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WingedMercury -> RE: "America has lost it's standing in the world." (4/28/2007 6:41:54 PM)
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Perhaps a view from another part of the world of the USA might be of interest, but it is only a personal view, though supported by numerous opinion polls.
Australia has had a very close relationship with US since WWII. Britain was using our troops as cannon fodder in the Middle East, meanwhile Japan had attacked Pearl Harbour, taken Singapore, and were clearly on the way south. We sought, and eventually, got the aid we needed from Rooseveldt and Australia placed her troops under the control of Douglas Macarthur. The Battle of the Coral Sea, in which US and Australian navies fought side by side, was, though not decisive, an important battle.
People who were alive at the time developed an "undying" love and affection for the USA. Many Australian women left these shores to marry their American sweethearts - who were "over sexed, over paid, and over here".
Since then, the USA has generally been held in high regard in Australia. Our ANZUS treaty obliges us to enter into battle with the US (and the obligation works both ways) whenever the US is attacked. Australian troops have fought alongside US in Korea, Vietnam and now Iraq.
There was a lot of anti-US feeling developed over the Vietnam war, and red paint was thrown at LBJ when he toured here, representing the blood of people of all nations whose blood had been spilt. Our Conservative (for US, read Republican) Prime Minister, made the comment "All the way with LBJ", which made many of us feel ill. The great Australian Crawl, the swimstroke developed here which has become known as freestyle, all of a sudden had a new meaning. The term Brown Nosing had not reached my vocabulary at that stage.
The affection towards US returned and has been high over the last 30 years. I have travelled around North America a few times, and found the people generally gregarious and friendly. You do find the occasional "red neck", who makes you ashamed to be part of the Human Race, and unfortunately there are many of them in certain US states. You know who they are.
I have met many US people while travelling in other parts of the world, and mostly they are extrememly pleasant and friendly (most people are - very few are not). You hear the twang and then start talking to them. Mostly they come from the seaboard states; on my 2004 trip, I kept a count of US citizens in favour of Bush and it was 8 in favour of Bush and 43 against before I stopped counting. The "Ugly American" is not seen so much around the world. They are mostly on TV, mostly on Fox News.
Whilst our Prime Minister (a Conservative) is a good friend and close ally of Bush, his attitude to Bush is not at all well respected here. Opinion Polls show that Bush is a bigger threat to world peace than Osama bin Laden or anybody else. Bush is seen as an idiot by a sizable majority. Australian people were always opposed to going to war in Iraq, but the Prime Minister made the decision. We have not voted him out because we are enjoying an exports boom here, and China in particular is willing to pay top dollar for everything we can extract from the land. We put our hip pocket ahead of our conscience too.
The great lie over WMD reminded many of us of the great lie of LBJ's which escalated US's presence in Vietnam. Since then, of course, we have seen many lies coming from the White House (the Jessica Lynch(?) story and the Pat Tilman story as well are recent cases in point). You held an Australian in Guantanemo Bay for 5 years without trial, much in solitary confinement, calling him the "worst of the worst", and when push came to shove, you have sentenced him to 9months gaol (additional) and are sending him home. We don't believe your government. They have the morals of a sewer rat - self survival and who cares about anything else?
When we thing USA, we thing Bush. America has lost it's (sic) standing in the world, all right. It is seen as a belligerent, self-interested nation, which has lost its opportunity as a super power to lead the world to a more democratic and peaceful environment. Its contempt of Kyoto, the problems it has caused in the Middle East (which is another story where we cannot blame Bush), even issues like land mines and international criminal courts, put US in a poor light for those looking from the outside.
It is a pity, because it could have done so much. It has done so much. While we quibble with aspects of its democracy, while we denigrate it for all the damage its foreign policy has wreaked, it has in many ways been a shining beacon, though arrogant and brash. The technological advances, the generosity, the humaneness are all hallmarks of the US, but these are pushed into the background by Bush and the ridiculous image of hanging chads, where US, with all its democracy and technology, could not conduct an election properly.
Just briefly, the very common view of US is that they know nothing about the world outside US. The proportion of US citizens with a passport, and who have travelled outside the US borders, is fairly small, reflecting, perhaps, the US lack of interest in the rest of the world. Some have told me they don't need to travel, because US has everything they need. This is a very arrogant view, but arrogance and US seem to go together.
We in Australia laugh at you when you get Austria and Australia mixed up (perhaps we just feel insulted), and one young college couple I was talking to at the steps of the Capitol building, thought that Australia had a population of about 600million.
I think that is enough.
A lot of the solution is in your hands. Please do your best.
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