Short Term Trading Weekend Lounge: 16-18 Feb, page-157

It is not patriotic indignation mate. It is a sober and honest understanding of history. You’ve managed to turn an attempt to fight oppression into something akin to evil itself. This is an ancient mistake and one that has cost humanity dearly. Cause, effect and motivation are all under consideration. Your obvious concern with the plight of the other is a good thing. Your concern knows no boundaries and is shared by many in the USA.

Many have been caught in the crossfire of wars against despotism. Instead of blaming the originators of those wars, many seek to blame the responders or to imply greed and exploitation. These are ancient and natural responses to the horror and loss that conflict brings. Thucydides and his contemporaries went though much handwringing and angst before they initiated internal and external wars, and the USA is infinitely more democratic in its response to war than Athens ever was. In fact, many of us are ashamed that we did not save millions more in Europe because of our isolationist policies leading into WWII.

You know by now that my primary concern is with the idea that the USA has acted in bad faith or incompetent neglect. I will take your compliment at face value, then, and assume that we merely have a disagreement on cause and effect and the nature of 20^th century conflicts. I think that if you were introduced to some of those you accuse, you might reconsider your belief that America has been the mindless machine you seem to imply.

My initial response in this weekend’s thread was to an intelligent post about our current national security news. I sought only to assess and define the character of our domestic counterintelligence community. I was pointing out that these individuals are, imho, more honest than the political class they serve. Somehow, this got turned into a bit of a bash fest. I don’t know where the spirit of this comes from, but it was unsolicited. Perhaps it has something to do with the follow on comments. At any rate, I wish to thank you @Joepan for your support and sense of fairness. That is the true spirit of the Australian people.