learnin' day in Tennessee.
I learned more about the Iran-Contra situation today. that sounds just like us. let's sign the Geneva Convention's articles and then ignore them. hey why stop at illegally selling arms when we could use that money to illegally back a band of guerrillas in another country looking to overthrow the new government building hospitals?
anyway that's in the past. no big deal I guess, I mean it's not like we're ever going to have to deal with Iran again. wait a minute...
does everyone else realize that the Contras we backed in Nicaragua were only one of three total groups of rebels that we funded? well even if you don't care I'm going to write about it anyway, because I like talking about all the ways that our country has fucked up over the years. and even if we didn't technically fuck up, these situations at least prove that our government has done some pretty despicable things.
the only difference with the Contras in Nicaragua was that they actually succeeded in overthrowing the new government, whereas in El Salvador and Guatemala, the guerrillas we armed and supported were defeated.
there is another feature of all three of these conflicts that is shared. in each of these cases, close to one million people were displaced inside their country. and when they crossed international lines, they became refugees. close to one million came from each of those three countries to the United States to apply for asylum. almost all of the refugees from El Salvador and Guatemala (where we lost)were turned away. the Nicaraguans, who we backed and had a role in their coup, were almost universally accepted into our country.
just a little food for thought. plus it helps me learn when I can relay information to other willing students.
-Mel
I learned more about the Iran-Contra situation today. that sounds just like us. let's sign the Geneva Convention's articles and then ignore them. hey why stop at illegally selling arms when we could use that money to illegally back a band of guerrillas in another country looking to overthrow the new government building hospitals?
anyway that's in the past. no big deal I guess, I mean it's not like we're ever going to have to deal with Iran again. wait a minute...
does everyone else realize that the Contras we backed in Nicaragua were only one of three total groups of rebels that we funded? well even if you don't care I'm going to write about it anyway, because I like talking about all the ways that our country has fucked up over the years. and even if we didn't technically fuck up, these situations at least prove that our government has done some pretty despicable things.
the only difference with the Contras in Nicaragua was that they actually succeeded in overthrowing the new government, whereas in El Salvador and Guatemala, the guerrillas we armed and supported were defeated.
there is another feature of all three of these conflicts that is shared. in each of these cases, close to one million people were displaced inside their country. and when they crossed international lines, they became refugees. close to one million came from each of those three countries to the United States to apply for asylum. almost all of the refugees from El Salvador and Guatemala (where we lost)were turned away. the Nicaraguans, who we backed and had a role in their coup, were almost universally accepted into our country.
just a little food for thought. plus it helps me learn when I can relay information to other willing students.
-Mel
