A diplomatic “war” has begun, and this time America is not defending helpless victims of overbearing dictators, or protecting America’s financial interests.
Now, the most selfish country in the world is proving it: America’s diplomacy is not aimed solely at protecting our relations with China, but at protecting our beloved ego.
Ever since the detainment of our troops who crashed in an American spy plane in China, Bush and those in his cabinet have all but said that none of this was our fault.
Media in America is flooding the population with computer images of their plane hitting ours.
Did we have someone following behind them that saw that happen? Otherwise, who are we to say what ACTUALLY happened?
We aren’t the ones to say it because the only surviving eyewitness that would have had the best view of the accident is theirs: the one Chinese pilot who did not collide with the plane.
What has he said about the incident? Chinese media has said that our spy plane rammed the Chinese jet, forcing it to crash. We may not want to believe that, but the American people should be well aware that the Federal Government is not a group of gods, and while they may know more high-level intelligence than most people and most governments, they don’t know everything.
The joint investigations that have been proposed between the two countries are the best solution to learning the truth, but it’s obvious that that will not occur without an apology to the Chinese government for the accident.
So why don’t we give it to them?
Some TV journalists have said that it’s understood there is more involved and more at stake that makes the apology hard to give.
Give the American people and the Chinese people a break! China’s asking only for an apology. We were, after all, on their court. Why shouldn’t we apologize? They didn’t fire at us, they haven’t killed any of our people, and they aren’t asking for land or capital retribution.
The American government’s ego is nowhere near the price of the truth.
The American government’s ego is nowhere near the price of our people’s return to their families.
Let’s apologize so we can find out what really happened, and not just what the officials THINK happened. And foremost, let’s apologize so our service people can come home.
