Political Crossfire Forums

[kittycat]

I am an animator, working on a ridiculously fast deadline, with hopes to enter into a contest hosted by the macromedia company
http://advocacy.globalsolutions.org/site/P...ylfpmr3c1.app7b
(they make Web animation and website building software)

I have to make an animation on the subject of: why do global problems matter to Americans, and what do you think America should do about them?

Seems simple right? Well its not, I'm not much of a thinker, but I am one hell of an animator:
so if you would like to see your ideas turn into something more accessible than text give it a whack, or at least point me in a better direction than AMERICA=EVIL which seems to be the consensus on my campus.

[dgs_vex]

well i know that global problems matter to some americans because some americans have loved ones in other nations. but alot of americans these days have lost all connection with thier root countries. all they know is they are one part french and one part german. their not like the chinese or alot of other asian decent who actually worship thier ancestors because your father loved you. your grandfather loved your father. your greatgrandfather loved your grandfather and so on.

btw what software do you use?

alias maya, wavefront?
3d studio
lightwave 3d?
or just macromedia?

[kittycat]

I use maya, 3ds max and softimage...when it works
but mostly flash. For this project im going to guess... all flash

[Chris29]

well for one thing there is the economic reasons for why global problems matter to america. For example look at the recent problems in Nigeria, regional conflict there led to a HUGE increase in the price of oil over night. The same can be said for the nuclear problem in Iran. 16 percent of the american economy depends directly on foreign trade, even more depend on the secondary products of foreign trade (for example think of a business which uses cars, while they may by a ford vehicle (american) the ford vehicle depends directly on steel or other inputs from abroad thus the company using this vehicle is impacted based on foreign affairs)

then there are also security issues. America is VERY lucky that they have an ocean on both the east and west side of their country as they do not have to suffer the same impact that regional affairs do on other countries. However america still has some major reasons for being concerned about international affairs. For example think about mexico, the poor economic standards in that country have resulted in a significant increase in both legl and illegal immigration. Theres is also the problem of refugees from elsewhere in the world. Eventually almost all regional conflicts if left unchecked will spread, eventually thi will find its way to america if things do not get addressed.

there are many many more reasons why but this should suffice as a very very basic understanding as to why global issues are important to america.

[kittycat]

wow!
that was perfect. everyone keep em coming, please!

[Trent Steel]

The American government has waged war on dozens and dozens of democratic countries for economical hegemony in the last half century.

I'll describe a few examples by continent or area

Central America

Guatemala
- In 1954 The US organizes a military coup in Guatemala to remove the president, Jacobo Arbenz. The country had been democratic since 1944... Arevalo had permitted free expression, legalized unions and diverse political parties.
- The US claims it is preventing a USSR takeover by using communism scare tactics but in reality it is economics. Arbenz’s fatal mistake was expropriating unused land from the American United Fruit Company, and distributing it to landless peasants.
- Allen Dulles, at the time director of the CIA has personal interest in American United Fruit Company
- American companies benefit from cheap labor, lax safety laws and a helpful government. Arbenz was attempting to bring in unions and fair labor laws and distribute land to the poor. Coca-Cola also had bottling plants being affected
- After the coup and for the next 31 years repressive and dictoral governments would rule with the support of the US. Hundreds of thousands civilians would die in the hands of these governments by CIA trained death squads

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Fruit_Company
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacobo_Arbenz_Guzm%C3%A1n


Nicaragua
- After 46 years of US backed dictoral reign the Samosa are overthrown by it's people when President Carter refuses to continue backing this murderous ragim.
- The new government (Sandinistas) introduces a literacy campaign and health provisions for all citizens. Within a decade, the country's child mortality rate would fall from 128 to 62 per thousand births.
- President Reagan is elected and the CIA want's control back of Nicaragua so it attempts to assassinate Ortega. Orataga was elected in a nationally observed election that year. Orataga cuts ties with the US government after the failed assassination. Because of this Reagan starts a trade embargo on Nicaragua, mines its ports, destroys agricultural collectives and health clinics, and uses its influence in the World Bank to block previously agreed loans to the country.
-Reagan unable to get funding from legislature secretly agrees to funnel money from illegal arms sells to Iran for Contra in Nicaragua. Oliver North is used to set up Cocaine labs in Columbia to fund arms to Contra. Contra is a CIA trained squad that terrorisms Nicaragua civilians for 10 years. It kills over 50000 civilians and destroys businesses in attempt to destabilize the democratic elected government of Daniel Ortega
-For it's undercover action against the democratically elected government of Nicaragua. The World Court orders the USA to pay reparations of $ 17,000 million which the USA refuses to abide by. The US vetoes a United Nations resolution calling on all governments to observe international law

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contras


Haiti
This is very similar to Guatemala
- Jean-Bertrand Aristide is the first democratic elected government in Haiti. Haiti has long been controlled by the US and 1 or 2 percent of the population control all the wealth. It is one of the poorest countries in the and provides America corporations with the cheapest labor.
- Jean-Bertrand Aristide attempts to bring in wage increases and public funded programs by taxing the corporations.
- The rich are angered by this and fund the x military to undermine and overthrow Aristide.
- Aristide finds a supporter in the most unusual place in Bill Clinton who threatens military action if Aristide is not returned.
- Aristide is returned to power and disbands the military.
- Heavely republican influenced CIA begins training x haiti military in Dominican Republic
- George W Bush takes over as president and the x Haiti military comes in and overthrows Aristide claiming the last election was rigged.
- Death squads kill any Aristide supporters and top political party leaders while US troops observe. The population uprises as Aristide was very popular.

I'm getting tired of writing so I'll just give one more example with a country with oil contrarily to what was written above.

Iran (Operation Ajax)
- Mohammed Mossadeq is a popular democratically elected government in Iran. Mossadeq want's mineral wealth of the country to benefit its citizens. Oil companies like BP reaped over 85% of the profits from Iran oil. Mossadeq wanted to make it 25%. The US and UK start to blockade Iran until the Shah overthrows Mossadeq and concessions are returned to UK and American companies.
- The term blowback is coined by the CIA after Operation Ajax. It is a metaphor for the unintended consequences of the USA government's international activities that have been kept secret from the American people. In Iran, a flourishing democracy is converted to a brutal dictatorship which becomes and anti-West theocracy (rule by religion).
Many believe this is where Middle East terrorism groups began and has continued.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ajax
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blowback_%28intelligence%29


What Chris29 said above is what the oil companies or media will tell you as it’s what people want to hear. The truth with many 3rd world or dictorial countries with oil like Nigeria is control in government. Oil companies and corporations) and government are hand in hand as they feed each other $$$. A country like Nigeria who has bad human rights issues and a totalitarian government is never heard of because it gives all it's oil concessions to giant corporations who in term keep the dictators of that country rich. All they need to do is control the masses. But a country like Venezuela or Iran who controls it’s own oil and keeps the money for it’s own people are portrayed as evil because they are none compliant with what feeds the American economy and keeps power to the US

Here's a little more on the whole Iraq Iran thing

One of the CIA's first coups (operation Ajax) was in Iran when the brutal Shah overthrew the democratic government of Mohammed Mossadeq in Iran. This led to 25 years of rule by force in Iran with the CIA setting up the SAVAK who brutalized Iran's population.
After 25 years Ayatolla Khomeini overthrows the brutal Shah who escapes to the US. His rule is equally brutal but the only difference is he removes all US oil and business concessions which made him all of a sudden an enemy of the US and was put on the list of nations supporting terrorism WITH SADDAM in 1979.
In 1980 Saddam invades Iran with the backing of US and UK. The US removes Saddam from the list of nations supporting terrorism and veto’s any UN resolution to intervene in the war. During this time the US arms Iraq even though it is widely speculated he is killing and gassing Kurds with the weapons supplied by the US and UK. In attempt to destabilize both governments the US sends arms into Iran via Israel. This war lasted ten years and caused over a million deaths.

[kittycat]

Thankyou again, your post was definitely well thought, and wonderfully helpfull.
Im not sure im going to animate this all in time, but I hope to.

[Saracen]

I agree with both the assessments of Chris29 and Trent Steel (stellar post, man) and here is my take on it considering how many in the world view the American government.

The problem is that all these years of interventionism and usurping of leaders that were non-compliant to America's oligarchic rulers definitely made a lot of enemies more than it made a lot of friends. The American government is not intent on democracy more than it is intent on regime change, which just happens to be the new version of democracy these days.

The Greek leader they installed, Papadopoulos, back in 1967, and the Shah who was installed by the CIA in order to usurp the democratically elected Mossadegh, definitely hit the Greeks and Iranians home, and instilled them a deep-rooted hate for American foreign policy interests. That led to the Mullahcratizing of Iran.. And let's not forget Saddam's affiliation with the CIA, and the rise of Bin Laden, the support for dictatorial regimes like Mubarak and the Sauds. These regimes, through petrodollars and the such, oppressed their people. As long as the leaders of those countries were compliant to American standards, they were allies. If not, they were deemed dictators, no matter how benevolent they are. Corrupted politicians are now heading the MidEast, thanks to the interventionism that took decades and decades to foment.

That alone instilled hate and fear for the American government, and made the voice of radicals popular amongst the poor segments of the populations of these countries. These enemies were projected against the Americans to a degree that they don't hate them out of ignorance, but out of what they have done in the past. There's also the adamant support for Israel, free from condemnation and reparations, as well as the refusal to allow a legitimate Palestinian voice to negotiate over the past peace treaties. Then you have the Lebanese civil war, in which many Palestinians and Lebanese died under the fire of the Israeli and American navies. Sad turnout of events, really. All the blood and money that the Arabs lost over these years further fueled the fires of hatred towards the U.S. The placement of American military bases over the Middle East was another factor. Then you have the Iraq war, the Haiti government, the Nicaraguans and other Latin Americans, et al.

So, what exactly did such events lead to? One might say that the Americans were indeed up to their liberation efforts and the such.. However, it appears that their attempts were clearly not the case. Time and time again, the U.S. government has made itself a lot of enemies when it installed dictators and supported tyrannical regimes that were compliant to its standards. Now that we are seeing a rising left in the Latin Americas, the American government was quick to criticize their efforts and their rise to power.

Ok, now back to the hypocrisy of the Western governments. They have actually ousted the democratically elected Mossadegh, and yet they still support the dictatorial regime of Pakistan and other areas. They are also adamant supporters for Charles Taylor, an adamant Liberian war criminal and head of state.

So, after all these years of instigating foreign policy interventions, support for suppressive/oppressive regimes, and installing of military bases in the Gulf, which OBL regarded as occupation in the Middle East. What did these cycle of events in the Middle East lead to?

It lead to two planes smashing on the sides of two buildings in NYC, which was in itself a crime against humanity.

Afterwards, the American government was thrust into a farcical war against the Afghan and Iraqi governments (the Afghan war was more understandable). However, when the British plutocrats sent their troops to Iraq, they got the hit at 7-7-2005. So, is it really because of "freedoms" that the terrorists hate these governments? No, it's because of foreign policy and interventionism, all which were used to serve the interests of the American government and the American government alone. Now we're seeing oil ministers and corrupt politicians rising in Iraq, and a possible civil war. Indeed, this could threaten the future of the U.S., as such instilling of conflict will instigate more conflict towards it. The Middle East will forever remember the horrors of Abu Ghreib and the instilling of civil strife by the sponsorship of death squads and the firebombing of cities like Fallujah. The fire of hate towards the American government is indeed being fueled by the actions of the American government, and this would increase the risk of more attacks.