[I’ve received this a number of times already via email. — FmH]
Here is a one question multiple choice test.
In the answer you will find the
value of bombing Iraq.
World History 101 – Mid-term exam
This test consists of one (1) multiple-choice question (so you better
get it right!) Here’s a list of the countries that the U.S. has bombed
since >the end of World War II, compiled by historian William Blum:
China 1945-46
Korea 1950-53
China 1950-53
Guatemala 1954
Indonesia 1958
Cuba 1959-60
Guatemala 1960
Congo 1964
Peru 1965
Laos 1964-73
Vietnam 1961-73
Cambodia 1969-70
Guatemala 1967-69
Grenada 1983
Libya 1986
El Salvador 1980s
Nicaragua 1980s
Panama 1989
Iraq 1991-99
Sudan 1998
Afghanistan 1998
Yugoslavia 1999
———————————————-
NOW HERE IS THE QUESTION:
In how many of these instances did a FREE government, respectful of
human rights, occur as a direct result? Choose one of the following:
(a) 0
(b) zero
(c) none
(d) not a one
(e) a whole number between -1 and +1
Addendum: A reader quibbles with me:
“Eliot, I think you’re slipping. First of all, like every e-chain letter I have ever received, this one is not true, or it at least leaves out as much as it leaves in. I think. In particular, I don’t think we ever bombed Nicaragua–we did support the Contras, but I don’t think we ever bombed the place. In Grenada, Reagan’s ridiculous interference amounted to the removal of our med students, and the local strong man. Panama? I think it was a democracy, and remained so. Yugoslavia? It’s more democratic than it was.
I agree with your intent, but feel it is incumbent on us to try to tell the truth. Even if the truth is complicated. This makes us better than our opponents.”
He’s right; I’m guilty of intent, but should not be distorting in its service. Here, perhaps abit more precise, is what Molly Ivins said in a similar vein this week:
In the more potentially disastrous category of “What happens when we win?” the numbers are not good. Of the 20 regime changes forced by U.S. military action in the last century, only five produced democracies; and of the five unilateral actions, only one produced a democracy — Panama. Afghanistan, the closest proximate case, is not looking good beyond Kabul.
