Bush Faces Increasingly Poor Image Overseas
American governments have historically done a very poor job of selling their programs and positions outside of our own borders. None have been neglected this responsibility more than the current Administration. Shrub and his minions have treated international affairs as an American monopoly, expecting or at the very least assuming that other countries would fall into line behind us.
Other countries may not have the economic, military, or political wherewithal that we do, but that doesn't mean they don't want to have their place on the world stage. The fact that the Shrub Administration has treated foreign affairs like it's red-headed stepchild has only helped to multiply the difficulties they are facing now in selling the war on Iraq to the international community.
The messages from U.S. embassies around the globe have become urgent and disturbing: Many people in the world increasingly think President Bush is a greater threat to world peace than Iraqi President Saddam Hussein....
"It is rather astonishing," said a senior U.S. official who has access to the reports. "There is an absence of any recognition that Hussein is the problem." One ambassador, who represents the United States in an allied nation, bluntly cabled that in that country, Bush has become the enemy.
This shift in public opinion has presented the Bush administration with a much different set of circumstances than U.S. officials anticipated last September, when, in a bid to create a coalition to confront Iraq, Bush took the issue before the United Nations. It has seemed to embolden political leaders in Europe and elsewhere who have long been wary of military action. Although senior White House officials have insisted that U.S. policy toward Iraq will not be affected by public opinion, they acknowledged over the past few days that they need to confront the worldwide mood opposing a move to war.
Polls have indicated that Americans are more likely to support an invasion of Iraq if they believe it has international backing. Antiwar protests were held in dozens of American cities at the same time as the protests in other countries.
Whether we are right or wrong on Iraq, we have done a poor job of involving the international community in formulating an appropriate response. We have set ourselves up as the world's moral policeman, which may not such a bad thing, but it is a recipe for resentment if not handled properly. In the eyes of the rest of the world, we are the 800-lb. gorilla, the bull in the china shop who does whatever it wants, whenever it wants. The result of this sort of arrogance is a world where it is often not safe to advertise that one is an American if you are overseas. During my various and assorted travels, I can't tell you how many times I've had to be certain that I wasn't doing anything to advertise my nationality- particularly in the Middle East. To be obviously American was to put myself at unnecessary risk.
We have created this monster, partly through our own material success, but also through our own arrogance, bravado and lack of consideration for the rest of the international community. I'm convinced that most of our current difficulties with foreign leaders can be laid at the feet of George W. Bush and his Administration. They may not have created this problem, but they certainly have not done anything to mitigate it.
