China's economy is growing with North American Manufacturing moving there because of cheap labor but there is an ethical issue to that also. Money vs slave labor?
We all know China is a communist country. There are dissidents there in that country of over a billion people. Guess what happens to these people. They get thrown into army controlled factories. They get treated like crap, and work for free to build all those made in China tourist souvenirs and medium quality products. Thats why labor is cheap there. The kicker is 50% of the profit is kicked back into the military to develope weapons systems aimed at you guessed where. North America and Europe.
As for the foreign policy talk. Don't kid yourself on France or any European country of power in the past. Their foreign policy record is no better than the US. If ya don't believe me check out Africa. The bottom line is, ethics has never been a criteria for nations in deciding foreign policy.
Also on the topic of Yugoslavia and Rwanda. It was basically a failure of the United Nations so don't single out the Us on that one. No one wanted to go into Rwanda because nothing of value comes out of there. Everyoneone knew there was genocide going on. But civil wars are like pandoras boxes. None of the UN super powers wanted to get involved because it was gonna be expensive, very messy and most likely long term. Like I said ethics is never a criteria for foreign policy. Sure if there was oil or other interest involved of significance something would have been done. But there wasn't and it was cheaper and more convenient to say we are all at fault something should have been done to prevent this calamity.
On the topic of Iraq. Whether you agree with it or not, it happened. I think it was a wide variety of reason involving security and oil tempered with a post 911 mentality. Lets face it no one wants to see suicide bombing becoming as common as it is in the middle east or worse. And don't kid yourself if you think some extremist if he had the chance to detonate a suitcase nuke or release small pox into a North American city they wouldn't.
As for the topic of contracts from Iraq going to non coalition countries. I would be doing the same thing if it were up to me. Put it in terms of simplicity. Its like a 40 acre field of crops being planted and harvested. Say you and your friends plowed it, seeded it, and watered and fertilized it at your own cost and effort. Then at harvest season another group comes along and demands 30% of the crops? This is what is happening with countries like Russia,France, and Germany. They opposed the Gulf war because their own financial interests were at stake. They already had billions in contracts written out with Saddam and realized if the US went in right or wrong they would lose billions. Those countries don't give a crap about Iraqi's, they only care about thier billions so don't put France on a pedestal. The irony is I think Chirac said it was a victory for the nations of the world when Saddam was caught. Not that he had anything to do with it. If Chirac had his way he would rather have his billions and Saddam still butchering people.
Non-coalition countries have no right to ask for contracts in Iraq because they have not contributed anything to the Gulf War. They have not contributed one penny or one man,so to ask for a piece of the pie without contributing anything is stupidity if ya ask me. War and reconstruction is not cheap, and in my opinion those who have contributed billions already deserve the rewards. Asking for a piece of the pie without contributing is like the vulture asking the Lion after he has made a kill for the choice pieces of the antelope. The vulture may get the scraps if they are lucky if anything is left.
On the topic of Saddam he won't be seeing a trial any time soon. More than likely they will interrogate him till they feel satified he has nothing else to offer. I see this as 2 years down the line, and he will be put on trial in Iraq. If Saddam proves to be non-cooperative or of no value he may be fed to the masses sooner.