Ugly Americans

I remembered the words of a close friend's late father this morning. He told his son many years ago that "travelling" was just as beneficial to his pre-adult development as a formal education. To associate, communicate, and exchange ideology with people from foreign lands helps clarify your own role in the world, and appreciate what life is like for those outside of America.

In this time of crisis, I have been following his advice by seeking out the viewpoints of foreign journalists on the internet to form a complete picture. Most are in unison with our own news outlets, but the commentary of Seumas Milne in The Guardian, a U.K. based paper, stands out in particular.

Nearly two days after the horrific suicide attacks on civilian workers in New York and Washington, it has become painfully clear that most Americans simply don't get it. [Edit] Since George Bush's father inaugurated his new world order a decade ago, the US, supported by its British ally, bestrides the world like a colossus. Unconstrained by any superpower rival or system of global governance, the US giant has rewritten the global financial and trading system in its own interest; ripped up a string of treaties it finds inconvenient; sent troops to every corner of the globe; bombed Afghanistan, Sudan, Yugoslavia and Iraq without troubling the United Nations; maintained a string of murderous embargos against recalcitrant regimes; and recklessly thrown its weight behind Israel's 34-year illegal military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza as the Palestinian intifada rages.

Undoubtedly, commentary like this is not what Americans want to hear in their search for answers, but they're vitally important in understanding how some foreigners view our global presence, and maybe even the rage that led to black Tuesday. It's the open exchange of opinions that ultimately lead to understanding, and hopefully less bloodshed.