I saw IDS speak and I was really impressed with him. More than Tony Blair or Charles Kennedy.
Woah Alex! I don’t know why you posted that epic of Miltonesque stature on this thread, but I’ll address it here anyway. We know America has achieved great things, and to some extent stands for the values of freedom and liberalism (for it’s own people, anyway). Even so, I don’t see how it is possible to overlook the fact they are responsible for some real atrocities too: Remember how the Americans won their continent from the the natives? Remember the slavery and extreme racism which prevailed in much of the country for many years? What about Pearl Harbour? Vietnam? Eugenics? Sure these were all in the past, but they are indicative of an underlying disconcern for any people but good, dutiful American citizens, the people of Manifest Destiny (it’s God’s will, you know).
And things are no better now. Ineffective US sanctions on Iraq have killed hundreds of thousands of children who could not get access to desperately needed medicine - have the sanctions helped with the ultimate goal of removing Saddam? No. Did the US stall when they had the chance to nab him during the Gulf war? I won’t even answer that, and I won’t speculate as to why they didn’t sort him out when they could…but your guess is as good as mine.
I am not anti-American (I would love to live there) and I don’t think many people are, despite what your article says - I am, however, greatly concerned by America’s tendency to kneejerk, over-hawkish responses to security threats - and at present this tendency has been amplified by inane Bush and his right hand warmonger, Donald Rumsfeld. What gives them the right to assert which countries are “evil” and which aren’t? Is China really a notorious terrorist state, as they announced in the infamous “axis of evil speech”? Their unilaterist streak has become increasingly pronounced under Bush, not least with his refusal to obey the Kyoto protocol. He asserts his American moral rectitude with such brash self-assurance, yet shows little concern for the international community himself. He is like a lorry driver - he knows he is bigger than you and doesn’t give a damn about your car. I think Bryan Appleyard has confused genuine, justified concern for international security and the environment (to name but two moot points) with “hatred.”
And his article was utter crap! One sided ‘emotional’ crap. His argument goes: ‘so you think America deserve criticism? But hang on, they got bombed…therefore it is wrong to criticise them. I say blame the Arabs and all those blasted Guardian readers.’
One awful but isolated event does not alleviate the concerns I share with many people; pacifists, environmentalists, innocent Iraqis (Jafar!) whose country will probably get bombed in the next year - Bush has said he will do this even if the entire international community is against him. I do not suddenly have to support this indiscriminate war on terror (read ‘license to nuke’) because America were (regrettably and tragically) bombed by renegade beardies. And Applebum dissed my hero, George Monbiot with perhaps the lamest argument ever (he sidestepped Monbiot’s point by quoting out of context - I remember that article)…balderdash!
But enough of the tomfoolery…My point is that it works both ways, Alex. The Americans have achieved great things…and they have made mistakes. At the moment they are poised to make a very rash move which could potentially spark off a new world war. Hence the upsurge in the number of concerned people like me - it is not anti-Americanism…it is frustration with the Bush administration’s failure to react to a horrible situation with the moderation and foresight we would hope to see from the leaders of a global superpower (and in the UK, frustration at Blair’s pandering aquiesence).
I concur with jawaad here.
As a further counter argument to pro-Americans, I remember America sending CIA guys to overthrow a legimate democracy which had decided to reclaim land from American companies who had ‘bought’ land (I think it was in the region of 80% of the country’s farmble land) from a previous dictatorship in order to give it’s people land to farm. I think it was Guatemala but I can’t remember off the top of my head, I’d have to go look it up. The group which they helped overthrow this democracy promptly setup an evil dictatorship.
Does that sound like the act of a liberal loving country? It sounds like the act of a country who’s interest is keeping it’s position on top by exploiting the weak to me.
I think the major reason so many countries hate America is that they see America as undermining their belief structures as well as exploiting others for their own gains. Look at Israel, why is it there? Because the Americans have dictated to the Arab world that it should be and directly support it through donations.
Basically America has set itself up to be the worlds policeman, but then at times acts without any morality or motivation apart from the sheer desire for profit and the survival of the American way of life at the expense of others. If every country immediatly desisted from trading with America and reclaimed all of American ‘assests’ in their countries it would immediatly collapse under it’s own luxurious weight. But they won’t because it requires a collective effort, a kind of prisoner’s dilemma.
In my opinion, America, and much of the rest of the western world relies on exploitation of the weaker countries in order to survive. But then again, I’m happy to live here, so maybe I can be accused of being a hypocrite.