Quote Originally Posted by maladroit
the korean war wasn't totally about communism...north korea illegally invaded south korea, and the united nations went in there and legally kicked their commie asses back over the border...it was the same situation in the first gulf war

the usa does a lot of good in the world...that doesn't erase all the bad things it does but uncle sam still deserves credit for the good stuff

us government foreign policy is a combination of manifest destiny and exceptionalism...the government believes it is their moral duty to control the world, and therefore it isn't immoral if they have to break laws and spill innocent blood on the path to achieving that lofty objective...even when it ends badly, exceptionalism kicks in again and they ignore defeat/failure (like in the war of 1812, the vietnam war, iraq, and afghanistan)
I agree some good is done, but I maintain that the motives for that good are purely self-serving, the good being coincidental. The policy of exceptionalism is a very frightening one, since they can in no way legitimately declare themselves morally superior. World domination is inherently immoral.

And delusionsofnormality, if you'll remember from the Nietzsche thread, I agree with basically everything you said. Sometimes I feel like suffocating in cynicism and despair. Just sometimes.