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Goodwill Squandered

By TChris, Section War on Terror
Posted on Mon Sep 11, 2006 at 12:53:10 PM EST
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by TChris

In the days following 9/11, much of the rest of the world viewed the United States with sympathy and support. Five years later, thanks to the Bush administration, world opinion of the U.S. has flip-flopped.

Critics say Americans have squandered the goodwill that prompted France's Le Monde newspaper to proclaim ''We are all Americans'' that somber day after the attacks, and that the Iraq war and other U.S. policies have made the world less safe in the five years since. ...

Even German Chancellor Angela Merkel -- an advocate of closer ties with Washington -- had veiled criticism of the United States, saying: ''The ends cannot justify the means.''

''In the fight against international terror ... respect for human rights, tolerance and respect for other cultures must be the maxim of our actions, along with decisiveness and international cooperation,'' she said.

She'll get no argument here.

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    Goodwill Squandered | 16 comments (16 topical)
    Re: Goodwill Squandered (none / 0) (#1)
    by profmarcus on Mon Sep 11, 2006 at 01:18:50 PM EST
    the german marshall fund has some rather telling graphs that tell the story about the u.s.' fall from grace in europe... And, yes, I DO take it personally

    Re: Goodwill Squandered (none / 0) (#4)
    by jimakaPPJ on Mon Sep 11, 2006 at 03:38:26 PM EST
    In point of fact we no longer need Germany, and Germany doesn't need us. We should remove our troops, close the bases and treat them like the friends they once were. We should do the same with with all the European countries that don't want to join the fight, recognizing with sadness that unlike their ancestors who fought against am expansionist Moslem horde, they have collapsed at the first threat of "don't hurt our feelings." Like children spoiled by an extended childhood, the protection we have given them was a terrible mistake. A dose of reality hopefully will refocus their understanding that freedom is automatic, and the month long vacation isn't really a birthright.

    Re: Goodwill Squandered (none / 0) (#2)
    by kdog on Mon Sep 11, 2006 at 04:25:37 PM EST
    Probably the greatest opportunity to make a lasting peace in our lifetime...squandered over a couple billion dollars in war profits. Oh well...greed knows no bounds.

    Re: Goodwill Squandered (none / 0) (#3)
    by Ernesto Del Mundo on Mon Sep 11, 2006 at 04:25:37 PM EST
    This is also the 33rd anniversary of the U.S. government-inspired slaughter in Chile, where democracy was crushed and 3,000 people were rounded up, tortured and murdered. Yeah, we've been spreading our own special brand of goodwill around the world for a long time now.

    Re: Goodwill Squandered (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Sep 11, 2006 at 04:33:01 PM EST
    So turn your back on the people that tell you to your face when you might have made a mistake. If that isn't behavior of a spoiled child than I don't know what is. Turn your back, cover your ears and scream "I can't hear you, I can't hear you! You are no longer my friend!" Friendship is not about agreeing all the time, its about TRUTH and TRUST. A friend will call you what you are and then will help you. A coward will agree with what you say and not move a finger for you. But then this is JimakaPPJ I am responding to, and I really should know better. People, please forgive me for wasting your time. ;)

    Re: Goodwill Squandered (none / 0) (#6)
    by jimakaPPJ on Mon Sep 11, 2006 at 04:56:35 PM EST
    housetier - Countries do not have "friends" they have "national interests," something I should have stated in my previous comment. That we may have considered them "friends" is a mistake we made.

    Re: Goodwill Squandered (none / 0) (#7)
    by Ernesto Del Mundo on Mon Sep 11, 2006 at 05:26:44 PM EST
    The Bush family had an interest in Germany. This is when Germany was not so friendly to us. As for "national interests", one would hope that protecting the safety of its people would be such an interest, but recent history teaches us otherwise. I define "national interest" in this case as "dood for business, bad for the people" as one of the Iraqi war profiteers famously stated.

    Re: Goodwill Squandered (none / 0) (#9)
    by Sailor on Mon Sep 11, 2006 at 05:45:29 PM EST
    A dose of reality hopefully will refocus their understanding that freedom is automatic, and the month long vacation isn't really a birthright.
    So bush taking month long vacations as his birthright is anathema to ppj!?

    Re: Goodwill Squandered (none / 0) (#10)
    by jimakaPPJ on Mon Sep 11, 2006 at 07:33:37 PM EST
    Ernesto - And the Kennedy's were known to be friends with the Germans. Now. What's you point besides trying to change the subject? Sailor - Bush has more than enough communication/supervisory capability with him to do his job. But based on your technical commengts, the fact that you don't need to sitting behind a desk escapes you completely. Repeat after me: Computers. UpLinks. Cellphones.

    Re: Goodwill Squandered (none / 0) (#11)
    by cpinva on Mon Sep 11, 2006 at 10:12:44 PM EST
    Sailor - Bush has more than enough communication/supervisory capability with him to do his job.
    having it, and being competent enough to use it are not mutually inclusive. i thought for a while that the bush "dummy" schtick was just that, a schtick, to show all the rubes what a "regular" guy he is, as opposed to the scion of an elite, wealthy new england family, educated at schools most of us only read about. it turns out i was completely wrong: he is a dummy! if harvard & yale had even the remotest sense of shame, they'd expunge him from their records. granted, both schools have produced their fair share of idiots, but none that i can think of, off the top of my head, that have wreaked such destruction on the fabric of american society. in that, bush is in a class all by his lonesome. what's fascinating is that he does it all with that incredibly stupid smirk on his face. it's like he took lessons in dumb smirk from sen. george allen.

    Re: Goodwill Squandered (none / 0) (#12)
    by cpinva on Mon Sep 11, 2006 at 10:12:44 PM EST
    to give bush his due, he's managed to bump millard fillmore out of the top spot for most inept presidents, ever. to fillmore's credit, he did.............nothing, good or bad, he just filled the seat for 4 years. would that the same could be said of bush.

    Re: Goodwill Squandered (none / 0) (#13)
    by Ernesto Del Mundo on Mon Sep 11, 2006 at 10:12:44 PM EST
    My point is that the Bush family has a verifiable history of selling out the American people's safety for their own self-interest. What the Nazis were to Prescott Bush, the Saudi Royal family are to his scion.

    Re: Goodwill Squandered (none / 0) (#8)
    by Ernesto Del Mundo on Mon Sep 11, 2006 at 10:37:53 PM EST
    good*

    Re: Goodwill Squandered (none / 0) (#14)
    by Sailor on Tue Sep 12, 2006 at 09:08:58 AM EST
    And the Kennedy's were known to be friends with the Germans.
    'goodwill squandered' is the tropic ppj, try to remember that ... and on an open thread you can link to where the kennedys were sanctioned for trading with the nazis ... you know, like prescott bush was. we have a global economy, a global terrorist threat and brning our friendly bridges is no way to stay safe or economically viable.

    Re: Goodwill Squandered (none / 0) (#15)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Sep 13, 2006 at 10:32:55 AM EST
    It's worth tuning in to this commentary from Olberman, who says OUT LOUD that the Emperor has no clothes and has offended us all. "How dare you, Mr. President!" he cries. "Who has left this hole in the ground [at the World Trade Center]? We have not forgotten, Mr. President. You have. May this country forgive you!" You can see it on air at this link, or read a portion below: http://www.hoffmania.com/blog/2006/09/olbermann_gives.html
    This Hole In The Ground Half a lifetime ago, I worked in this now-empty space. And for 40 days after the attacks, I worked here again, trying to make sense of what happened, and was yet to happen, as a reporter. All the time, I knew that the very air I breathed contained the remains of thousands of people, including four of my friends, two in the planes and -- as I discovered from those "missing posters" seared still into my soul -- two more in the Towers. And I knew too, that this was the pyre for hundreds of New York policemen and firemen, of whom my family can claim half a dozen or more, as our ancestors. I belabor this to emphasize that, for me this was, and is, and always shall be, personal. And anyone who claims that I and others like me are "soft,"or have "forgotten" the lessons of what happened here is at best a grasping, opportunistic, dilettante and at worst, an idiot whether he is a commentator, or a Vice President, or a President.


    Re: Goodwill Squandered (none / 0) (#16)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Sep 13, 2006 at 10:32:55 AM EST
    In the days following 9/11, much of the rest of the world viewed the United States with sympathy and support. Five years later, thanks to the Bush administration, world opinion of the U.S. has flip-flopped
    I'm going to have to call bull-crap on this one. The world is not mad at Bush, he's just the front man and makes an easy (and obvious) target. The presidents power comes from the congress & senate and ultimately the people. The world is pissed at lazy Americans who sit back blame everyone else for their problems (left and right) and piss and moan when someone takes action, right or wrong. In the end I can't fault Bush for trying, I will however fault him for making more poor than good choices. Oh, after all that, I could care less what the world thinks. I'm sure they don't care what we think of them, let's be real here. I see so much here about what one country or another thinks about us. Are you that vain? Really?? Do you think if the headlines in Paris were "Germans unhappy with recent riots" that the average Frenchman would start to worry and debate how to make the German's happy? Get real.

    Goodwill Squandered | 16 comments (16 topical)