It's Almost Done!

[Guest Aces-High]

I think there is a clause in the Constitution that says the government can only buy domestic equipment for itself and the military. Therefore, no Airbus in the USAF!

[ClearedHot]

The subsidies to Airbus and the competition with Boeing just came up in the Presidential debate...

[HercDude]

Yeah, I did a double take when I heard JFK mention Airbus. The transcript from Fox News says:

". . . .I don't want American workers subsidizing the loss of their own job. And when I'm president, we're going to shut that loophole in a nanosecond and we're going to use that money to lower corporate tax rates in America for all corporations, 5 percent. And we're going to have a manufacturing jobs credit and a job hiring credit so we actually help people be able to hire here.

The second thing that we can do is provide a fair trade playing field. This president didn't stand up for Boeing when Airbus was violating international rules and subsidies. He discovered Boeing during the course of this campaign after I'd been talking about it for months."

[Guest rangerpilot42]

I would like to just put a thought out here.

The French may have sold weapons to our enemies, but...

Who supported Saddam against Iran?

Who sold F-14's to Iran?

Who supplied Iraq with chemical/biological agents to "help" in the Iran/Iraq war?

Who supported the Taliban against the Soviets and then had to fight them later?

Where did Iraq's head of the Nuclear program get plans for atomic weapons (U.S. patent office - Manhattan Project)?

Unfortunately, us.

My point is not anti-patriotic in the least. My point is simply - like someone stated earlier - international affairs are VERY complex. What seems good at one time (i.e. appease Germany pre U.S. involvement in WWII) are bad at another.

Also, didn't France step in and save our baccon at one time?

Also, where are some U.S. car companies manufacturing their automobiles? Mexico.

How aweful! Stealing jobs from poor Americans. But wait! Aren't Americans buying them hand over fist?

Where's a large part of the 7E7 going to be manufactured (the wing section)? Japan.

Didn't we use two nuclear bombs on Japan to keep OUR kids from speaking Japanese? Now BOEING is stealing jobs from U.S. citizens and giving them to the Japanse and helping build their industrial base?

Hmm....

Until you have the balls to live by what you preach spare us your rhetoric, please.

Scan a copy of a boarding pass you ripped up and threw out. Show me the all wholly American made care you drive. Oh, and what's that alarm clock that wakes you every morning say on the bottom of it? "Made in China" The dang Commies again.

The only thing it takes for evil to exist is for good people to sit around and do nothing.

Thanks for the good topic and tolerating my viewpoint. It's good to think and argue.

[HercDude]

Rangerpilot,

The United States sold F-14s and other military equipment to Iran well before their Revolution. The Shah's government was extremely pro-America, and one of only 3 allies in the entire Middle East.

The US never supported the Taliban against the Soviets. The Taliban did not even exist until several years after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Before you start interjecting historical analysis on this board you might want to learn your American history from someone other than Michael Moore.

Someone does not need to drive a "wholly American made care" to be able to call the French out for their embrace of everything anti-American. The fact that they helped secure out Independence in the 18th Century does not excuse the betrayal and back-door politicking they have exposed our nation to over the last 60 years.

I don't think anyone here suggested that we never do business with anything other than an American company manufacturing American made products made by Americans. The idea is that we refrain from doing business with those that have an established history of doing us harm.

[ClearedHot]

HercDude

Well Said!

[Gravedigger]

HercDude, that was a good post and you are correct about Iran. However, the Taliban was formed in the early 1980s and supported by the US gov't in 1985. The Soviets invaded the Afghans on Dec. 25, 1979 and refugees fled to Pakistan where they banded together to form the taliban. Although they didn't elect a leader until after the cold war, they existed long before that. RangerPilot is correct on that.

[ 17. October 2004, 11:25: Message edited by: c17wannabe ]

[ClearedHot]

The U.S. supported the Mujahideen during the Afghan-soviet war, not the Taliban.

While many members of the Taliban came from the Mujahideen, the Taliban is actually a collection groups that were both for an against the U.S., mainly on tribal lines. The Taliban came offically about around 1994 when Mullah Omar too the helm. Using the Taliban is a poor example, although there are others that will make the case.

Bottom line, it is a nice world and sometimes you make choices that align you with bad people. That said, you have to do what is best for and will ensure the survival of the U.S. France on the other hand, makes choices that embarrass or deliberately go against the U.S. There is a difference.