTE]
But it is prepared to use force and ignore international law when it wants to. Guantanamo Bay and the Iraq invasion are unpleasant examples of this/QUOTE]
Just like almost every other country in the world it seems.
Sometimes I wonder if people put any of this stuff in the context of the times and the people involved.
Designating the Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization will achieve little and only inflame tensions, according to Mohsen Sazegara, who was one of the RGC’s founders before he became a dissident and moved to the U.S.
I see Iran as a country that is in transistion-the old harline mullahs are dying off, the educated young people want a secular government. So why do we empower the RG by building them up in this way? Ahmadenejad has no power-he is just a mouthpiece. we ought to engage the forces of reason in iran, and ignore the throwbacks (including the RG).
Well, the RGC can’t just be ignored. It might be a “throwback,” but it still has a lot of power in its own right – institutional power of the kind that can survive from one generation to the next. Read the article linked in post #25.