US Immoral Authority (China & Russia)

[Mort Zuckerman]

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Subject: US Immoral Authority (China & Russia)

Date: Oct 26, 2008 10:56 AM

If truth is your oxygen, start breathing east:


http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2008/10/20081020132346256814.html

Norberto
Argentina 20/10/2008

Moral... what moral ?

Only historical illiteracy manufactured by the western mass media can
allow the
Anglo-Zionists to claim any sort of moral authority. The black slave
market, unique
in the history of humanity for its sheer racism, opium trading in
China (not within
their colonies), and the modern economical slavery supported by the
UN, WB and the
IMF through usury are good indicators of the Anglo-Jewish pseudo
morals. More than
one hundred thousand civilians death in the tramped war in Iraq
dwarfing Guantanamo.
========================================

Campbell Erikson
Canada 21/10/2008

Americans Have Only One Window in their Houses

I'm Canadian. I totally agree that the American hypocrisy is second
only to
its arrogance, and it is extremely offensive to hear the United Hates
pass judgment
on China or anywhere else. Unfortunately, Canada follows right behind
the States
in terms of self-congratulatory hypocritical judgment calls on other
nations. The
television hegemony has been so thorough, so complete, that the North
Americans
believe their own lies. They really think they really are better.
========================================

John
United States 21/10/2008

US Moral Authority

Compliments to you for your article. I am a white rural rancher in the
southern
United States and you may often drive 20 miles or more before you find
a person
of color who eowns land, even then it will be a very small plot. In
areas of ethnic
majority the government at the state and municipal levels here have
for years been
systematically reducing services in these communities creating a two
tiered system.
Our prisons as well reflect an arrest and conviction rate more than
twice that for
whites
=========================================

yanuar
Indonesia 21/10/2008

U.S moral

I don't know much about what happen in US, but according to the news
that I
saw in the past, i got the impression that US make the standard policy
that they
say should be followed by all countries. if we talk about democracy
then the Hamas
government was elected trough democratic process. if we talk about
human rights
then there are no countries in this world who had send many troops
than US even
after the declaration of human rights (in fact they were late to
respond to Hitler
before)
==========================================

John
Canada 22/10/2008

Moral Authority

The only people in the world who believe that the US has any moral
authority are
the uneducated people who live there.
==========================================

Edward J. Mangan
China 23/10/2008

More of the Same

brainwashed yes,I was born in Massachusetts, USA, now living in
Beijing. The Chinese
people are the nicest people I have ever met. I was brought up in
public schools
and taught that China was evil, and I should hate evil. Most news
articles and education
sources in the US continue to this day, to send those messages to
American young
people. I have spoken with US college students recently that told me
they were taught
nothing about China. Only that it was bad. I'm grateful to know the
truth.
=============================================

Miles Long
Equatorial Guinea 23/10/2008

U.S. Hypocrasy

While everybody has different opinions in the article and not all of
them that I
agree with, for example a black woman with a masters degree in East
LA. If you want
work go find it and stop blaming others. However, I do agree with the
articles take
on U.S. double standards. For example calling Russia's invasion of
Georgia illegal
after the U.S. invasion of Iraq seems a bit ludicrous.
=================================================

mohammed
Nigeria 23/10/2008

moral authority

it is the same in every county,not just america.[BUT]the america of
today is for
george bush alone,i don't see where news is not allowed to be given to
the people
directly as it comes,but given lie to the people like USA.that only
justify the
kind of moral authority we are talking about.that is the reason of the
US economy
is down.
==================================================

abbas
United Arab Emirates 24/10/2008


Wel done.aljazeera for this artical..........i am totly agreed wd
you....us government
is doing what............may be us peoples not realizing.....but in
next 10 coming
years,us name will come wd ashamed and guilt.and us people then will
relize,what
their govern is doing since last 6 years.........and what am i
saying....time will
tell.
===================================================

Chris
United States 24/10/2008

US "moral authority"

The Chinese State Council's report surely did not only refer to the
plight of
black Americans. That America's criticism of other nations human
rights abuses
is hypocritical, is absolutely true. But it is an understatement - it
is an abomination.
While claiming to set a precedent of tolerance and democracy, the US
has instead
set a precedence of torture, injustice, and failed foreign policies.
The US doesn't
need a new president who merely supports "change." It needs a
revolution.
======================================================

China decries US 'moral authority'
By Tony Cheng in California



Many South Los Angeles residents say they are being denied their
rights [GALLO/GETTY]

Nowhere personifies the American dream more than Los Angeles,
California.

From the Hollywood Hills to the glittering boutiques of Rodeo Drive,
the material
rewards of success are easily visible, attracting millions from all
over the world
to trade in their rags for riches.

But according to the Chinese government, the American dream is exactly
that, a myth
perpetrated by the rich to keep millions locked in a cycle of poverty
that is virtually
impossible to escape.

In a report issued annually by the Chinese State Council, the Chinese
government
accuses the US government of "widespread human rights abuses on its
own territory",
and says that US criticism on the human rights records of other
countries is simply
hypocrisy.

It is an accusation that rings true to Manya Anderson, an unemployed
African-American
woman living in the notorious South Los Angeles area, formerly known
as South Central
and infamous for its gang culture and high levels of crime.

Manya has a masters degree from the University of California in Los
Angeles (UCLA),
but after a shooting at her last place of employment several years
ago, she was
forced to take a leave of absence, and she has not been able to find
work since.

Racial 'suffering'

In what she refers to as a systematic degradation of the area, public
facilities
have been closed, hospitals shut down, and even grocery stores forced
out, leaving
fast food outlets the only source of food.

"The US doesn't have a leg to stand on in criticising other
governments
for [some] practices when it itself is engaged in them"

Alison Parker, Human Rights Watch
"I don't have the same rights as people on the other side of town,"
says Manya.

"If I had blonde hair and blue eyes I would be in a better financial
situation
today."

Of course civil rights have long been talked about in the US, but the
Chinese government
report suggests human rights are essentially the same, and minority
groups, particularly
African-Americans, are suffering now more than ever before.

"We have our faults but we have a functioning democratic system,"
concedes
Robert Wood, a spokesman for the US state department.

But his response to the report suggests the current administration
does not take
kindly to criticism. "I'm not going to respond to Chinese government
accusations,"
he says.

Nonetheless, it is undeniable that the US has lost some of its moral
authority during
George Bush's term in office.

Once regarded as the world's policeman, the wars in Afghanistan and
Iraq, and
abuses of prisoners at Abu Ghraib have damaged global perceptions,
something that
many Americans seem to feel acutely.

"Holding people without trial for years on end at Guantanamo, using
secret
prisons and blackhole sites for interrogations, subjecting people to
torture, the
US doesn't have a leg to stand on in criticising other governments for
those
practices when it itself is engaged in them," says Alison Parker of
Human Rights
Watch.

Domestic concerns

On the streets of California opinions are divided about how much the
US should look
to the outside world.

Orange County has the highest concentration of conservative voters in
the US, and
incomes are clearly high, with luxury cars parked in many driveways
and yachts moored
in the backyard.

With a jewelled "stars and stripes" badge adorning her blazer, one
woman
told Al Jazeera she wanted the next president to spend more time
concentrating on
domestic issues rather than worrying about the opinion of the rest of
the world.

And when we asked whether the US should come under the same scrutiny
as China, one
man told us: "We're the United States. We make our own laws and
should
follow our own laws."

Uncertain future

In depth

Map: US & the World

Video: Political protest invades Wall Street

Focus: Harsh words fly in final US debate

Send us Your Views on the election campaign
By contrast, Haight Ashbury in San Francisco has been famous since the
1960s for
its hippies and liberal thinkers.

Pointing to the lack of gay rights, the failure of a social safety net
and the growing
gap between the rich and poor, many we asked felt the next president
had much to
do to repair the US's reputation.

"Nobody here is going to agree with anything the administration has
done in
terms of the war," one woman said.

"In terms of Guantanamo Bay, in terms of the way they deal with the
poor, in
terms of the way they deal with black people."

But as Americans prepare to go to the polls to decide their future,
some feel there
is not much to look forward to.

"Living is overrated," Manya Anderson tells me with a defeated tone,
as
she sets out for another day of job searching.

"I'm not looking forward to tomorrow," she says. "The rent is
due."
====================================================

RUSSIA:

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2008/10/20081021175053778801.html

Little love from Russia for US
By Neave Barker in Moscow



Relations between Bush, left, and Putin have soured over US missile
systems [GALLO/GETTY]

Long gone are the days when all things American were greeted as new
and exciting
in Russia.

When the first MacDonald's opened in 1990 in Red Square, people queued
in the
cold for hours.

Now, modern Moscow is a western-style consumerist capital infatuated
with big cars,
expensive clothes and luxury holidays.

In fact, Moscow has more in common with pre-depression New York; a
gung-hoe boom
town where anything is possible for a price.

Colossal cranes swing ballet-like over building sites. Skyscrapers
emerge seemingly
overnight, dwarfing the city's onion domes.

Anti-American?

But as Russia becomes more like the United States, the Russian
government is seeking
to strengthen its presence on the global stage.

"Ironically, one of the dominant trends here is that we are anti-
American because
we want to be exactly like America," says analyst Boris Kagarlitsky.

"We are angry that Americans are allowed to invade minor nations and
we are
not."

The recent war between Russia and Georgia drove a wedge between the
Bush administration
and Russia's new leadership - it was a war Moscow believes Georgia
would not
have fought without US knowledge and support.

Missile controversy

Reagan called the then-Soviet Union
the "evil empire" [GALLO/GETTY]
But it was during the Bush-Putin era that relations first soured.

Washington's decision to site a missile defence system in eastern
Europe, along
with Nato's expansion into post-Soviet space, has angered Moscow and
strained
ties.

What Russians want to know now is whether things will be any better
under White
House contenders Barack Obama or John McCain.

Like most countries in Europe, Russians are watching the US election
process with
a mixed measure of intrigue and disbelief.

For the first time in generations, American foreign policy towards
Russia has been
a key issue on the campaign trail with the two main candidates taking
different
stances on how to get Washington and Moscow talking again.

Ronald Reagan, the former US president, called the Soviet Union the
"Evil Empire"
in the 1980s.

And while both Obama and MacCain may have fallen short of passing
severe moral judgment
on Russia, both have strong words to say to the Russian leadership.

"I think they are engaged in evil activity," said Obama.

McCain was a little more cautious. "If I say 'yes' [they are an evil
empire] that means we are reigniting the old Cold War," he said.

Kagarlitsky said: "Unsurprisingly, most ordinary Russians do not
regard themselves
as morally impoverished.

"Neither, however, are most ordinary Russians prepared, or able, to
bring their
leaders to account when human rights are abused, corruption rife and
life-expectancy
low.

"The reality is both countries have a significant amount to learn from
each
other, providing hostile stereotypes are put aside."

Cultural stereotypes

In depth

Map: US & the World

Video: Distrust mars US-China relations

Focus: The American Crescent

Send us Your Views on the election campaign
However, Russia's state-run media have taken great pleasure in
returning to
a series of well-publicised gaffes by US politicians, an attempt to
highlight how
little the policy makers in Washington really know about the country.

When Hillary Clinton struggled over the Russian president's name:
"Med
... Medv ... Medvedova ... whatever," in a TV interview, the clip was
repeated
for weeks on a number of state television channels.

John MacCain has not escaped ridicule either after calling Vladimir
Putin the president
of Germany.

There is a feeling that the US is unable to perceive Russia in any
other way than
through a mottled Cold War lens.

Russia, in turn, thinks the US sees it as a hostile country with an
unpredictable
leadership.

"Now it's Russia's turn to resort to cultural stereotypes," one
analyst told me.

The Russian media sometimes seems to take pleasure in portraying the
US as an evangelical
jingoistic bully - "Comrade Wolf" as Putin famously called it.

Future hopes

Stereotypes aside, the majority of Russians favour Obama.

At face value his youth, good-looks and charm appeal to image-
conscious Muscovites.

"There's something "film-star like" about him," said one
Russian student, but few can say much more than that.

The general hope is that Obama, closer to Medvedev in age, will
somehow be able
to wave a diplomatic wand and heal decades of frosty relations.

As Russia grows economically, its leaders are keen to show the US that
it is a political
and military force to be reckoned with.

But whether the two countries work together or oppose each other is
firmly hinged
on whether they choose to perceive each other as friend or foe.