You have to understand, nothing is as simple as it looks. Things are just kept simple so simple Americans can understand them.

Here's an example of how things really work from the Vietnam era. John Cabot Lodge was appointed new US ambassador to Vietnam. His job was to get the current president out and replaced with somebody the US liked. The day he flew into Saigon to start his new job, a zealous South Vietnamese general loyal to the current Prez tried to shoot down his plane as it landed. The attack failed. Cabot Lodge heard all about it over the nextt few days but he didn't have the general killed. Lodge saw that this was a man of action, one he could use for his own purposes. Instead Lodge decided to make friends with this clown. Lodge wined and dined and talked this little asshole up and eventualy convinced him to overthrow the Prez himself. The little asshole did it, and a few months later Lodge had him overthrown himself and replaced with the man Lodge really wanted. Job completed.

Politics is a two faced, double dealing business where what a situation seems on the surface is rarely what it really is. Don't forget that.