It's always shocked me how little my fellow Americans appreciate the massive benefits they've gained from global good will over decades. Having grown up British in Cold War Europe and in Asia, despite a small degree of anti Americanism everywhere the bulk of popular opinion was net positive and that was a major coup for America for its companies and for its foreign policy. Squandering that over the decades since the end of the Cold War has been a generational betrayal of epic proportions.
"Russia claims Viktor Bout was innocent" does not mean "we've become the bad guys." This is a state of affairs which has existed since the beginning of the Cold War.
That Russia is issuing statements like this and we all know the truth underlying it is the problem. Regarding Bout. They don't say he's innocent. They say he got disproportionate sentencing and an unfair trial. That's certainly a far position to hold in a debate on the topic given the sordid history of the US working with Bout when it's been convenient and then when he's served his usefulness out he is tried and jailed and in that trial is not permitted to leverage evidence of US complicity with his business dealings.
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[ 2.9 ms ] story [ 13.1 ms ] threadIt's always shocked me how little my fellow Americans appreciate the massive benefits they've gained from global good will over decades. Having grown up British in Cold War Europe and in Asia, despite a small degree of anti Americanism everywhere the bulk of popular opinion was net positive and that was a major coup for America for its companies and for its foreign policy. Squandering that over the decades since the end of the Cold War has been a generational betrayal of epic proportions.