Letters to the Editor
kovie
Published Letters: 641
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I haven't been abroad in 3.5 years
[Read the article: The tragic collapse of America's standing in the world]
[Read more letters about this article: Here](Except for a couple of brief trips to Canada), but will likely be visiting friends in France and family in Israel in a few months, and it will be "interesting" to see how I am treated since it's impossible for me to hide that I'm an American. I'd almost be tempted to wear an "I Didn't Vote for Bush" t-shirt to avoid the proverbial spit in my soup when eating out.
When I was last abroad, these are the 2 countries I spent time in. In Israel, to my great surprise (but I suppose only because I hadn't thought things through at the time), most Israelis I spoke to were very supportive not only of the US, but of Bush and his policies. Many people there LOVED him, and he could do no wrong. My attempts at explaining why he was a terrible president fell on deaf ears. He had attacked Israel's enemy, Iraq, half a year before, and taken down its leader, Saddam, and had made Israel that much more secure (or so they assumed at the time). Sharon was still prime minister then, and also to my surprise, he was just as popular as Bush, despite having historically been reviled by many if not most Israelis for having lied to them on Israel's '82 Lebanon invasion--Israel's Iraq, really. Why? Because he was aggressively fighting the second Intifada (remember that?). Never mind that he was the person most responsible for starting that Intifada.
It's funny how compliant and tolerant of aggression and oppression (of themselves and others) a nation can become when convinced that its very survival is at stake. I need not cite specific historical examples--some poignantly ironic--to prove my point.
When I was in France, I did not note overt anti-Americanism, but some people I spoke to quietly expressed their anger and frustration at the Bush regime--but not the US as a whole--for having starting the Iraq war. But, like I said, that was 3.5 years ago. I can only wonder what kind of treatment I'll get as an American when I visit there again later this year. And I have to wonder whether Israeli's are as enthusiastic about Bush these days. Given Olmert's very low approval numbers and anguish over last summer's disasterous attack on Lebanon, I suspect that attitudes towards the US and Bush have changed quite a bit.
Yeah, I think it's fairly accurate to say that world opinions of the US have dropped substantially in recent years, precisely due to Bush's policies. Sure, there has long been anti-US resentment, but of the sort that any powerful and dominant country is going to get. We've all heard the old criticisms and complaints about Americans being stupid, ignorant, fat, greedy, childish, loud, rude, unsophisticated, clueless, uncultured, etc. (not all of which are necessarily untrue, I have to say), or, more substantially but perhaps less fairly (if only because the home countries of the people making such criticisms themselves have engaged in these sorts of activities in the past), of being a militaristic, exploitive, imperial and oppressive power.
But we're talking about a whole new and far deeper level of anti-US resentment that is less about past US actions and policies or US culture and people, than about the specific policies being pursued by the Bush regime, specifically the Iraq war, rendition, torture, global warming, and the callous and imperious disregard for world opinion on these issues and virtually anything else. They have done all of this for oil and empire, and everyone knows it, and hate us for it. Anyone who professes to be shocked at this, or denies that it's due to Bush policies, is either a liar, an idiot, or delusional.