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Originally Posted by simon
So you are quite open about having double standards. Saddam can torture people and its none of your business, but if the Americans do it, then you're outraged.
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You purposely missed my point instead of addressing it. Of course i have double standards in this area! I expect nothing from a dictator, i expect a lot from a democratically elected government. Is this so hard to understand that i expect better from a democracy than a dictatorship?
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The idea that what happens in other countries is none of our business and we should only intervene when our own interests are directly threatened is not morality, it's selfishness dressed up as a moral principle.
What a wonderful defence of liberty, equality and fraternity! I think that morally, it is our concern. I think that human rights are more important than state sovereignty.
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Where's the limit? Who is going to decide which countries have to be "liberated" and which countries are allowed to "liberate" others? The Soviet Union claimed that they were liberating the Baltic States, China claimed that they were liberating Tibet, Indonesia claimed that they were liberating Timor. You're acting like this "right" to intervene in other countries can only be used in a good way, a democracy overthrowing a dictator. That sounds nice on paper but this right can be used by any country, a powerful dictatorship might use that same right to get rid of an annoying little democracy. Maybe China will "liberate" Taiwan tomorrow? Who's going to stop them?
In fact this argument can be used by any country that wants to invade a neighbor.
As for your mockery of the French motto, what can i say, we did try to export the values of the French Revolution 200 years ago... "All men are born free and equal"... We tried to spread that across Europe but Britain brilliantly defeated us, remember? "All men are born free and equal"... Ironically only the US colonies agreed with us on that at the time. We learned the hard way that you can't impose those values by force on other peoples, and it's Britain which taught us that.
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unlike us unsubtle Brits.
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Brits? Where did that come from? I never mentioned Britain in any of my posts. I have nothing against Britain, i like Britain. I like to think of myself as an Anglo-Norman actually. The treaty of Formigny in 1450 that saw the annexation of the duchy of Normandy by the French is probably the worst day of our history. The French claimed at the time that they were liberating us from the English oppression... yeah right! Normandy conquered England, not the other way around! (Stupid frogs)
Anyway, i wish the ducal crown of Normandy were still linked to the royal Crown of England and that we had remained an autonomous duchy.