There were no civilians in WW2. It was a strict "us against them" fight to the death. Every side in WW2 killed millions of people towards that end. If you are going to go to war that is the only way it should be done. When WW2 was over their was no ambiguity about who won and who lost. Today's wars kill a lot of people and create havoc but in the end have little effect on the behavior of the belligerents. Both Germany and Japan were beating so bad that running an insurgency campaign was the last thing on anyone's mind.
Gestapo? You can bitch all you want but at least have the intelligence to realize comparisons of this type undermine the true horrors and injustices perpetrated by the Gestapo. If you really think the US government is acting like the Gestapo then most people think life was really not all that bad in Germany during WW2. If Home Land Security or any other law enforcement agencies acted like the Gestapo you would most likely be dead or in prison for publishing your opinion on the matter. Totalitarian systems have a way of silencing all criticism of the government without the need for a justice or court system at all. If a state keeps killing their citizens out of hand sooner or later the citizenry will stop complaining about their government becuase of fear. Look to N. Korea as a fine example. Problems in the US government are on the front page of every news outlet in the US and the world for all to see. Even all the hyperventilating over the Patriot act is idiotic since no US citizen has been convicted of violating any of the Patriot Act dictates. Courts routinely dismiss charges against people due to violations of there civil rights. Every time the government has arrested someone for Patriot Act violations the court has ruled against the Patriot Act and dismissed all charges. Look it up. Not a single item in the Bill of Rights has been taking away from anyone. Anyone charged with a crime gets the chance to argue civil rights abuse during their arrest. The executive and legislative branches of government can propose and create laws but the judicial branch has the power to judge whether or not the law infringes on someones rights.
The hackers making money don't brag about their exploits. The hackers making money do not trust anyone they might correspond with on the Internet. The hackers making money are way more talented than these script kiddie knuckleheads who basically used known exploits against systems not up to date with the latest security patches.
You have led a very sheltered life if you have not encountered any well written Enterprise applications. Lets all write everything in C/C++/Objective-C because it is easier and faster than Java or.NET. and it's really cool.
Hardly any one actually programs against the native operating system for business apps these days. They write code against the Java and.NET run time and call it a day. That's not necessarily a bad thing because the run times do take handle of a lot of issues behind the scenes such as memory management. Both Java and.NET were touted as RAD and it does cut development time. And if needed you can always invoke system level functionality from both run times.
The Patriot Act has not been used to successfully convict any US citizen of a crime. The couple of times the government tried invoking the Patriot Act the court dismissed the charges with prejudice. It's the main reason Gitmo was opened becuase the government did not want to risk the court system getting involved. The Executive and Legislative branches of government may pass new laws but the Judicial branch always has the final word on the legality and applicable of laws.
The scary thing about these new weapon systems is that given enough time and money a laser, electronic, or kinetic based missile interceptor will render every countries missile stockpiles practically useless. What would Russia do if the US was able to reliably counter their ICBMS? You know their would be some moron in Washington that would start proclaiming that the US could actually win now so full steam ahead. The only thing that has stopped a global all out war is the nuclear stockpiles of the major players. Without that balance all bets are off.
This is one of the first statements I have seen that forwards the idea that application software is possibly responsible for creating problems. Everyone seems to dump on MS and ignore the problems that applications can introduce. The MS blue screen was a symptom of problems in the 3rd party hardware drivers and API's from the start. MS has always tried to allow for a wide range of 3rd party hardware. Apple and MS have pursued opposite buisness models since they first arrived on the seen. Apple opted for controlling all aspects of the hardware while MS went the commodity hardware route. This allowed Apple to have more control over their hardware but that resulted in Apples products being more expensive than comparable MS offerings. The higher prices could not really compete in the buisness world where price always seems to be the deciding factor. Apple almost went bankrupt. MS actually invested considerable funds to help Apple make it through that period. The MS buisness model allowed MS to take a demanding lead in the desktop and application market. I also tend to see people worrying about which browser provides the best performance. Browser performance means nothing if the web content or web applications are poorly designed. Now you can pick the fastest browser and throw hardware at the performance problem but that band-aid only works to a certain point. This also applies to picking an OS based on performance bench marks.
I will let you in on a secret. There is only tiny number of wannabe IT experts who are "outraged" while everybody else saves their indignation for shit that really matters. And as far as software bugs go name one program more complicated than "Hello World" that doesn't have bugs. If you want bug free software you might as well get used to a 10 year release cycle becuase that is how long it would take to guarantee bug free software. Of course that puts a real crimp in the advancement of any actual hardware, especially processors. Anyone running highly critical applications such as utilities have all the tools, policies, and procedures necessary to secure their networks and applications. If some moron allows Internet access to their secure system than yes they should be held accountable for incompetence and fired. However you can't always rely on someone not doing something stupid. The most frequent vector used today is through phishing and spearing attacks via a persons e-mail and clever social manipulation. In the case of this exploit it compromised a Internet site that is little more than a brochure site with non-critical information. People brayed about the latest batch of script kiddies defacing the FBI and US Congress sites but that does not mean they got access into any secure systems. Outward facing websites should never be designed to allow someone into a secured network and when it is easy to configure and design such a system. But like I said you can't rely on everyone being competent.
"if they say anything they could face decades in prison"
On the contrary, if you sign an NDA you are committing an offense that at most could cause you to lose your job but not spend decades in prison. If you beleive differently can you present any evidence that someone has spent decades in prison for being a whistle blower? In this specific case an employee has the Whistle Blower legislation that was created to protect employees who expose illegal actions of their employer. All the major telecoms are civilian non-governmental companies and as such fall under the whistle blower statutes and everything becomes a very public situation if the whistle blower is charged with any crime. A Lot of people bitch and moan about losing their rights but they ignore the fact that laws such as the Patriot Act and others have been defeated in the court room. There have been people charged with breaking the Patriot Act but the courts have repeatably dismissed the charges against defendants becuase the court rejected the law. There is a long history of laws being struck down because they violated pre-existing rights or other laws. The Judicial branch of the government does not make the laws and the Legislative branch can make all the laws they want but the laws can be ruled invalid the first time someone tries to enforce the particular law.
They have been at it for +2000 years and they still come in 2nd place to a country that has been a going concern for 250 years. China is facing the inevitable consequences of creating a growing economy. Their only advantage in world trade has been their reliance on cheap labor and not quality or innovation. This is why China is borrowing technology from everyone and not giving a damn about things such as patents. They now have to compete with other countries in South East Asia because they also can use lower labor costs to make their exports more affordable. China has also manipulated their currency to make their exports as cheap as possible but currency manipulation has it's limits. On the whole I think China entering the global market place is just fine. Every country has it's own little quirks to massage their economies while trying not to piss off to many countries in the process.
It's not the job of the US government to worry about censorship practices in other countries. If you live in a country that censors the internet you can take it up with your government. It is the US governments responsiblity to ensure that countries that do practice state censorship never have a mechanism to inflict their censorship across the entire internet. If anyone has a problem with that they are certainly free to build their own.
I have a real problem with the word "terrorist". I have not been terrorized at all by the so called "terrorists". I'm sure I'm not the only one with this opinion. Instead lets call the people who do this type of shit what they really are which is "murderers" or "psycopaths". Then we can get rid of the dipshits proclaiming that one mans "terrorist" is another mans "freedom fighter". The really sad thing is that the world at large and a sizeable but minority of US citizens do not condem these actions, especially when something nasty happens to the US. The failure to condemn all terrorist related actions no matter who the victim is will ensure more attacks in the future. After 9/11 it took around 24 hours for people to start saying the US deserved what happened.
"do whatever the fuck we want, police state" If this is the case why is this action going through the court system? The US justice system is not perfect but this action is being examined by several different courts with an appeal process. And judges are not the only ones incapable of wrapping their heads around the concept of privacy. People today post their life history on the Internet and then complain their privacy is being violated. Most of the rabid privacy shills can not wrap their heads around the difference between "privacy" and "anonymity". Most of the laws governing this area where created long before the computer age. The same group also tends to scream "censorship" when asked to pay for the information they want access to.
The number of people such as yourself are only a tiny fraction of customers or potential customers. The majority of people look at the actual product to see if it is something they would like to play. They don't care who made the product or whether the product comes with DRM. Just like your average user doesn't care about who made the operating system or who made any of the software they may use on their computer.
It does not matter which political party holds sway in Isreal. Even the most suicidal "give peace a chance party" is not going give up a single foot of land until they feel safe. So far they have seen no indication that the attacks would stop if only Isreal stopped settlements and set formal 2 state borders. There is no trust between the parties in this conflict. Look at that entire region of the world and you do not see anyone peacefully coexisting with other who might look different or have different ideas. Every despot in the middle east has used the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to deflect attention from how they run their countries. Hate and distrust is at such a high level that any peaceful resolution is not going to happen.
There will never be a Palestinian state until the threats and violence against Israel comes to an end. The Israelis have the upper hand in any military conflict and asking them to lay down and let the nice and peaceful Palestinians invade their neighborhoods to setup better firing positions is ridiculous. The entire issue of Palestine was created to cause Israel problems after the Arabs finally figured out that any more military adventures on their part was not going to end very well. Classic military tactic when fighting a better force is to wound a one person so the rest will have to slow down to help the injured. Palestine was created by the Arabs for just this purpose. Egypt and Jordan abandoned their citizens in 1967 which effectively made them stateless. Fatah and Hamas will have to come together because a 2 state solution is probably unlikely but a 3 state solution is even more unlikely.
"They've had a blank check from the US for over 50 years"
No they have not. It was not until 1973 that the US provided military re-supply. To obtain this cooperation required Isreal to issue orders to arm their F-4s and Jericho missile with nukes. The order was announced in the clear to insure everyone knew what they were doing. This is what promted Nixon to agree to resupply Israel.
The entire conflict between Israel and the palestinians could be resolved if the palestinians and their supporters would come out in the open and offer Isreal the only thing they need, security. No more driving the jews into the sea rhetoric. Remove the intent to destroy Isreal that is stated without reservation in the Hamas charter. Remove the map of Palestine that shows no Isreal that is currently hanging in Abbas office. Silence the so called leaders that live in foreign countries and loudly promote violence against Isreal. These supporters really do not care about the palestinians all they care about is the money they can collect through international donations and the "taxes" collected for any goods moved through the tunnel system. Their main sources of income would go away if the conflict is settled.
Isreal hardly needs to use propaganda to make their neighbors look like homocidal maniacs who when not screeching about Isreal are busy killing their own citizens. The only thing that unites the entire middle east is their hatred of Isreal. This hatred is used by the governments to deflect attention from their own shortcomings. These are the same governments who really do not want the Isreal-Palestinian conflict to end. They would lose the one thing that they can use to manipulate their citizens. Isreal didn't steal any land they won it fair and square in war. Every country on the planet was established using the same methodology. Isreal enemies basically want a "do over" because all their previous military efforts have failed. The "palestinians" have been kicked out of every country they have tried to enter. They tried to overthrow the Jordanian government and were shown the door in spectaculer fashion. They were the only group of people in the middle east who supported Iraq's takover of Kuwait in 1991. As soon as Kuwait recovered they deported close to 100,000 palestinians. And the people who complain about the US relationship with Isreal need to understand that the US has been the only country capable of restraining Isreali actions. Take away US support and Isreal would have no reason to restrain their military the next time the war flares up. Although it would probably be a good thing because Isreal could then settle matters once and for all.
Both Chile and Iran had people that accepted the US bribes and promises to support US policy. The US is not so powerful that they can dictact to other countries. If Chile and Iran did not have people willing to accept the inducements US policy could be ignored. When people start aknowledging the both sides I might start to give a shit. And define the "make them an offer they can't refuse". What is your proof that this actually happens? There are a lot of countries that have very little or no diplomatic contact with the US and they survive. The US has taken "No" for an answer in the past and they didn't do anything drastic about it.
The US government's only mandate is protecting the interests of the US. Every thing else comes in a distant 2nd place. And as far as installing dictators you should understand that in order for US influence to have any effect requires the willing participation of the client governments. The US can certainly offer bribes and other inducements but there has to be a someone who agrees to accept money and favor to succumb to US pressures and policies. The US could do none of the things it is accused of without a willing partner. The US is always accused of stealing peoples natural resources even though huge sums of money have been paid for those resources. Just because the leaders of a country do not let that money trickle down to it's citizens is not the fault of the US. If you would argue that the US should be held resonsponsible for that you are advocating US interference in a foreign country are you not?
Your are right. The US has no business involving itself in another country or region unless there is a clear and accurately defined threat against US interests. The bipolar governments in the middle east and south east Asia are already on a path towards their own destruction and do not need any outside help to keep the fires burning. Look into the near future and the conflict in Syria today will look like a pillow fight in comparision to what's coming. And no matter how many people ask for help of any type the US should decline involvement except for weapon sales and donations of nearly expired MRE's.
Before cellular phones existed the Israelis targeted one of the people responsible for the Munich Olympic killings using a good ole fashion public phone. Technology marches on but usually the end result remains basically the same.
The moon offers the ultimate high ground. All it would take for the US to go back to the moon will be China or any other country trying to do the same. In that case the project money can be siphoned out of the defense budget. Building a base would require multiple trips to deliver the equipment and supplies needed. Temporary habs can be put up while a more permanent base can be built underground.
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There were no civilians in WW2. It was a strict "us against them" fight to the death. Every side in WW2 killed millions of people towards that end. If you are going to go to war that is the only way it should be done. When WW2 was over their was no ambiguity about who won and who lost. Today's wars kill a lot of people and create havoc but in the end have little effect on the behavior of the belligerents. Both Germany and Japan were beating so bad that running an insurgency campaign was the last thing on anyone's mind.
Gestapo? You can bitch all you want but at least have the intelligence to realize comparisons of this type undermine the true horrors and injustices perpetrated by the Gestapo. If you really think the US government is acting like the Gestapo then most people think life was really not all that bad in Germany during WW2. If Home Land Security or any other law enforcement agencies acted like the Gestapo you would most likely be dead or in prison for publishing your opinion on the matter. Totalitarian systems have a way of silencing all criticism of the government without the need for a justice or court system at all. If a state keeps killing their citizens out of hand sooner or later the citizenry will stop complaining about their government becuase of fear. Look to N. Korea as a fine example. Problems in the US government are on the front page of every news outlet in the US and the world for all to see. Even all the hyperventilating over the Patriot act is idiotic since no US citizen has been convicted of violating any of the Patriot Act dictates. Courts routinely dismiss charges against people due to violations of there civil rights. Every time the government has arrested someone for Patriot Act violations the court has ruled against the Patriot Act and dismissed all charges. Look it up. Not a single item in the Bill of Rights has been taking away from anyone. Anyone charged with a crime gets the chance to argue civil rights abuse during their arrest. The executive and legislative branches of government can propose and create laws but the judicial branch has the power to judge whether or not the law infringes on someones rights.
The hackers making money don't brag about their exploits. The hackers making money do not trust anyone they might correspond with on the Internet. The hackers making money are way more talented than these script kiddie knuckleheads who basically used known exploits against systems not up to date with the latest security patches.
You have led a very sheltered life if you have not encountered any well written Enterprise applications. Lets all write everything in C/C++/Objective-C because it is easier and faster than Java or .NET. and it's really cool.
Hardly any one actually programs against the native operating system for business apps these days. They write code against the Java and .NET run time and call it a day. That's not necessarily a bad thing because the run times do take handle of a lot of issues behind the scenes such as memory management. Both Java and .NET were touted as RAD and it does cut development time. And if needed you can always invoke system level functionality from both run times.
The Patriot Act has not been used to successfully convict any US citizen of a crime. The couple of times the government tried invoking the Patriot Act the court dismissed the charges with prejudice. It's the main reason Gitmo was opened becuase the government did not want to risk the court system getting involved. The Executive and Legislative branches of government may pass new laws but the Judicial branch always has the final word on the legality and applicable of laws.
The scary thing about these new weapon systems is that given enough time and money a laser, electronic, or kinetic based missile interceptor will render every countries missile stockpiles practically useless. What would Russia do if the US was able to reliably counter their ICBMS? You know their would be some moron in Washington that would start proclaiming that the US could actually win now so full steam ahead. The only thing that has stopped a global all out war is the nuclear stockpiles of the major players. Without that balance all bets are off.
This is one of the first statements I have seen that forwards the idea that application software is possibly responsible for creating problems. Everyone seems to dump on MS and ignore the problems that applications can introduce. The MS blue screen was a symptom of problems in the 3rd party hardware drivers and API's from the start. MS has always tried to allow for a wide range of 3rd party hardware. Apple and MS have pursued opposite buisness models since they first arrived on the seen. Apple opted for controlling all aspects of the hardware while MS went the commodity hardware route. This allowed Apple to have more control over their hardware but that resulted in Apples products being more expensive than comparable MS offerings. The higher prices could not really compete in the buisness world where price always seems to be the deciding factor. Apple almost went bankrupt. MS actually invested considerable funds to help Apple make it through that period. The MS buisness model allowed MS to take a demanding lead in the desktop and application market. I also tend to see people worrying about which browser provides the best performance. Browser performance means nothing if the web content or web applications are poorly designed. Now you can pick the fastest browser and throw hardware at the performance problem but that band-aid only works to a certain point. This also applies to picking an OS based on performance bench marks.
I will let you in on a secret. There is only tiny number of wannabe IT experts who are "outraged" while everybody else saves their indignation for shit that really matters. And as far as software bugs go name one program more complicated than "Hello World" that doesn't have bugs. If you want bug free software you might as well get used to a 10 year release cycle becuase that is how long it would take to guarantee bug free software. Of course that puts a real crimp in the advancement of any actual hardware, especially processors. Anyone running highly critical applications such as utilities have all the tools, policies, and procedures necessary to secure their networks and applications. If some moron allows Internet access to their secure system than yes they should be held accountable for incompetence and fired. However you can't always rely on someone not doing something stupid. The most frequent vector used today is through phishing and spearing attacks via a persons e-mail and clever social manipulation. In the case of this exploit it compromised a Internet site that is little more than a brochure site with non-critical information. People brayed about the latest batch of script kiddies defacing the FBI and US Congress sites but that does not mean they got access into any secure systems. Outward facing websites should never be designed to allow someone into a secured network and when it is easy to configure and design such a system. But like I said you can't rely on everyone being competent.
"if they say anything they could face decades in prison"
On the contrary, if you sign an NDA you are committing an offense that at most could cause you to lose your job but not spend decades in prison. If you beleive differently can you present any evidence that someone has spent decades in prison for being a whistle blower? In this specific case an employee has the Whistle Blower legislation that was created to protect employees who expose illegal actions of their employer. All the major telecoms are civilian non-governmental companies and as such fall under the whistle blower statutes and everything becomes a very public situation if the whistle blower is charged with any crime. A Lot of people bitch and moan about losing their rights but they ignore the fact that laws such as the Patriot Act and others have been defeated in the court room. There have been people charged with breaking the Patriot Act but the courts have repeatably dismissed the charges against defendants becuase the court rejected the law. There is a long history of laws being struck down because they violated pre-existing rights or other laws. The Judicial branch of the government does not make the laws and the Legislative branch can make all the laws they want but the laws can be ruled invalid the first time someone tries to enforce the particular law.
They have been at it for +2000 years and they still come in 2nd place to a country that has been a going concern for 250 years. China is facing the inevitable consequences of creating a growing economy. Their only advantage in world trade has been their reliance on cheap labor and not quality or innovation. This is why China is borrowing technology from everyone and not giving a damn about things such as patents. They now have to compete with other countries in South East Asia because they also can use lower labor costs to make their exports more affordable. China has also manipulated their currency to make their exports as cheap as possible but currency manipulation has it's limits. On the whole I think China entering the global market place is just fine. Every country has it's own little quirks to massage their economies while trying not to piss off to many countries in the process.
It's not the job of the US government to worry about censorship practices in other countries. If you live in a country that censors the internet you can take it up with your government. It is the US governments responsiblity to ensure that countries that do practice state censorship never have a mechanism to inflict their censorship across the entire internet. If anyone has a problem with that they are certainly free to build their own.
I have a real problem with the word "terrorist". I have not been terrorized at all by the so called "terrorists". I'm sure I'm not the only one with this opinion. Instead lets call the people who do this type of shit what they really are which is "murderers" or "psycopaths". Then we can get rid of the dipshits proclaiming that one mans "terrorist" is another mans "freedom fighter". The really sad thing is that the world at large and a sizeable but minority of US citizens do not condem these actions, especially when something nasty happens to the US. The failure to condemn all terrorist related actions no matter who the victim is will ensure more attacks in the future. After 9/11 it took around 24 hours for people to start saying the US deserved what happened.
"do whatever the fuck we want, police state"
If this is the case why is this action going through the court system? The US justice system is not perfect but this action is being examined by several different courts with an appeal process. And judges are not the only ones incapable of wrapping their heads around the concept of privacy. People today post their life history on the Internet and then complain their privacy is being violated. Most of the rabid privacy shills can not wrap their heads around the difference between "privacy" and "anonymity". Most of the laws governing this area where created long before the computer age. The same group also tends to scream "censorship" when asked to pay for the information they want access to.
The number of people such as yourself are only a tiny fraction of customers or potential customers. The majority of people look at the actual product to see if it is something they would like to play. They don't care who made the product or whether the product comes with DRM. Just like your average user doesn't care about who made the operating system or who made any of the software they may use on their computer.
It does not matter which political party holds sway in Isreal. Even the most suicidal "give peace a chance party" is not going give up a single foot of land until they feel safe. So far they have seen no indication that the attacks would stop if only Isreal stopped settlements and set formal 2 state borders. There is no trust between the parties in this conflict. Look at that entire region of the world and you do not see anyone peacefully coexisting with other who might look different or have different ideas. Every despot in the middle east has used the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to deflect attention from how they run their countries. Hate and distrust is at such a high level that any peaceful resolution is not going to happen.
There will never be a Palestinian state until the threats and violence against Israel comes to an end. The Israelis have the upper hand in any military conflict and asking them to lay down and let the nice and peaceful Palestinians invade their neighborhoods to setup better firing positions is ridiculous. The entire issue of Palestine was created to cause Israel problems after the Arabs finally figured out that any more military adventures on their part was not going to end very well. Classic military tactic when fighting a better force is to wound a one person so the rest will have to slow down to help the injured. Palestine was created by the Arabs for just this purpose. Egypt and Jordan abandoned their citizens in 1967 which effectively made them stateless. Fatah and Hamas will have to come together because a 2 state solution is probably unlikely but a 3 state solution is even more unlikely.
"They've had a blank check from the US for over 50 years"
No they have not. It was not until 1973 that the US provided military re-supply. To obtain this cooperation required Isreal to issue orders to arm their F-4s and Jericho missile with nukes. The order was announced in the clear to insure everyone knew what they were doing. This is what promted Nixon to agree to resupply Israel.
The entire conflict between Israel and the palestinians could be resolved if the palestinians and their supporters would come out in the open and offer Isreal the only thing they need, security. No more driving the jews into the sea rhetoric. Remove the intent to destroy Isreal that is stated without reservation in the Hamas charter. Remove the map of Palestine that shows no Isreal that is currently hanging in Abbas office. Silence the so called leaders that live in foreign countries and loudly promote violence against Isreal. These supporters really do not care about the palestinians all they care about is the money they can collect through international donations and the "taxes" collected for any goods moved through the tunnel system. Their main sources of income would go away if the conflict is settled.
Isreal hardly needs to use propaganda to make their neighbors look like homocidal maniacs who when not screeching about Isreal are busy killing their own citizens. The only thing that unites the entire middle east is their hatred of Isreal. This hatred is used by the governments to deflect attention from their own shortcomings. These are the same governments who really do not want the Isreal-Palestinian conflict to end. They would lose the one thing that they can use to manipulate their citizens. Isreal didn't steal any land they won it fair and square in war. Every country on the planet was established using the same methodology. Isreal enemies basically want a "do over" because all their previous military efforts have failed. The "palestinians" have been kicked out of every country they have tried to enter. They tried to overthrow the Jordanian government and were shown the door in spectaculer fashion. They were the only group of people in the middle east who supported Iraq's takover of Kuwait in 1991. As soon as Kuwait recovered they deported close to 100,000 palestinians. And the people who complain about the US relationship with Isreal need to understand that the US has been the only country capable of restraining Isreali actions. Take away US support and Isreal would have no reason to restrain their military the next time the war flares up. Although it would probably be a good thing because Isreal could then settle matters once and for all.
Both Chile and Iran had people that accepted the US bribes and promises to support US policy. The US is not so powerful that they can dictact to other countries. If Chile and Iran did not have people willing to accept the inducements US policy could be ignored. When people start aknowledging the both sides I might start to give a shit. And define the "make them an offer they can't refuse". What is your proof that this actually happens? There are a lot of countries that have very little or no diplomatic contact with the US and they survive. The US has taken "No" for an answer in the past and they didn't do anything drastic about it.
The US government's only mandate is protecting the interests of the US. Every thing else comes in a distant 2nd place. And as far as installing dictators you should understand that in order for US influence to have any effect requires the willing participation of the client governments. The US can certainly offer bribes and other inducements but there has to be a someone who agrees to accept money and favor to succumb to US pressures and policies. The US could do none of the things it is accused of without a willing partner. The US is always accused of stealing peoples natural resources even though huge sums of money have been paid for those resources. Just because the leaders of a country do not let that money trickle down to it's citizens is not the fault of the US. If you would argue that the US should be held resonsponsible for that you are advocating US interference in a foreign country are you not?
Your are right. The US has no business involving itself in another country or region unless there is a clear and accurately defined threat against US interests. The bipolar governments in the middle east and south east Asia are already on a path towards their own destruction and do not need any outside help to keep the fires burning. Look into the near future and the conflict in Syria today will look like a pillow fight in comparision to what's coming. And no matter how many people ask for help of any type the US should decline involvement except for weapon sales and donations of nearly expired MRE's.
Before cellular phones existed the Israelis targeted one of the people responsible for the Munich Olympic killings using a good ole fashion public phone. Technology marches on but usually the end result remains basically the same.
The moon offers the ultimate high ground. All it would take for the US to go back to the moon will be China or any other country trying to do the same. In that case the project money can be siphoned out of the defense budget. Building a base would require multiple trips to deliver the equipment and supplies needed. Temporary habs can be put up while a more permanent base can be built underground.