The US Citizens actually supported the Vietnam War in the 1960s
until the war stretched on with too high a toll due to the
political failure to understand the use of the military to win a
decisive war, and allowed the Vietnamese to stretch the manpower
resources for too long and wear down the will of the Americans to
"sue for peace".
The present wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are two different wars
fought for different reasons when comparison is made with each
wars, and that of the Vietnam War.
Afghanistan continue to receive firm positive support from the US
Citizenry in its continued hunt for Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden -
to settle scores for the attack to the Twin Towers of the New York
World Trade Centre.
Iraq war had received the support of the US Citizens despite the
doubts and questions concerning the WMD issues touted by the first
Bush Adminnistration; and Bush continued to enter the Second Term
despite the Iraq War.
In any case, have you missed the "heart beat" of this thread in
that the US Citizens will have at least the COLLECTIVE INDIVIDUAL
RIGHTS to launch a protest - physical or verbal - towards the
policies of a Government which they have elected and gone
astray.
Can the Singapore Citizens ever dreamed of protesting in any form
?
:
Applying the principle of individual above society is commendable.
Most law offenders have the chance to repent and hopefully,
contribute to society in the future. Unfortunately, the deterrent
purpose of the law is somewhat sacrificed in the process-- high
crime rates such as murder, rape, etc since such principles also
applies to hard core criminals as well. I have watched a Discovery
documentary whereby a convicted murderer was serving his sentence
and he was once given a holiday. And guess what, he murdered two
young children (without any motive) during his holidays. And yes,
its in USA.
Do not let "one bad apple, spoil the entire barrel" is a common
sense approach to such a situation.
In which society can we claim to be perfect ?
Even in the very forgiving and hospitable Thai society of devout
Buddhists, we see two deviant Thai fishermen raping and murdering
an innocent Irish girl holidaying in Thailand.
Should we condemn Thailand, its society, its culture, it national
credo, or its religion ?
At least, in the USA they do not sentence its Citizen to jail and 3
strokes of the cane (if you are below 50 years old) for a minor
offense of renting a room or a house to an illegal
immigrant.
:
Maybe I am making a generalization, but human nature is degrading.
The world leader, USA, promotes human rights, moral values etc all
over the world yet they are the ones who invade another country
despite strong international objections. While religions all around
the world preach peace and inculcate positive moral values, yet
armies all over the world are manufacturing and inventing deadlier
weapons.
You are generalizing to a certain extent, but not too far from
the truth.
The world of the "big fish eat small fish, and small fish eat
shrimps" is a real world.
In any case, right or wrong, should the World stand silently on the
sideline while Saddam Hussein rape and kill his citizens, much as
Idi Amin had done to his Ugandan citizens - eating their brains and
heart as well ?
:
Freedom of speech? I do have reservations bout this. I can imagine
CSJ making animated speeches for hours 
On a more serious note, how many Singaporeans
are willing to spend the time to listen to lengthy speeches? Most
of us are either busily making $$ or making love (encouraged by our
govt!). The mindset of most Singaporeans is that earning money is
the top priority than having the Western human rights. I have'nt
been noticing, but I bet the attendance for the Speakers' Corner
must have been disappointing.
With FREEDOM - of speech, of the press, of gathering, of
political participation, of political discourse - one has to accept
the total pot of soup in any form.
It also comes with the FREEDOM OF CHOICE - to walk away and not
listen to the antics of anyone or any event whom you choose not to
pay attention to.
Can this be done in the present Singapore system, if you decline to
attend an important event involving some big wig from the Ruling
Party - will retribution come to you in some other form if you
reject the invitation ?
The problem with the Speakers' Corner is that of the authority
closely policing the speakers and the contents of the speeches to
be made.
Is there any FREEDOM to be spontaneous at Speakers' Corner
?
:
To me, changing the mindset of the population should be achieved
through education. That's why I am a fervent supporter of a
complete overhaul of the current education system and encourage
creativity, entrepreneurship and social awareness, etc. Our
population have to be more matured in order to practise rights such
as freedom of speech, etc. You can try chatting with the local
university undergraduates and understand their mentality. Watching
the latest movies, shopping, rushing projects and assignments are
the topmost priorities rather than discuss human rights and
politics. How do I know? Cuz I am one of them as well and they
started to alienate me if I ever chat politics or human rights
issues with them 
Singapore has been in the making for FORTY YEARS - and we are
supposed to have achieved FIRST WORLD status as observed by MM LKY,
yet the political minds of the Ruling Elite is that of a Third
World political culture of "kiasuism" - with all the gerrymandering
of election boundaries, fear of losing even a single seat to the
Opposition, overkill even to an HONEST Opposition Manifesto.
