and on the day before Thanksgiving, even!
I think both sides have some points. You can find facts to support
any conclusion these days. As an American I naturally take his side
on most of these matters. I think the emotion he is expressing is
one that I share, namely that many Europeans (never mind the rest of
the world) tend to portray the US as the source of most of the
world's problems, and vastly overstate the (alleged) shortcomings of
the US while vastly understating all the good our country has done.
The European solution to most of the problems they have with the US
is some sort of world government or other organization whose
existence is designed to keep the "big bully" US in line. Any such
organization always ends up being largely anti-US (ie the UN).
Regardless of the government in power, most Americans have little
tolerance for such ideas. We are philosphically opposed to any such
ideas since we are unwilling to forfeit any part of our national
sovereignty to such an organization. If you want a microcosm of the
problems that can occur, look at the mess that is the EU, which if I
remember correctly many Brits were opposed to joining.
Americans have always been willing to take on the greatest portion of
any task we perform within the international community, often to our
detriment. Look at Somalia, Kosovo, and the Gulf War as the most
recent examples. We have lost thousands of soldiers in faraway lands
(and civilians here at home) trying to protect and help people for
little or no gain. As the lone remaining superpower we have that
responsibility and we accept it. All we ask is that our friends help
us out as much as possible and not be unduly critical in the way we
perform a job they are unable (and often unwilling) to take on
themselves.
A little appreciation is all we are asking for. We all have
tremendous respect and affection for our allies like Britain (from
which I am only two generations removed) and others who consistently
step up when the crap hits the fan (although admittedly the French
have a tendency to torque us off occasionally). We are all heartened
by the world's response to 9/11, and we wish we see such support more
often.
I wish everyone a happy holiday season.
Jim Aspinall