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#1
07-09-2005, 02:31 PM
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Why do they hate us?
Why do they hate us?
"American Presidents since William McKinley have played fast and loose with the lives of people living in foreign countries. Hitting just the highlights: McKinley betrayed the people of the Philippines, who fought alongside American troops against Spain in 1898 — only to have the Americans turn against them and occupy the Philippines for 47 years. Woodrow Wilson helped Britain and France redraw the European boundary lines in a way that guaranteed a century of wars and resentments — and that continued to trigger conflict in places like Bosnia and Kosovo as recently as the 1990s. And Wilson cooperated when the British reneged on their pledge of freedom and independence to the Arabs in exchange for their support of the Allies in World War I. It Goes on . . . Throughout the 1920s and 1930s American Presidents practiced gunboat diplomacy with the nations of Latin America — invading countries like Nicaragua and Honduras — as well as sending troops to China and Turkey. Franklin Roosevelt — with the same "vision" as Woodrow Wilson, and with no more knowledge of history or foreign affairs than Wilson had — sacrificed the freedoms and independence of people in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Poland, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Albania, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and China — to satisfy his own ambition to be the world leader who would guarantee peace. Harry Truman supported dictators in Asia and Africa, and by calling that policy the Truman Doctrine people around the world knew it was the United States that was supporting some of the worst elements of the world — and Truman sent American troops to die defending the autocratic Syngman Rhee regime in Korea. . . . and on . . . Dwight Eisenhower approved the CIA coup that overthrew the democratic government in Iran, replacing it with the dreadful Shah of Iran, and Eisenhower continued the Truman Doctrine — standing by dictators in Latin America and Asia, stationing American troops in dozens of foreign countries, and reminding people everywhere that America had become an imperial power. John F. Kennedy invaded Cuba, sent troops to aid in the suppression of a pro-freedom rebellion in the Congo, supported a brutal dictator in South Vietnam before assassinating him, aided oppression in Laos and Cambodia, and extended American military bases to more and more foreign countries. Lyndon Johnson played games with the truth in order to draw America into a terrible war in Vietnam — one that caused the deaths of millions of Vietnamese but still left Vietnam in the hands of the Communists. Richard Nixon secretly bombed Cambodia, only to have his secrets revealed to the world — and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger became known worldwide for practicing "realpolitik," a policy of using human beings around the world as bargaining chips in his tęte-ŕ-tętes with dictators. . . . and on . . . Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter didn’t (to the best of my knowledge) instigate any major new intrusions on the rest of the world, but they enthusiastically continued to shovel American taxpayer money to foreign dictators and continued to station American troops in what had come to be more than a hundred foreign countries. Ronald Reagan sent Marines to Lebanon to butt into a civil war there, invaded Grenada, bombed Libya, meddled in Central America, planted American missiles in Europe (putting European civilians in danger), and stood by brutal dictators in El Salvador, Guatemala, and other Latin America countries. George H. W. Bush invaded Panama and Iraq — and put in place the sanctions and air raids that killed hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi men, women, and children. . . . and on Bill Clinton maintained the Iraqi sanctions and air raids, sent American troops to intervene in civil wars in Bosnia and Kosovo, used American force to install a dictator in Haiti — all the while continuing the support of foreign dictators with the money of American taxpayers, and continuing to station American troops around the world as though they were the legions of the Roman Empire. George W. Bush has invaded Afghanistan and Iraq, killing tens of thousands of civilians; threatened Iran and Syria; overthrew the government of Haiti and installed a brutal dictatorship; praised and supported dictators in Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Russia, and many other countries; and demanded that everyone in the world support America or risk being bombed and invaded — all the while proclaiming that he wants to bring freedom and democracy (American style) to everyone in the world. Now We Know So why do billions of people around the world hate America so much? Obviously, it’s because of our freedom, our prosperity, and our democracy. How do I know? Because George Bush told me so. What other reason could foreigners have for resenting America?" 
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#2
07-09-2005, 02:42 PM
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Re: Why do they hate us?
[ QUOTE ]
Why do they hate us? "American Presidents since William McKinley have played fast and loose with the lives of people living in foreign countries. Hitting just the highlights: McKinley betrayed the people of the Philippines, who fought alongside American troops against Spain in 1898 — only to have the Americans turn against them and occupy the Philippines for 47 years. Woodrow Wilson helped Britain and France redraw the European boundary lines in a way that guaranteed a century of wars and resentments — and that continued to trigger conflict in places like Bosnia and Kosovo as recently as the 1990s. And Wilson cooperated when the British reneged on their pledge of freedom and independence to the Arabs in exchange for their support of the Allies in World War I. It Goes on . . . Throughout the 1920s and 1930s American Presidents practiced gunboat diplomacy with the nations of Latin America — invading countries like Nicaragua and Honduras — as well as sending troops to China and Turkey. Franklin Roosevelt — with the same "vision" as Woodrow Wilson, and with no more knowledge of history or foreign affairs than Wilson had — sacrificed the freedoms and independence of people in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Poland, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Albania, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and China — to satisfy his own ambition to be the world leader who would guarantee peace. Harry Truman supported dictators in Asia and Africa, and by calling that policy the Truman Doctrine people around the world knew it was the United States that was supporting some of the worst elements of the world — and Truman sent American troops to die defending the autocratic Syngman Rhee regime in Korea. . . . and on . . . Dwight Eisenhower approved the CIA coup that overthrew the democratic government in Iran, replacing it with the dreadful Shah of Iran, and Eisenhower continued the Truman Doctrine — standing by dictators in Latin America and Asia, stationing American troops in dozens of foreign countries, and reminding people everywhere that America had become an imperial power. John F. Kennedy invaded Cuba, sent troops to aid in the suppression of a pro-freedom rebellion in the Congo, supported a brutal dictator in South Vietnam before assassinating him, aided oppression in Laos and Cambodia, and extended American military bases to more and more foreign countries. Lyndon Johnson played games with the truth in order to draw America into a terrible war in Vietnam — one that caused the deaths of millions of Vietnamese but still left Vietnam in the hands of the Communists. Richard Nixon secretly bombed Cambodia, only to have his secrets revealed to the world — and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger became known worldwide for practicing "realpolitik," a policy of using human beings around the world as bargaining chips in his tęte-ŕ-tętes with dictators. . . . and on . . . Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter didn’t (to the best of my knowledge) instigate any major new intrusions on the rest of the world, but they enthusiastically continued to shovel American taxpayer money to foreign dictators and continued to station American troops in what had come to be more than a hundred foreign countries. Ronald Reagan sent Marines to Lebanon to butt into a civil war there, invaded Grenada, bombed Libya, meddled in Central America, planted American missiles in Europe (putting European civilians in danger), and stood by brutal dictators in El Salvador, Guatemala, and other Latin America countries. George H. W. Bush invaded Panama and Iraq — and put in place the sanctions and air raids that killed hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi men, women, and children. . . . and on Bill Clinton maintained the Iraqi sanctions and air raids, sent American troops to intervene in civil wars in Bosnia and Kosovo, used American force to install a dictator in Haiti — all the while continuing the support of foreign dictators with the money of American taxpayers, and continuing to station American troops around the world as though they were the legions of the Roman Empire. George W. Bush has invaded Afghanistan and Iraq, killing tens of thousands of civilians; threatened Iran and Syria; overthrew the government of Haiti and installed a brutal dictatorship; praised and supported dictators in Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Russia, and many other countries; and demanded that everyone in the world support America or risk being bombed and invaded — all the while proclaiming that he wants to bring freedom and democracy (American style) to everyone in the world. Now We Know So why do billions of people around the world hate America so much? Obviously, it’s because of our freedom, our prosperity, and our democracy. How do I know? Because George Bush told me so. What other reason could foreigners have for resenting America?" [/ QUOTE ] They don't hate "us." Only Yankee fans.
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#5
07-09-2005, 03:22 PM
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Re: Why do they hate us?
I don't know if you are referring to moslems or all the world but I can outline for you what I think are major reasons for Anti-Americanism here (Norway) based on my own life and impressions (not a scientific approach):
mid 80s-late 80s A lot of people sort of disliked American politics, but many still had a positive vision of the American way of life. Reasons as I observed it for disliking: -Napalm. The US was seen as a cynical oppressor bombing Vietnamese with napalm. Everyone seemed to agree that it was wrong. -Chile. Most people here held US responsible for Pinochet's abuses in Chile and some of Pinochet's opponents moved here and told what was going on. -Nicaragua. The sandinists were quite popular. -Gorbachev vs Reagan. Gorbachev became like a national friend and became very popular with a image as a liberator and peaceseeker (we have border with Russia so this was important to people here) whereas Reagan was seen as a stupid man to say it frankly (not all agreed with this but the majority). 90s Now it started to become serious. In the end of the decennium US was seen as the biggest obstacle to a better world. Main reasons: -Israel. As awareness grew higher about Israeli continous abuses, a Isreal-hate developed. This hate has been and is very strong. This led to a vawe of sympathy for the Palestinian cause and US was seen as the biggest obstacle. -Environmental policy. Especially in the early 90s it was focused much on this and it became some kind of consensus that US is the biggest obstacle to finding solutions for this. 2000s Clinton was quite popular, so he saved the image somewhat in the 90s but when Bush came into office it was a lost cause and has now developed into some sort of hate. Main reasons: -Israel. Quickly after taking office he strongly went out to support Ariel Sharon (Ariel Sharon is seen as terrorist here). -Kyoto. Obstruction of the whole process. -UN (Iraq). Many here believe strongly in UN and hold it as a honorous institution. Bush's and Rumsfeld's kind of mocking of UN really touched the wrong button and I think it was a stronger factor than the actual Iraq-war. -Abu Ghraib/ Guantanamo. Human rights is high on the agenda here (thus also the hatred towards US support of Israel and Pinochet). -Religous fundamentalism. The 2004 election left an impression that Christian fundamentalists had gotten control of the US. This is a very secular country and most people despise religious fundamentalism.
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#6
07-09-2005, 04:31 PM
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Re: Why do they hate us?
Every country has shameful things in the history of its foreign policy, mine as much as any. However, i think that what really gets to a lot of people in Europe (and i suppose elsewhere)is the way in which you would believe, from the language of American leaders (and the rest of them), that America is especially virtueous and all round wonderfull 'defender of the free world'.
If i hear the word "freedom" much more i may well throw up. This doesn't always hold with its foreign policy which is (like all other countries) largely selfish, and at times genocidal. This is made more frustrating by the export dominance of US media (films, TV even news) in which the Americans and american history are overwhelmingly shown as positive. This must be even worst in contries adversly effected by american intervention. Also frustrating is the sense that most americans are happy to buy in to the proud but selective myth of the history of the 'land of the free'. Sorry if i'm going on a bit but i have been reading some history on the american war of independance and discovered that the moral highground could be seen as going to the british on many issues (I admit it was an english author). The way that the US media had made me assume the worst about my own country upset me a little. Don't get me wrong, the US has a proud history, its just that you are led to believe in the comic book hero style america so much that i wonder if americans haven't been seduced by their own myth.
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#7
07-09-2005, 04:52 PM
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Re: Why do they hate us?
Yeah, I think there's an element of one-sidedness to the American worldview that everyone else can see but us. Certainly eveyone is guilty of this to some extent, but it is particularly hurtful for Americans due to our position of power. (Some excusable ignorance is quickly interpreted as inexcusable arrogance, unfortunately)
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#8
07-09-2005, 05:09 PM
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Re: Why do they hate us?
Yeah, I agree totally. There is nothing uniquely stupid or arrogent about americans but when american foreign policy can affect the entire globe so much then people feel they have the right to criticise. Having said that I think in Europe people are more acceptiing (or at least aware) of the negatives of their nations. Also I think we take patroitism a bit more tounge in cheek than you- i.e we are proud to be british but don't think our society is superior to all others.
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