[FullBurst41]

Well, I'm quite certain that both the Iran and Iraq alliances were quite helpful economically to the US. You could sell military material to both, and get oil in return (especially in Iraq's case here) as much as you liked.. Of course, supporting dictators in the third world is rarely lucrative.

Then again, why is it that the French can't make a mistake now and it's alright just dismissing (though admitting) mistakes the US policy makers made in the past? I fail to see the logic in that.

What you say about supporting a vicious leader as to protect the country and questionand yourself from not-so-friendly people is partly true. I don't particularly like the Iranian government as it stands today, and it was far worse twenty years ago. However, how the Chile incident exactly works out, I do not quite understand. It's not like the Soviets were going to place missiles in there just to piss you off, I don't think they were going to make that mistake again. That said, the soviet Unjion was by then becoming a toothless tiger (or perhaps that's a bad analogy).

As for the McDonnald's peeing thingie, I really fail to see what relevance that holds to the boycotting of products and it being juvenile. If you think the French pissed on you by saying "we won't support you in this war" and it having more to do with economic reasons than anything else (for the government, at least), they can say the exact same about the US government. Many a person over here thinks that Bush likes the economic prospects this country might bring him and his allies. The Halliburton incident didn't help a lot either.

Another thing that quiteintrigues me, if you'll let me divert slightly, is why the Bush administration stands by its "freedom for the world" stance so much. Why aren't American troops rolling into Zimbabwe? N ot much chance of them being attacked by militants there, and the Simbabwean army isn't much to worry aboutfor such a powerful force as the American army. South Africa obviously isn't going to do anything about its neighbor abusing its people and basically holding a fascist government, so why doesn't the US step in? Its not like they're going to drop nukes on your turf, like the North Koreans might. It's not like everyone from Lebanon to Usbekistan is going to come at you screaming "FOOOK YAAAAAAGH!" like what might happen in Iran, if you invaded.

Hell, I think you might even find international backinig for it, after some pushing and shoving.