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Originally posted by smsmith40
I presume you are talking about Israel-Palestine for instance ? I know you can quote back to me other examples. Thats the problem there are bad examples all around.
By the way don't think for a minute that I am trying to defend the details of France's foreign policy, I'm just trying to put in a strategic context why the preceived anti-Americanism is actually a much deeper, more complex issue that seriously needs addressing. The only people that can do this is the US government.
You've probably guessed by now I am not American. I live in the UK, you can also conclude that as I play Fantasy Football (slightly obsessively), work for a US corporation and count many Americans within my friends, colleagues (and bosses) that I am definitely not anti-American. However, the tone of the US administration has become increasingly off putting.
Frankly, Europeans don't understand the current US government, they come across (in European terms) as a bunch of right-wing Christian fundamentalists. These kind of politicians are largely unknown in mainstream politics here.
By the way, its getting late here. I am going to settle down with a cold beer for the night. See you later
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Israel-Palestine is a good example, but I was going for the obvious one-Iraq. The UN passed resolution after resolution with which Iraq did not comply over the period of a decade. Then when one member (the US) demanded they be brought into compliance, the other members by in large said they wanted nothing to do with enforcing the resolutions.
I hadn't guess you were not an American, but it does explain why someone who can carry on a fairly intelligent debate didn't know what a rube is (it's American slang for a naieve person).
I'm not surprised for a second that people on the other side of the pond don't understand our administration. I guarantee you that most people over here don't understand what drives European governements, middle eastern governments, or governments from anywhere else. That's not a knock on us, as I am guessing European commoners don't understand everyone else totally either.
I'm sure the current administration strikes you as it does for a couple of reasons. First, compared to the relativeley liberal politics of England, they are quite conservative. Also, the press loves to paint people as much simpler as they are, and to constantly characterize Bush as the standard right wing christian is easy for them. There's more to it than that, I don't have to time to go into it now, which makes it easy to understand why the press doesn't either.
How will it be fixed? Bush certainly gives less credence to long standing foreign relationships than any other president in recent history. I would imagine that who ever suceeds him will think about that more and begin to repair relationships. I think Bush has said "to heck with that, I'm taking care of business" and leaving the mess for someone else to clean up.