Darfur

[Calandale]

To be fair though, Iraq wasn't already broken,
in the way the Sudan is.

[Lucifer]

oh, that's all right, then.  best break it some more, eh?

[Calandale]

I'm just saying that if we went into Sudan,
we'd do little harm. Kinda like LA.

[Lucifer]

do youactually mean that?  if so, your political naivety is breathtaking.

[Calandale]

I do. Things are pretty damned fucked there.
Once it's bad enough, there isn't much more
damage that can be done. 'Cept to our reputation.

[Lucifer]

and that sort of arrogant attitude is precisely why there's so much fucked-up-ness in the world.  not the only reason, but a pretty major one.

addressing the horror of people subsisting in conditions most of us can't even conceive of is not a PR exercise.

[Calandale]

Nah. 'Tis like humpty dumpty.
Once the horses had a go at
him, there wasn't too much
harm the men could manage.

[morthaur]

I do. Things are pretty damned fucked there.
Once it's bad enough, there isn't much more
damage that can be done. 'Cept to our reputation.

But are you thinking about how we would be received?  People there are still pissed about that cruise missile blowing up a pharmaceutical plant that we (supposedly) thought was making chemical weapons; especially since, as I recall, we not only failed to apologize but did not help them rebuild it...

Going into Sudan, particularly if done without an invitation or international mandate, would probably only encourage more people to sign up with the Islamists to fight Americans.  It's also a much bigger country than Iraq to hold together, and hasn't recovered from its own civil war, which might just flare up again under the stress of occupation.

[Calandale]

Well, that's why I qualified the statement,
with the reputation thing. Honestly, I think
we should keep our noses out of everyone
else's business, except where it's absolutely
vital to us. And my view of vital is a hell of a
lot more rigorous than seems to have been
the case with recent US leadership.

[Lucifer]

but you say "vital to us."  how about vital for someone else, for a change?  after all, isn't it called "aid", not "self interest"?

which, i know, is politically naive.  but if one didn't think there's potential for change, one might as well turn up one's toes and die.

[Calandale]

Aid doesn't really impress me.
Best intentions, and all.

Just so long as nothing vital
to the history of humanity is
threatened, I'm not too concerned.

We should have struck Afghanistan,
as soon as the Taliban threatened to
blow up the Buddhas. And we damned
well shouldn't have allowed the Museum
in Baghdad to be pillaged. These things are
a hell of a lot more important than a few
human lives - something we keep making
more of.

[SovaNu]

people should help each other. countries should help each other. planets should help each other... we're all the same soup. we pick each other up.

now is Darfur trendy? i dunno. i dunno anything about the place except it's in Sudan and there are suffering earthlings there who need help.

[Calandale]

The primordial stew should be eaten,
not cherished.

[SovaNu]

you're primordial goo.

[Calandale]

Lap me up then.