Five Years Later, Global Goodwill Squandered
Five years ago, I was focused on September 12th -- I had a date with major surgery. When Mike woke me on September 11th to tell me about the Twin Towers, my first thought was for my best friend from high school, who worked on Wall Street. (She was OK, although she was exiting the Twin Towers about 8.30 am.) My second was, "Will my surgery be cancelled?" (It wasn't.)
I escaped most of the media overload of that day, since I spent the next four days (or was it five?) in the hospital, heavily sedated for pain. No TV, no newspapers, no magazines -- I couldn't concentrate.
What I did not miss, however, was the overwhelming support for my country from others around the world.
December 2001: America Admired
According to Pew Research, in December 2001, "a majority of non-U.S. opinion leaders, including nearly half of influentials in Islamic countries, say many or most people in their countries think the U.S. is doing the right thing in fighting terrorism."
In 2002, US favorability ratings were at 75% in Great Britain, 72% in Japan, 63% in France, and 61% in Germany, Russia and Indonesia. In India, support was only 54%, and in Turkey, only 30%.
September 2006: Tables Turned
Today, those numbers have dropped precipitously in Europe. Here are the most recent US favorability ratings, tinged with the mess that is Iraq:
- Great Britain, 56%
- Russia, 43%
- France, 39%
- Germany, 37%
- Turkey, 12%
In fact, global citizens believe that the US is a greater threat to world peace than is Iran (41% to 34% in Great Britain, 56% to 38% in Spain).
This attitude follows logically from what Pew authors wrote in 2004: "Perceptions of American unilateralism remain widespread in European and Muslim nations, and the war in Iraq has undermined America's credibility abroad."
A Look At Iraq
It seems wrong to me to talk about Iraq in the same column as 9-11 ... because we know that Iraq had nothing to do with 9-11. Nevertheless, two-thirds of Republicans believe it did. And it is the most visible, and costly, example of US response.
US News & World Report wrote in August that a new analysis of Iraqi public opinion does not bode well for US efforts in Iraq:
The number of Iraqis who "strongly agreed" that life is "unpredictable and dangerous" jumped from 41 percent to 48 percent of Shiites, from 67 percent to 79 percent of Sunnis and from 16 percent to 50 percent of Kurds...
There was more bad news for U.S. officials, who have worked hard to convince Iraqis that American intentions in Iraq are noble. The most recent survey, done in April this year, found almost no Iraqis who felt the United States had invaded to liberate their country from tyranny and build a democracy. Asked for "the three main reasons for the U.S. invasion of Iraq," fully 76 percent cited "to control Iraqi oil." That was followed by "to build military bases" (41 percent) and "to help Israel" (32 percent). Fewer than 2 percent chose "to bring democracy to Iraq" as their first choice.
Isolated, Questionable "Safety"
In the wake of horrific events, we chose to walk the road of vengence. That path has led to a costly conflict -- one our grandchildren's children will be lucky to finish paying for -- and an increasingly isolated position in world opinion.
How anyone can believe that this "makes us more safe" is beyond my comprehension. But be prepared ... you will be hearing rhetoric in the next two months that asserts these actions have made us "safer" ... and implications that our presence in Iraq is somehow connected to 9-11. The White House is already trying to make "terrorism" a centerpiece -- despite the fact that half the country thinks he's doing a bad job in that area.
It is, after all, campaign season. Voter beware, the FTC rarely enforces "truth in labeling" for us and the FEC enforces campaign finance issues only after-the-fact.
Other articles in this series:
- Why (And How) We Fight
- Declassified Report: No Al Qaeda Link In Pre-War Iraq
- Five Years Later, Americans Turn Skeptic
Also, see Debunking The 9-11 Conspiracy Theories, War On Terror 101, Iraq War Statistics, September 2006, Global Goodwill From 9/11 Casually Tossed Away
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