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Condi Coddles Brutal Dictator from Oil Producing County

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout: Debate & Discussion' started by glynch, Apr 20, 2006.

  1. glynch

    glynch Member

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    WITH A LAND mass similar to Maryland's, Equatorial Guinea has the fortune to be Africa's third-largest oil producer. The money from black gold helps to explain how the president, Teodoro Obiang Nguema, has bought large homes in France and Morocco, as well as two in Potomac, and how his son and presumed heir bought a Lamborghini and two Bentleys during a shopping spree in South Africa. But oil has done little to help Equatorial Guinea's 540,000 people, some 400,000 of whom suffer from malnutrition. Those who are hungry know better than to complain. According to State Department reports, the president's goons have urinated on prisoners, sliced their ears and smeared them with oil to attract stinging ants.

    So it is uncontroversial to observe that Mr. Obiang is no friend to his people. But he is a "good friend" of the United States, at least according to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who met with him last week in Washington. "I'm very pleased to welcome the president," Ms. Rice told reporters after the meeting. "Thank you very much for your presence here." Mr. Obiang purred back: "We are extremely pleased and hopeful that this relationship will continue to grow in friendship and cooperation."

    Ih e global rankings of political and civil liberties compiled by Freedom House, only seven countries rate worse than Equatorial Guinea. If President Bush and Ms. Rice want anyone to take their pro-democracy rhetoric seriously, they must stop throwing bouquets to odious dictators. The meeting with Mr. Obiang was presumably a reward for his hospitable treatment of U.S. oil firms, though we cannot be sure since the State Department declined our invitation to comment. But Ms. Rice herself argues that U.S. foreign policy spent too long coddling corruption and autocracy in Arab oil states. Surely she doesn't have a different standard for Africa?
     
  2. Rockets2K

    Rockets2K Clutch Crew

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  3. wnes

    wnes Contributing Member

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    There is a moral reason for all this.
    - Hayes

    China did it too!
    - Sam the Lawyer
     
  4. rhadamanthus

    rhadamanthus Member

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    America dislikes dictatorships*.

    *Unless you give us cheap oil (Saudi Arabia, Equatorial Guinea)

    America favors democracy*.

    *Unless you don't like us and withhold cheap oil (Venezuela)

    There might be a connection here, methinks. If nothing else it seems to jive with criticism of US foreign policy, i.e., that
     
    #4 rhadamanthus, Apr 20, 2006
    Last edited: Apr 20, 2006
  5. glynch

    glynch Member

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  6. glynch

    glynch Member

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    Hayes thinks it is moral to support death squads and torture.
     
  7. SamFisher

    SamFisher Member

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    America sucks and I can take dumps on it every day, China cannot be criticized ever under any circumstance no matter what

    -wnes, Party animal
     
  8. No Worries

    No Worries Member

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    Can Condi's and Teodoro Obiang Nguema's love child be that far away?
     
  9. CreepyFloyd

    CreepyFloyd Member

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  10. pirc1

    pirc1 Member

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    China and US does what is needed to keep the economy going. The difference is US is able to get much more oil due to its position as the world's only super power while China needs to get it anyway it can. China doesn't constantly get on the high horse and criticize other nations which the US does all the time. Not saying that China is right or US is wrong, but US is definitely hypocritical when it come to foreign polices.
     
  11. SamFisher

    SamFisher Member

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    I agree with this statement for the most part. I'm talking about wnes' high horse, which resides in his glass mansion, where he keeps his catapults and slingshots.
     
  12. wnes

    wnes Contributing Member

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    Look sam, I support China no matter which political party runs it, as long as it safeguards state sovereignty, unity, territorial integrity and security. The "CCP lover" label doesn't stick on me.

    As I have said previously, there are plenty of things in China that are going wrong and deserve harsh criticism. However, this is not a China forum. The majority of the participants are Americans, and they 1) have limited exposure to China, 2) are generally more or less indifferent to things that don't affect them directly.
     
  13. SamFisher

    SamFisher Member

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    Well, last time I checked, it's not "All American D&D", so I don't adhere to your content restrictions in the name of state security, LOL, just like I don't expect you to do the same.
     
  14. wnes

    wnes Contributing Member

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    I certainly don't object to, nor do I have control over discussions on China's national security. You can be sure guys like tigermission1 will bring up topic like this from time to time. For the most part, you have to admit the majority participants here have little interest in strictly China's internal problems. At the end of the day, China-related discussions would inevitably turn into fights between a few Chinese posters and anti-China nuts like you.
     
  15. SamFisher

    SamFisher Member

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    And this degeneration happens precisely because you and others characterize all opposition as "anti-China nuts".

    This is exactly the same tactic that Trader_Jorge and bigtexxx employ whenever anybody criticizes the Bush Administration - characterize the critics as "America-hating whiny libpigs".

    You dont' like it when they do it. Why should you be allowed to do the same? :confused:
     
  16. pgabriel

    pgabriel Educated Negro

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  17. wnes

    wnes Contributing Member

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    LOL sammy, don't you see the irony in your "should be allowed" phrase?
     
  18. SamFisher

    SamFisher Member

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    Oh, for f-k's sake - the usual wnes paranoia sets in.

    But anyway, I'll ALLOW you this accomodation and rephrase:

    And this degeneration happens precisely because you and others characterize all opposition as "anti-China nuts".

    This is exactly the same tactic that Trader_Jorge and bigtexxx employ whenever anybody criticizes the Bush Administration - characterize the critics as "America-hating whiny libpigs".

    You dont' like it when they do it. Why should you be allowed to do the same and then lament the resulting lack of serious discussion? You and bigtexxx are two of a kind.

    When it comes to criticizing governments, wnes, you're a hypocrite. Plain and simple.
     
  19. Baqui99

    Baqui99 Member

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    I think we should have a consortium of brutal dictators that can provide us oil and other resources on the cheap. The keynote speakers should be Kim Jong Il and Robert Mugabe.
     
  20. Deckard

    Deckard Blade Runner
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    wnes, you might take a page from George W. Bush, of all people, in his news conference with your President. He said (and this is paraphrased), "China and the United States have substantial differences. As long as we discuss them with friendship and goodwill, we will make progress." That is something you almost never do. Whenever someone makes a comment critical of practically any policy of China, you react with personal attacks, and quite heated ones. Of course, that frequently leads to a response similar to yours. You make no effort to discuss the, "substantial differences," with, "friendship and goodwill." Instead, you do things like accusing Sam of (to paraphrase) being a spy, attempting to stir up trouble in China by supporting "terrorists" and what you sarcastically refer to as "freedom fighters," of visiting China in an attempt to do so, of having an agenda that is "anti-Chinese." And so on.

    Before you reply with a Hayseian attempt to dissect my post, I wish you'd think about this, at least for a minute or two. It's what you do, whether the poster is Sam, me, or someone else, and in any forum. Don't misunderstand me... sometimes you have good reason to be critical, when someone else clearly is, but your response is never in a spirit of, "friendship and goodwill." It is always an assault on the member making the post, no matter what that criticism is, or how minor the criticism amounts to.

    In my opinion.



    Keep D&D Civil.
     

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