Bil Maher- The US: world's policeman or schoolyard bully?

[n2doc]

Bill Maher
theguardian.com, Saturday 14 September 2013

New rule: 12 years after 9/11, and amidst yet another debate on whether to bomb yet another Muslim country, America must stop asking the question, "Why do they hate us?" Forget the debate on Syria, we need a debate on why we're always debating whether to bomb someone. Because we're starting to look not so much like the world's policeman, but more like George Zimmerman: itching to use force and then pretending it's because we had no choice.

Now, I'm against chemical weapons, and I don't care who knows it. And there's no doubt a guy like Bashar al-Assad deserves to get blown up: using toxic chemicals on unsuspecting civilians is purely and profoundly evil.

But enough about Monsanto. When it comes to Syria, I do understand the appeal of putting the world on notice that if you use poison gas, the United States of America will personally fuck you up: we will seek out the counsel and support of the entire family of nations, and then, no matter what they say, we will go ahead and fuck you up.

But however valid that argument may be, it is, I believe, outweighed by the fact that we have to stop bombing Muslim countries if we ever want to feel safe from terrorism in our own. The Chemical Weapons Convention is important, but to the jihadi in the street, it just looks like we're always looking for a new reason to bomb them. We keep calling this part of the world a tinderbox – and we keep lighting fires there.

Even worse, bombing seems to be our answer for everything.

more

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/sep/14/usa-worlds-policeman-school-bully

[jwirr]

1. I suspect we are both. Schoolyard bully when we want something like oil for another country and

world's policeman when the other country objects to our theft and we call it rebellion.

[bigtree]

2. ". . . itching to use force and then pretending it's because we had no choice."

truer words . . . .

[JaneyVee]

3. He made some great points, but...

He's acting as if we're the only ones who think out loud about using force while forgetting to mention the fact that Syria is committing genocide and extremists threaten the US every day as well as carry out attacks in their own countries. A bully would pick on Sweden, not genocidal dictators.

[Comrade Grumpy]

7. A couple of things:

1. We are extremely isolated in thinking out loud about using force. Parliament told Cameron to fuck off about it, the French seem a bit interested. And some of the Arabs want our help to knock off their foe, but that's about it. Despite the impression you might get from CNN, "the international community" does not consist solely of Washington, London, and Paris. Oh, and London and Paris, by the way, are the former colonial powers in the region, well-loathed there. I'm not hearing a whole lot of chest-thumping coming from Beijing or Brasilia, Mexico City or New Delhi.

2. There is no genocide going on in Syria. Read your definitions. There is a brutal civil war with casualties on all sides. Lots and lots of them. In fact, I would argue that the biggest danger of a genocide in Syria would come with a rebel victory. The rebels could well turn on the minority religious communities (Alawites, Shia, Christians) that have generally supported the regime. We've already seen some signs of that.

3. And about those extremists who are threatening us every day? They are on the side fighting Assad.

[KG]

4. the worlds policemen believe in selective enforcement. a military coup gunning down dissidents

in the streets? send 'em more guns!

[HappyMe]

5. I think a bully would pick on Canada or Switzerland.

He does make some good points.

[bvar22]

6. Maher has a way with words.

I especially like the quip about Monsanto.

and X1000 for this:
"the fact that we have to stop bombing Muslim countries if we ever want to feel safe from terrorism in our own."

DURec!

[liberal_at_heart]

8. I was just watching Love Actually and the scenes with Billy Bob Thornton as the President of the

United States gave me the chills. This is how the world sees us. We are the school yard bullies. So sad.

[Go Vols]

9. at about 2 min. mark

http://realtimewithbillmaher.blogspot.com/2013/09/new-rules-91313.html