When countries are in decay, whether because of self-inflicted economic wounds or because of external factors, something is always better than nothing. Hitler, in part because of his rampant spending on weapons, was billed as having saved the German economy. Mussolini was touted for having gotten Italy’s famously flakey trains to run on time. These little organizational feats and economic boomlets, of course, had nothing to do with how deeply evil these men were, or how they created political systems that operated around their perverted world views.
I was reminded of that when I read that Hezbollah buys loyalty through charitable acts. That is, it turns the country into a terrorist stronghold, stifles Democracy, kills dissent, and then buys loyalty on the streets through loaves of bread. It’s like Tammany Hall, only without the charm.
By the way, if you want old-style Tammany Hall charm, read the marvelous Plunkett of Tammany Hall. It’s out of print now, but you might be able to find a copy at a library or used book store. George Washington Plunkett was a Tammany Hall political operative who decided to give a series of interviews to a newspaperman at the end of the 19th Century. Mr. Plunkett was a totally corrupt man, but one who was also charming and in total denial about his absent morals. In his mind, he never broke the law. Instead, as he always said, “I seen my opportunity and I took it.” In any event, the book spells out how Tammany Hall, through its financial corruption, kept the slums of New York in abysmal poverty while, at the same time, through small acts of charity, it deluded the poor into believing that Tammany Hall was their salvation. Human nature, especially when corruption meets ignorance, is unchanging.
Talking to Technorati: Tammany Hall, Hezbollah, Corruption, George Washington Plunkett
Filed under: Hezbollah
Once you understand human nature, you can manipulate it. And once you are at a certain level, you are also resistant to manipulation by others. But until then, the uneducated are vulnerable and can be used as cannon fodder.
When a nation like the US bringsthe real deal to Iraq, people will try to kill and terrorize the population into rejecting us. Because Israel won’t do the same against those bought by Hizbollah money, Israel is at a disadvantage in terms of the gang war. They have no popular support, because they are not willing to kill enough people to get it, and they can’t provide any good things so long as Hizbollah is around to kill Israeli collaborators.
In Iraq,the problem was solved retro-actively. The US forces held off the terroists, while training up local Iraqis. What should have been done first, as in Afghanistan, was done last.
If the Special Forces can train up a bunch of Northern Alliance guerrilas into a force that could take out the Taliban, why did we exactly need 200,000 US troops to take down Saddam? There is such a thing as too big a hammer.
There’s always the Army way it seems.
When it comes to Hizbollah, the truth can come out. You can convince people who has their real interests at heart, if you interpose Hizbollah on top of something that could replace Hizbollah. In terms of help, it has to be competitive. In terms of punishment and killings, it also must be equivalent. Meaning, whoever replaces Hizbollah has to be able to lay down the law, punish transgressors, and kill them off if necessary. The replacement must also compete with Hizbollah to offer basic aid, medicine, and services to the people of South Lebanon.
When two organizations compete, the best organization will appear, and the people will see it. The Israeli ground forces are not the equal of the US Marines going into Fallujah. Nothing is equal to the US Marines in assaulting urban areas or other hard points. They do things differently. Israel occupied South Lebanon before, but they weren’t doing the things we are currently doing in Iraq. They were not setting up a government or anything like that, they were obeying the UN. Whenever the UN is there, things don’t work, if you hadn’t noticed.
Ymarsakar: that is the most absurd thing i have ever heard.
If you think things in Iraq are solved, you’ve been living in a vacuum for the past 5 years. Idiot. Also, the UN doesn’t work simply because the US won’t let it work; case in point: Iraq. The UN peacekeeping missions have been amazingly successful, leading to such things as a 40% drop in violent conflict, an 80% drop in the most deadly conflicts and an 80% drop in genocide since the cold war era. These figures are directly attributed to UN-related policies.
Not only that, but i would rather put my trust in an organisation that values human rights than an administration that fosters illegal wiretapping on it’s citizens and tortures ‘enemy combatants’.
“Whenever the UN is there, things don’t work …”. You are so wrong, wake up. A RAND Corp study found the UN to be successful in two out of three peacekeeping efforts and found that in eight UN cases of nation building, or “setting up a government”, seven of them are at peace. This is in stark contrast to eight US cases, where only four are at peace. If anything, the UN does things better and more efficiently than the US does.
Diplomacy, not more violence, is and will always be the answer. Consider yourself cannon fodder.
The Un values human rights… indeed I would agree, they value the human right to exploit others for the party favors of the corrupt bureacrats.
Diplomacy, not more violence, is and will always be the answer. Consider yourself cannon fodder.
Man the Russians needed more folks like you back in the Cold War. They might have even accomplished something of lasting value if they had.
“The Un values human rights… indeed I would agree, they value the human right to exploit others for the party favors of the corrupt bureacrats.”
Do you have any evidence to suggest this? Yes the bureaucracy is large, and one could argue inefficient – but the story is not any different in the US. And conducting a UN peacekeeping mission costs 8 times less than the equivalent US mission. One would have to suggest that the extra money goes on *surprise* the bureaucracy in the US.
And if you’re piping on about corruption, just look to the current administration for a perfect example of it.
I’ll give you one piece of evidence. Then it is in your hands.
http://www.nationalreview.com/lopez/lopez200506020937.asp
I’m not big on awards, but this doesn’t even include the Sexual Exploitation by UN peacekeepers in the Congo. Nor the various other parties told about by the book Lolita, authored by two NGO low level bureacrats or aides.
A UN peacekeeping mission is conducted using funds from the United States. It’s cheap only in the sense that the UN pays mercenaries to go to the Congo and Rwanda, and the governments like the cash for a military they were already paying the upkeep on anyways.
Nobody is paying the US for Iraq, there is no profit in war. While there is plenty of profit for the UN peacekeeping nations. Apart of course, from the genocide and exploitation of children perks that UF staffers get.