Posted on 09/11/2006 8:00:48 AM PDT by ARealMothersSonForever
PARIS - The nations of the world joined Monday in solemn remembrance of Sept. 11 — but for many, resentment of the United States flowed as readily as tears.
Critics say Americans have squandered the goodwill that prompted France's Le Monde newspaper to proclaim "We are all Americans" that somber day after the attacks, and that the Iraq war and other U.S. policies have made the world less safe in the five years since.
Heads bowed in moments of silence in tribute to the 3,000 killed in the attacks on New York and Washington — while a top al-Qaida leader issued new warnings in a videotape that appeared to be fresh. And dissident voices brushed the portrait of a planet that has traded in civil liberties and other democratic rights in its war on terror.
Even German Chancellor Angela Merkel — an advocate of closer ties with Washington — had veiled criticism of the United States, saying: "The ends cannot justify the means."
"In the fight against international terror ... respect for human rights, tolerance and respect for other cultures must be the maxim of our actions, along with decisiveness and international cooperation," she said.
The international landscape has changed irreversibly since terrorists hijacked four airliners in 2001, crashing two into New York's World Trade Center, one into the Pentagon and another into a Pennsylvania field.
Allies in the U.S.-led war on terrorism that the attacks unleashed renewed their resolve Monday to fight fanaticism, while militants blasted Washington's response as ineffective and pledged continued resistance.
In a video broadcast Monday, al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri warned that Persian Gulf countries and Israel would be al-Qaida's next targets and he called on Muslims to step up their resistance against the United States.
"You gave us every legitimacy and every opportunity to continue fighting you," al-Zawahri said, addressing the U.S. in the video, which appeared to be new. "You should worry about your presence in the (Persian) Gulf and the second place you should worry about is Israel."
He also accused the governments of Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia of supporting Israel's war against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Other video posted on the Internet, purportedly by al-Qaida, showed previously unseen footage of a smiling bin Laden and other commanders in a mountain camp apparently planning the Sept. 11 attacks.
New Zealand's Prime Minister Helen Clark joined many when she said: "No, we're not more secure since 9/11."
Clark said more should be done to reach out to moderate states and leaders in the Islamic world to encourage understanding between different peoples, and to help end the sense of alienation and exclusion among some young Muslims that fuels extremism.
In Europe, whose own soil has been struck three times since Sept. 11 by terrorist attacks, commemorations touched each nation.
Bells tolled in Rome's city hall square. In London, bouquets of white roses and yellow carnations were piled in a memorial garden where the names of 67 Britons killed in the New York attacks are inscribed — and where a steel girder from the wreckage of the World Trade Center is buried.
At a 38-nation Asia-Europe summit in Helsinki, Finland, leaders stood in silence in a circle. The stock exchanges in Nordic and Baltic countries were observing two minutes of silence to honor the victims of the world's worst terror attacks.
"9/11 will be in our memory forever," said Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni during a ceremony in the a downtown piazza designed by Michelangelo. "We all remember where we were, what we were doing, what our first reaction was.
France's President Jacques Chirac, in Helsinki, reiterated in a written message to President Bush of his nation's "friendship" in the fight against terrorism.
A week after the Sept. 11 attacks, Chirac flew over the World Trade Center site — the first foreign leader to pay personal condolences. That solidarity quickly dissipated into rancor in the buildup to the Iraq war, when Chirac led opposition to Bush's plans.
Israel's Haaretz daily expressed disappointment and cynicism in an op-ed piece that said: "This is Sept. 11 five years later: a political tool in the hands of the Bush administration."
In Southeast Asia, U.S. and Philippine troops fighting Islamic extremists in the jungles prayed for peace and safety, as other remembrances took place in Japan, Australia, Finland, South Korea, Thailand and Indonesia.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who won the country's first post-Taliban election in 2004, expressed the appreciation of the Afghan people to the U.S. for the "sacrifices of your sons and daughters" in rebuilding his country. But on the streets in the capital, Kabul, many Afghans grumbled that they had not seen much improvement.
Despite about 20,000 U.S. forces fighting al-Qaida and Taliban fighters in Afghanistan, and about the same number of NATO troops, and billions in aid, a resurgent Taliban resistance has shaken the country, while corruption has stymied development.
In neighboring Pakistan, considered a major ally in the U.S.-led war on terror, newspapers ran bleak-toned opinion columns and editorials criticizing Western anti-terror policies and attitudes
The US did not squander their good will.
They allowed 911 to turn them into cowards.
If they expected the United States to stand by and allow Islamics to kill 3,000 of us and do nothing they forgot that Bubba the great asskissing appeaser lost the election.
When the ragheads translate your alias you will lose your head.
You mad socialists cost me both my parents and my only sibling.
I say the Marshall plan was a great mistake.
P.S. F##k all of eurabia.
Bump for the humor! It is a difficult day to keep a clear perspective. When the "nuke 'em all and let God sort them out" crowd starts to look like a reasonable philanthropic society, it is good to see some humor ;)
Gosh, you're so smart.
Yeh, I also had no Grandfather, but I deserve that of course. Did you even read my post, you dolt?
Observant, maybe.
The whole world loves us most when we are getting killed. They are happiest and have the most 'goodwill' for us when we are losing.
and that the Iraq war and other U.S. policies have made the world less safe in the five years since.
Translation: "It makes harder for us to close our eyes and ignore the European Muslim Problem...."
Paris----Close thread.
I say we trade Germany and France to the Saudi's and Iranians for a long-term oil supply deal. It would be a win-win. The French would not have to deal with Jews under a Saudi reign, and the Germans could go back to North Africa. What a deal!
What really baffles me is that this news item also includes the word "France" and there were already about 130 responses but NO SURRENDER JOKE! What happened to Tradition?
Speaking of tradition, I'm all in favor of only reading the headline and the first couple sentences of an article. But I wish folks wouldn't make it so obvious.
You seem to enjoy ignoring reality and calling other people names. Yes, I did read your post and several history books. I know for most of its existence, Europe has been in a state of war and twice you dragged the U.S. into it. I can understand your defense of Islam since the National Socialists and Europeans in general have always been aligned with Islam and its hatred for Jews. Many of us taxpayers in the United States strongly resent and resist all of the foreign aid money Europe receives from us. We should bring all of our troops home from sewers like Germany and let you Europeans kill each other.
I'm thoroughly convinced that a majority of Freepers don't read the article, but post only in reaction to the thread headline.
"Reality" and this thread are mutually-exclusive. Since the very first comment.
Defense of Islam? What the hell are you talking about? Anyway, I rather insult people than whole nations like you. And I can't think of an answer to your incoherent rants. Maybe you want to elaborate.
This day does bring out emotion in most Americans. I was in Bonn, Germany on this day in 2001. Yeah, I get a little wound up when foreign leaders condemn us on this day. The context and the direct quotes indicate that this was uttered today.
Seems like I'd be hurting my cause with this if I had one, but these two quotes actually come from the short speech she held at 9/11.
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