I don't subscribe to the notion liberals are anti-american. We live in a democracy and its great we have different vantage points to consider so I don't entirely believe liberals have the worst in mind when it comes to America. Although, I can identify with more moderate liberals. I am posting this article because there are certain points that are relevant and true. I also find the fact that this radical leftist paper would print something like this makes it worthy of a look. But again, this article makes some good points and in my opinion considering some of the commentary that has been posted here this is tame. This was posted on September 11th 2002. Enjoy. SHAME ON YOU AMERICAN-HATING LIBERALS Tony Parsons The Daily Mirror ONE year ago, the world witnessed a unique kind of broadcasting - the mass murder of thousands, live on television. As a lesson in the pitiless cruelty of the human race, September 11 was up there with Pol Pot's mountain of skulls in Cambodia, or the skeletal bodies stacked like garbage in the Nazi concentration camps. An unspeakable act so cruel, so calculated and so utterly merciless that surely the world could agree on one thing - nobody deserves this fate. Surely there could be consensus: the victims were truly innocent, the perpetrators truly evil. But to the world's eternal shame, 9/11 is increasingly seen as America's comeuppance. Incredibly, anti-Americanism has increased over the last year. There has always been a simmering resentment to the USA in this country - too loud, too rich, too full of themselves and so much happier than Europeans - but it has become an epidemic. And it seems incredible to me. More than that, it turns my stomach. America is this country's greatest friend and our staunchest ally. We are bonded to the US by culture, language and blood. A little over half a century ago, around half a million Americans died for our freedoms, as well as their own. Have we forgotten so soon? And exactly a year ago, thousands of ordinary men, women and children - not just Americans, but from dozens of countries - were butchered by a small group of religious fanatics. Are we so quick to betray them? What touched the heart about those who died in the twin towers and on the planes was that we recognised them. Young fathers and mothers, somebody's son and somebody's daughter, husbands and wives. And children. Some unborn. And these people brought it on themselves? And their nation is to blame for their meticulously planned slaughter? These days you don't have to be some dust-encrusted nut job in Kabul or Karachi or Finsbury Park to see America as the Great Satan. The anti-American alliance is made up of self-loathing liberals who blame the Americans for every ill in the Third World, and conservatives suffering from power-envy, bitter that the world's only superpower can do what it likes without having to ask permission. The truth is that America has behaved with enormous restraint since September 11. Remember, remember. Remember the gut-wrenching tapes of weeping men phoning their wives to say, "I love you," before they were burned alive. Remember those people leaping to their deaths from the top of burning skyscrapers. Remember the hundreds of firemen buried alive. Remember the smiling face of that beautiful little girl who was on one of the planes with her mum. Remember, remember - and realise that America has never retaliated for 9/11 in anything like the way it could have. So a few al-Qaeda tourists got locked without a trial in Camp X-ray? Pass the Kleenex. So some Afghan wedding receptions were shot up after they merrily fired their semi-automatics in a sky full of American planes? A shame, but maybe next time they should stick to confetti. AMERICA could have turned a large chunk of the world into a parking lot. That it didn't is a sign of strength. American voices are already being raised against attacking Iraq - that's what a democracy is for. How many in the Islamic world will have a minute's silence for the slaughtered innocents of 9/11? How many Islamic leaders will have the guts to say that the mass murder of 9/11 was an abomination? When the news of 9/11 broke on the West Bank, those freedom-loving Palestinians were dancing in the street. America watched all of that - and didn't push the button. We should thank the stars that America is the most powerful nation in the world. I still find it incredible that 9/11 did not provoke all-out war. Not a "war on terrorism". A real war. The fundamentalist dudes are talking about "opening the gates of hell", if America attacks Iraq. Well, America could have opened the gates of hell like you wouldn't believe. The US is the most militarily powerful nation that ever strode the face of the earth. The campaign in Afghanistan may have been less than perfect and the planned war on Iraq may be misconceived. But don't blame America for not bringing peace and light to these wretched countries. How many democracies are there in the Middle East, or in the Muslim world? You can count them on the fingers of one hand - assuming you haven't had any chopped off for minor shoplifting. I love America, yet America is hated. I guess that makes me Bush's poodle. But I would rather be a dog in New York City than a Prince in Riyadh. Above all, America is hated because it is what every country wants to be - rich, free, strong, open, optimistic. Not ground down by the past, or religion, or some caste system. America is the best friend this country ever had and we should start remembering that. Or do you really think the USA is the root of all evil? Tell it to the loved ones of the men and women who leaped to their death from the burning towers. Tell it to the nursing mothers whose husbands died on one of the hijacked planes, or were ripped apart in a collapsing skyscraper. And tell it to the hundreds of young widows whose husbands worked for the New York Fire Department. To our shame, George Bush gets a worse press than Saddam Hussein. Once we were told that Saddam gassed the Kurds, tortured his own people and set up rape-camps in Kuwait. Now we are told he likes Quality Street. Save me the orange centre, oh mighty one! Remember, remember, September 11. One of the greatest atrocities in human history was committed against America. No, do more than remember. Never forget.
Interesting article, but the Mirror isn't a "radical, leftist newspaper". It is a slightly left-of-centre tabloid newspaper. I certainly wouldn't consider it to be liberal.
heh...moral clarity....nice buzzword.. Plainly speaking, he is just telling it like it is. Even with the things our government have done wrong, we are still the only ones that want to help others in the world, yet we get slammed from all over the world. How many millions of dollars and thousands of lives have we spent tryin to set right the wrongs of the world? Do we ever get credit for any of it? Nope. Are our politicians self serving sometimes? undoubtedly... but for the most part we spend much more of our country's resources helping others and playing world policeman to protect other countries than any other country on earth. The people on this earth who think we are imperialistic and dominating should keep in mind that if we truely wanted to be imperialistic, we could have taken over well over half the world and just who in the hell could stop us? Only one thing keeps us from expanding our borders well beyond what they are.....ourselves. Well written article for the most part...I still resent the implication that liberals would not agree with what he wrote. I consider myself liberal in outlook, and as I said, I agree fully with what he wrote. for the record,I have no party affiliation. Sometimes I agree with Repubs and more often with Dems...but I am not automatically inclined to believe either..
Yeah, Rockets2K, I'm liberal, as are many of my close friends, and I'd be shocked if they didn't enjoy me in agreement with this article. It does sound like he's describing liberals from England, maybe.
Maybe so...but I have noticed the repubs here seem to imply that liberals are anti american also...That little outburst was a combination of the liberal slam from the article and the percieved slamming I think I see here.. fwiw, most of my friends that are even more liberal than I would also agree with the article.. I guess not all stereotypes are accurate..
Enjoy me? WTF? <B>Join me</B> in agreement. Jeez RM95. Hahaha, Buck, I was hoping that I'd catch that before anyone else did. Since I'm referring mainly to RM95's Girl and her girlfriends, they can enjoy me all they want. Of course, Major and Drewdog <B>cannot</B>.
I'm not sure what the Mirror usually looks like, or the editorial slant of their articles, but they've got John Pilger's latest polemic as the cover story, with a beautiful pic of Tony Blair. Hopefully that's not what passes for "slightly left-of-centre" discourse in the U.K.
the article makes good points. the thing that drives me crazy with the anti-war people is that they think we are going to go all out and kill everything. it didnt happen in afghanistan, but yet they still continue talking in the drama queen tone and try to make it seem as if america is doing everything wrong here and that we want to kill women and children and suck the countries dry of their natural resources. believe it or not america is actually being pretty responsible and not overreacting.
Good points about people complaining about Our govt and going easy on Saddam, still, what does 9/11 have to do with Iraq? Nothing in my opinion. If we want to remember 9/11, it shoudln't be to make us feel better about bombing Iraq, it should piss us off again and make us want to find Osama Bin Laden. Anyways, I don't disagree with removing Saddam, but I'd rather we do it with the support of the UN. He isn't a threat to us, he's a threat to his own people and I would be all gung ho if we went in there to help the people. I still feel Oil is at the heart of a lot of this and I don't just mean that for us. Obviously, there is the feeling that once the war is over, we will have a huge amount of oil under out control. France and Germany are against war, if I remember correctly(probably not, don't feel like researching), France and Germany were working out deals with Iraq before 9/11 to do business with them and their oil. If America goes to war, that oil is ours(belongs to the people of Iraq my ass). If we don't go to war, France and Germany are in business with Iraq. Mmm, mmm, mmm, oil. Black gold, Iraqi tea. . .
It is disturbing as an American to have so much anger and even ignorance directed to my country. Especially since I don't even make the decisions of my government, and I can't be lumped in with all Americans, yet if I go overseas I will be stereotyped as an "arrogant" American.
We weren't exactly the first ones to help out in Bosnia. I know for a fact that in East Timor, it was Australia that led a mini international force to help the East Timorese when pro Indonesia militias started killing people and destroying buildings and houses after they had voted for Independence from Indonesia. I was in Australia in 2000, so I guess that's the only reason I know that info.
I really think you're greeted with friendliness in most other western countries, particularly the UK and Australia. Husband Elvis has been living in New Zealand for over six months now and hasn't had one nasty anti-US remark addressed to him; why bother blaming one person for the actions of an entire government? Most people are sensible. Most people understand that. Most people are nice, one-on-one. Even me. But if you're going to say in a public forum 'hey, we're just trying to be the good guys all the time and you're blaming us!' as Rockets2K just did, then yeah, a few people are going to metaphorically roll their eyes at you as I did. The US' foreign policy is not consistently 'good': it is partially good, yes, but mostly acts in its own self-interest, as most other countries' foreign policies do. Moreover, all the self-pity some of you are spouting about how tough you have it is really lame. You're the world's greatest country, as you keep telling us over and over. Suck it up.
"Suck it up." I hope you don't mind me taking you completely out of context to put your comments smack up against the context of the article, just so I can "metaphorically rolling my eyes" at you on behalf of the spirit of Todd Beamer. "Let's Roll"
Dimsie, Considering that 60% of all aid comes from America...WORLD WIDE. I think we have shown incredible restraint in not just going off half cocked and taking out governments that we don't like. America is not perfect, but it is by and far better then ANY nation in the middle east. DD
<img src="http://smithdray.tripod.com/inspire/images/tb.jpg"> "Suck it up" Todd!! Let's Roll those metaphorical eyes
