25 February 2005
Can Dubya the Peacemaker mend fences?
Beneath the positive and negative rhetoric surrounding Bush's fence mending visit to Europe, I suspect that little has changed in the minds of the public in the US and European electorates. It was very interesting to read posts on the BBC News website from both sides of the Bush divide.
If you read between the lines, I think you can easily detect that Bush's visit has done little to change the deeply polarised camps.
The following post generally sums up the views of Bush's most ardent supporters:
"Bush doesn't need to mend ties with Europe. He is giving those countries that opposed the war on terror, or in Iraq, a chance to re-board the freedom train, or the human rights train. I see this as an act of a forgiving leader with the mindset of a free world able to negotiate together for a more free tomorrow. How many 9/11s would there have been had he not acted the way he did?
Mike Mac, NC, USA"
Reading the above post would warm the ammo belts of all neo-con warriors. It means their campaign of disingenuity, disinformation and deceit has been wildly successful.
The problem with this world view is that Bush didn't invade Iraq to bring neo-con liberty and freedom to that blighted dark corner of the world. It was the alleged NBC weapons, stupid. Would American voters and recalcitrant non-Americans have supported an illegal war if it was posed as a mission to lay tracks for the freedom train in Iraq? That's the $300b question isn't it?
In the mean time, Bush supporters like Mike can ride that freedom train on their own, as far as the European public is concerned. But don't ask the European taxpayers to help pay for the fare.
In their simplistic "Either you're for us or against us" world view, the neo-cons are unable to understand that true friends and not obsequious sycophants, do not genuflect in silence but do dare to have differing views without writing off the other party as "old Europe" in a fit of self-righteous pique. Another poster puts it nicely:
"Cultural bridges are not built from abject obedience. America's superior power does not make its policy judgment superior. The invasion of Iraq has exacerbated the problem of Islamic terrorism. The US ignores global warming. Its economic policies are stifling the global economy. Europeans are not obliged to indulge policies that are simply wrong.
Melissa, London, UK"
If Melissa is wrong in her summary of the European public's mood, then neo-cons should ask why dear old Tony didn't jump at the PR "coup" of Bush conferring with his trusted British pooch, sorry, friend, before visiting the recalcitrant continent? Could it be that Tony is worried such a visit would be a PR disaster for his re-election campaign? Or was he just too "busy" to hob nob with the most powerful man in the world?
Sadly for the 48% of US voters who opposed Bush, they have to endure another four years of adverse consequences of the majority's choice. And hope like hell that anti-Bush sentiment doesn't morph into widespread anti-Americanism as Dubya drives his freedom train onward towards the Grand Canyon.
"No, George W. Bush cannot repair the damage he has done to our relations with Europe. It will take someone else, the next president, to do that. How can he repair what he has done when he continues to believe he is always right? You can't mend fences by saying, "Sorry about that, but I'm still right."
Jeff, USA"
"Not a chance. Bush burned the bridges by pulling out of Kyoto, undermining the UN and invading Iraq without international backing. If Bush was serious about rebuilding bridges he would engage with Europe on climate change. The world needs America to take a responsible lead on this. Instead, Bush continues to ignore the rest of the world.
Nick Davies, Newquay, UK"
"In terms of importance to the global economy I believe the USA has now passed its zenith. I don't think any amount of military might can prevent its slow decline from hereon in. The sooner the neo-conservatives and the American people realise this and find a way to peacefully reconcile themselves with their place in the new world order the better for all of us.
Steve Kando, Australia"
If you read between the lines, I think you can easily detect that Bush's visit has done little to change the deeply polarised camps.
The following post generally sums up the views of Bush's most ardent supporters:
"Bush doesn't need to mend ties with Europe. He is giving those countries that opposed the war on terror, or in Iraq, a chance to re-board the freedom train, or the human rights train. I see this as an act of a forgiving leader with the mindset of a free world able to negotiate together for a more free tomorrow. How many 9/11s would there have been had he not acted the way he did?
Mike Mac, NC, USA"
Reading the above post would warm the ammo belts of all neo-con warriors. It means their campaign of disingenuity, disinformation and deceit has been wildly successful.
The problem with this world view is that Bush didn't invade Iraq to bring neo-con liberty and freedom to that blighted dark corner of the world. It was the alleged NBC weapons, stupid. Would American voters and recalcitrant non-Americans have supported an illegal war if it was posed as a mission to lay tracks for the freedom train in Iraq? That's the $300b question isn't it?
In the mean time, Bush supporters like Mike can ride that freedom train on their own, as far as the European public is concerned. But don't ask the European taxpayers to help pay for the fare.
In their simplistic "Either you're for us or against us" world view, the neo-cons are unable to understand that true friends and not obsequious sycophants, do not genuflect in silence but do dare to have differing views without writing off the other party as "old Europe" in a fit of self-righteous pique. Another poster puts it nicely:
"Cultural bridges are not built from abject obedience. America's superior power does not make its policy judgment superior. The invasion of Iraq has exacerbated the problem of Islamic terrorism. The US ignores global warming. Its economic policies are stifling the global economy. Europeans are not obliged to indulge policies that are simply wrong.
Melissa, London, UK"
If Melissa is wrong in her summary of the European public's mood, then neo-cons should ask why dear old Tony didn't jump at the PR "coup" of Bush conferring with his trusted British pooch, sorry, friend, before visiting the recalcitrant continent? Could it be that Tony is worried such a visit would be a PR disaster for his re-election campaign? Or was he just too "busy" to hob nob with the most powerful man in the world?
Sadly for the 48% of US voters who opposed Bush, they have to endure another four years of adverse consequences of the majority's choice. And hope like hell that anti-Bush sentiment doesn't morph into widespread anti-Americanism as Dubya drives his freedom train onward towards the Grand Canyon.
"No, George W. Bush cannot repair the damage he has done to our relations with Europe. It will take someone else, the next president, to do that. How can he repair what he has done when he continues to believe he is always right? You can't mend fences by saying, "Sorry about that, but I'm still right."
Jeff, USA"
"Not a chance. Bush burned the bridges by pulling out of Kyoto, undermining the UN and invading Iraq without international backing. If Bush was serious about rebuilding bridges he would engage with Europe on climate change. The world needs America to take a responsible lead on this. Instead, Bush continues to ignore the rest of the world.
Nick Davies, Newquay, UK"
"In terms of importance to the global economy I believe the USA has now passed its zenith. I don't think any amount of military might can prevent its slow decline from hereon in. The sooner the neo-conservatives and the American people realise this and find a way to peacefully reconcile themselves with their place in the new world order the better for all of us.
Steve Kando, Australia"
