So Im reading my book for MCS, Lies My Teacher Told Me, and this chapter is on foreign policy in history books. The author focused specifically on six instances when our policy failed/was criminal. 1. Our part in deposing Irans PM and supporting the Shah. 2. Our role in bringing down the elected govt of Guatemala in 1954. 3. Rigging of the 1967 election in Lebanon, which resulted in over representation of Christians and underrepresented Muslims. 4. Involvement in the assassination of Patrice Lumumba in Zaire (now the Congo) 5. Repeated attempts to kill Fidel Castro. 6. Bringing down Allende (who was eventually killed) in Chile in 1973. First, I knew about the Shah because I lived through the hostage crisis and I knew a little about Allende because of the movie, Missing (great movie) and a Law and Order ep. And I think everybody knows that we tried to kill Castro but I also think the attempts are thought of as almost comical. Invariably history books remove any part we played. And they also make the claims that we reluctantly got involved only after chaos ensued (with no info on what caused the chaos. We did.) or that we got involved to protect people and our interests from the big bad, communism. And thats if they mention these instances at all. The only one they get right at all is Iran. If any country tried to do to us what weve done to them, we would call them terrorists. I just cant get why anybody wonders why were hated by so many. Is everything we do bad? No. But when were bad, were really bad. And this isnt only about history. I have no doubt we continue these types of things. But the nature of all these actions is that theyre carried out in somewhat secrecy so we only officially hear about them after the fact. This class is so emotionally draining. But Id much rather know than not.
Posted on: Fri, 21 Nov 2014 23:05:44 +0000
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