India -- 1
Australia -- 1
Chile -- 1
Turkey -- 1
Israel -- 1
In 2007, the president of Ecuador told the United States that it could keep its base in Ecuador as long as Ecuador could have one in Miami, Florida. [viii] The idea was, of course, ridiculous and outrageous.
Of the United Nations' 18 major human rights treaties, the United States is party to 5, fewer than any other nation on earth, except Bhutan (4), and tied with Malaya, Myanmar, and South Sudan, a country torn by warfare since its creation in 2011. [ix] Is the United States functioning as the world's law enforcer from a location outside the world's laws? Or is something else going on?
That the United States has done something should not weigh for or against that thing. Actions should stand or fall on their own merits. But the Cheneys tell us we must see a "moral difference between an Iranian nuclear weapon and an American one." Must we, really? Either risks further proliferation, accidental use, use by a crazed leader, mass death and destruction, environmental disaster, retaliatory escalation, and apocalypse. One of those two nations has nuclear weapons [x], has used nuclear weapons [xi], has provided the other with plans for nuclear weapons [xii], has a policy of first-use of nuclear weapons [xiii], has leadership that sanctions the possession of nuclear weapons [xiv], and has frequently threated to use nuclear weapons [xv]. I don't think those facts would make a nuclear weapon in the hands of the other country the least bit moral.
If you're wondering, U.S. presidents who have made specific public or secret nuclear threats to other nations, that we know of, have included Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Donald Trump, while others, including Barack Obama, have frequently said things like "All options are on the table" in relation to Iran or another country. [xvi]
[i] George Orwell, "Notes on Nationalism," .orwell.ru/library/essays/nationalism/english/e_nat.
[ii] Dick Cheney and Liz Cheney, Exceptional: Why the World Needs a Powerful America (Threshold Editions, 2015).
[iii] Meredith Bennett-Smith, "Womp! This Country Was Named The Greatest Threat To World Peace," HuffPost, click here (January 23, 2014).
[iv] Dorothy Manevich and Hanyu Chwe, "Globally, more people see U.S. power and influence as a major threat," Pew Research Center, click here (August 1, 2017).
[v] David Swanson, "U.S. Wars and Hostile Actions: A List," Let's Try Democracy, idswanson.org/warlist.
[vi] David Swanson, "U.S. Wars and Hostile Actions: A List," Let's Try Democracy, idswanson.org/warlist.
[vii] David Swanson, "What Are Foreign Military Bases for?," Let's Try Democracy, idswanson.org/what-are-foreign-military-bases-for (July 13, 2015).
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