The Ambivalence of World Opinion
I've just read an article from Associated Press that's been posted on Yahoo! News, Katrina Prompts Global Support for Victims. Despite that hopeful title, not everyone in the world is saddened by what happened or even wants to help.
The article quotes "Islamist extremists" as being extremely happy at "America's misfortune." Some have given Katrina the military rank of private, the lowest possible rank, and declared that "...Katrina had joined the global jihad, or holy war." Of course, these Islamist extremists are known for their humanitarian gestures (he remarks ironically).
A Vienna Internet newspaper, Der Standard, apparently has been having a rousing chat room discussion about "whether a rich country like the United States needed such aid." And the Dutch, who are experts at living below sea level, have chided the US and New Orleans for not having adopted a sea wall system similar to theirs for protecting the city.
The Dutch have a point. We Americans are much better at realizing what we should have done after the fact than we are at being proactive. And when we are proactive (see Iraq war) we have this unfortunate tendency to be wrong.
I suppose we should have blamed the tsunami victims for their plight, too. We Americans, though, were too busy rushing aid there. (Oh, we did get blamed for not warning them soon enough that the tsunami was coming.)
Folks, if you wonder why Americans are rude, crude, and arrogant, it seems to me that even when we've been humbled there are plenty of people waiting around to kick us when we're down.
That said, I should make equal note of the fact that the Queen of Great Britain, the President of France, the Chancellor of Germany, and the Pope have all expressed their sorrow and concern. That is decent of them. Even Venezuela, with whom we have strained relations at the moment, has offered not only its condolences but also food and fuel aid "if asked." (It would be good of us to ask, if only in the name of easing tensions between us.)
The article quotes "Islamist extremists" as being extremely happy at "America's misfortune." Some have given Katrina the military rank of private, the lowest possible rank, and declared that "...Katrina had joined the global jihad, or holy war." Of course, these Islamist extremists are known for their humanitarian gestures (he remarks ironically).
A Vienna Internet newspaper, Der Standard, apparently has been having a rousing chat room discussion about "whether a rich country like the United States needed such aid." And the Dutch, who are experts at living below sea level, have chided the US and New Orleans for not having adopted a sea wall system similar to theirs for protecting the city.
The Dutch have a point. We Americans are much better at realizing what we should have done after the fact than we are at being proactive. And when we are proactive (see Iraq war) we have this unfortunate tendency to be wrong.
I suppose we should have blamed the tsunami victims for their plight, too. We Americans, though, were too busy rushing aid there. (Oh, we did get blamed for not warning them soon enough that the tsunami was coming.)
Folks, if you wonder why Americans are rude, crude, and arrogant, it seems to me that even when we've been humbled there are plenty of people waiting around to kick us when we're down.
That said, I should make equal note of the fact that the Queen of Great Britain, the President of France, the Chancellor of Germany, and the Pope have all expressed their sorrow and concern. That is decent of them. Even Venezuela, with whom we have strained relations at the moment, has offered not only its condolences but also food and fuel aid "if asked." (It would be good of us to ask, if only in the name of easing tensions between us.)
posted by Tom | 3:46 PM
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