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In this scenario, the CIA is not protecting against greater evil for the people of the country. They are just protecting the interests of the US. Now, the CIA's
by theFco 3y ago
In this scenario, the CIA is not protecting against greater evil for the people of the country. They are just protecting the interests of the US. Now, the CIA's mission is to protect the US interests, there is nothing wrong. However, the means they use to do so may have something wrong with that. Installing and protecting dictators that are favorable to the US is unethical. Also the CIA does not furter "American values" in these interventions, for instance when suppressing weak democracies with strong dictators (Think Chile's Pinochet).
This kind of intervention can easily go wrong, and will often do go wrong (Chile's case was but one example, the Guatemalan novel discusses another).
- 2Gkashmiri 3y agouh,,, gaddafi, saddam come to the top of my mind.
- throwawayAsdFoo 3y agoThe iraq war was based on lies and financial interest. Do you really want to pretend, Saddam was the primary goal? And that nation building was accomplished, sir! And gaddafi was toppled over french/sarcozy interest. One who doesn't know history is doomed to repeat it. Post hoc justification of own atrocities is exactly the sort of cognitive failure that patriotic delusion (and thus the future of such) can cause.
- the_af 3y agoPlus neither Iraq nor Libya ended up well. So they are examples of what not to inflict upon a country.
- MSFT_Edging 3y agoThe loss of Gaddafi basically put the slave markets into overdrive, destroyed the power grids and water infrastructure, and generally did far more harm than good. Compared to other dictators that the US put in place, Gaddafi was far from the worst.
- dumpsterdiver 3y agoTo play devils advocate, I would posit that so-called "American values" don't actually matter much to real Americans (source: red-blooded American here). What matters is living in comfort, and wielding fiscal power. When you speak of our "values" then you start sounding like the propaganda that quite frankly, American's are tired of hearing about. We aren't all one-trick ponies here, just like any other place, we have a wide diversity of skills, talents, and values.
- newZWhoDis 3y agoI mean, I care about values. But you’re right most people don’t and only care about short term comfort and safety. It’s a big problem and the only solutions I’ve come across are inherently unpopular.
- pessimizer 3y agoYou're criticizing someone's use of the term "American values" when they both put scare quotes around it and said that the CIA was not interested in them. You're ignoring the actual comment and replying to the term "American values" in isolation with a response you've probably given many times before.
- dumpsterdiver 3y ago> You're ignoring the actual comment and replying to the term "American values" in isolation with a response you've probably given many times before. It is fair to respond to an isolated point within an argument. If an argument contains a point that cannot withstand scrutiny, then the argument is unsound. Furthermore, you should be ashamed of yourself for saying "with a response you've probably given many times before." Such an accusation is easily verifiable if it were true. To make such a claim without even looking is immature and disrespectful.
- jasmer 3y ago[flagged]
- pjc50 3y ago[citation needed] on Allende. This is what the CIA ended up supporting: disappearances (i.e. secret mass murder) https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/17/chile-families-search-disappeared-pinochet https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/17/chile-families...
- jasmer 3y ago[flagged]
- WastingMyTime89 3y agoExcept that what you are presenting is not at all very well established history. So yes, definitely citations needed. Not that you will be able to cite anything credible considering how bogus what you are advancing is.
- throwawayAsdFoo 3y ago>Pinochet was the best of two horrible options And on a scale from 0 to Cuba, how bad was Allende exactly? (Rhetorical question, im not interested in your answer.)
- thiagoharry 3y agoAllende WON the election. Whatever percentage he had, surely it was more than what Pinochet had. And he always said that his government would be a socialist one (which is what in US people would call communist). There were no lies involved. What right US have to support mass tortures, and genocide (Indonesia) to impose an economical system that people in other countries did not want to follow? And what right do you have to advocate this?
- onos 3y agoThose are certainly important questions and the answer i like is probably USA shouldn’t meddle in other countries concerns. But I think it is true that at least some of the often listed examples of USA supposedly interfering in democracies are not quite black and white.