Posted on 07/02/2006 9:13:39 PM PDT by managusta
Kipling's poem The White Man's Burden is often assumed to be about the British Empire, but it was in fact addressed to the United States, then beginning its global ascendancy following the Spanish-American War.
A century later, its lines -"The blame of those ye better, the hate of those ye guard" - seem eerily prophetic. According to our YouGov poll, even many Britons regard America as malign, although they remain fond of individual Americans.
Of course America occasionally deserves criticism. Like every country, it puts its own interests first, sometimes hypocritically. George W. Bush's decision to impose tariffs on imported steel, while preaching commercial liberalisation, is an example.
Ditto the outrageous one-sidedness of the extradition treaty that allows the American authorities to whisk British subjects away without presenting prima facie evidence, but allows no reciprocal action against IRA gunmen in America.
This is, of course, how all superpowers behave. A hundred years ago, it was Britain that resisted supranationalism, and America that constantly demanded international arbitration. But the fact that other nations would do the same if they could get away with it means little to America's critics.
Americans find themselves damned either way. If they remain within their own borders, they are isolationist hicks who are shirking their responsibilities. If they intervene, they are rapacious imperialists.
Indeed, many of their detractors manage to hold these two ideas in their heads simultaneously. Yet a moment's thought should reveal that they are both unfair. In Yugoslavia, America did everything it could to encourage Europe to act.
Only when European passivity was leading to mass slaughter did Washington intervene - benignly and decisively. (Even the most virulent anti-Americans struggle to explain what possible strategic interest there was in Kosovo.) It is a similar story when it comes to Iran.
For a decade, American policy-makers left it to the EU to defuse the nuclear threat from the ayatollahs. Now, with their tactic of constructive engagement in ruins, the Europeans instinctively look to Washington for protection. But you can bet that they will howl with protest if it becomes clear that such protection is best afforded through the deployment of force.
To dislike a country as diverse as America is misanthropic: America, more than any other state, contains the full range of humanity between its coasts. What binds its people together is an ideal encoded in America's DNA.
Conceived in a popular uprising against autocratic government, the United States has a natural sympathy with self-rule, personal freedom and representative government. To this day, it is guided by the Jeffersonian ideal that decisions should be taken as closely as possible to the people they affect.
The EU, of course, is founded on the opposite principle, that of "ever-closer union". No wonder its peoples sometimes resent their more successful cousins.
Happy Birthday America....on this Fourth of July on your behalf from those who have recieved your largesse, we applaud we applaud you :- Germany,Japan,Iraq,Afganhistan,Israel,Jordan,Egypt,Russia,Mexiuco, the United Kingdom,France,Belgium, Luxemburg,Denmark,Fionland,Sweden ,Spain,Latvia ,Lithunia,Poland,Bosnia,Croatia, Kosovo, Georgia,Kazakstan,Estonia,the list goes on.
And we wish the best for you. Thanks.
Great piece!
Wow! Somebody gets it.
Bump to that!
Thank you, managusta, for posting this article. It makes me feel better on this 4th of July.
BTTT
Finally I give a rip about what a European thinks. Guess I am close-minded that way. Thanks for the post.
OK, we'll remember that the NEXT time Germany is kicking your asses. I mean, it's bound to happen...
America rocks, bump!!!
Great article!
It was all about "Wag The Dog" and Monica Lewinsky and the rape of Juanita (is rape a love crime or a hate crime?) The Serbs were America's best friend in the region in WW2 and we bombed Belgrade because some Muslims got Madelyin Alldim all up-set!!! My how things have changed!!!
Perfect.
Independence Day!!!!
Except waiting until the excrement hits the fan usually ends up costing a lot more in American and allied lives. Not to mention her enemies lives.
Bravo. Right now there are liberals and other assorted loons reading this thread and gritting their teeth and the notion of celebrating the greatness of the United States of America.
I can suggest a more cynical explanation for Clinton's Balkan interventions, to wit, the same motivation as the Europeans had: throwing Christian Serbia to the Islamist crocodile in hope of being eaten last.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.