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From: steven@mcvax.UUCP (Steven Pemberton)
Newsgroups: net.flame,net.politics
Subject: Re: Criticism of US foreign policy
Message-ID: <5978@mcvax.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 17-Sep-84 11:20:08 EDT
Article-I.D.: mcvax.5978
Posted: Mon Sep 17 11:20:08 1984
Date-Received: Tue, 25-Sep-84 08:31:23 EDT
References: <479@tty3b.UUCP> <1731@sdcc6.UUCP>, <5971@mcvax.UUCP> <1380@qubix.UUCP>
Organization: CWI, Amsterdam
Lines: 12

Ever noticed how a criticism of a Western Government often gets met with a
remark like "Try saying that behind the Iron Curtain, and see how far you
get!"

This to me is a giant non-sequitur, on a par with name-calling. It seems to
be based on the assumptions that a criticism of the West is automatically
pro-Soviet, and because the USSR is so much worse than the West it's wrong
to criticise.

There are plenty of countries, West, East and non-aligned, where you're
not allowed to criticise the government, and that's precisely why I think
Piet's right to disagree with US foreign policy should be defended.