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
What a rant! Of course, the world is not safer, and never will be. We are not fighting conventional warfare with a conventional army. They know that too. Terrorism is a constantly changing venue and if you ever let up for one minute, it will be a terrible mistake. It's not something that can be won in a decisive battle or two. They are everywhere, even among us.
The Euros were happy when we had a feckless, sexual sociopath in the Oval office, apologizing to anyone who would listen, when he wasn't wagging his crooked finger and blaming his defects on the "vast right-wing conspiracy", otherwise known as the `American public'.
Bingo!
I am watching MSNBC to listen to what was being said that day from a different perspective and there was a reporter on the street saying that there was reports that there was a bomb in a highschool which wasn't true point being much MIS-information was being reported on TV as well as reporters saying it "hasn't been confirmed" type reports.
Whoretz can KMA!
As a cuss-free Christian, I have to say, "Sometimes, there just is no other word to express my response, other than yours."
I am glad you said it so I don't have to.
I could give a rats ass what a bunch of anti-american socialist euro elitists think of the US. Its a popularity contest we will never win, and we shouldn't even try because you'll bash us no matter what we do.
They developed a culture of hating us before 9/11, they gave fake sympathy during it, and then right back to hating us after.
Go ahead and keep hating us europe if it makes you feel less inferior, but it won't do anything to MAKE you less inferior.
Sickening, isn't it? The MSM/DBM will relish in our next attack. They can't wait and will not be able to hide their glee. They're counting on having something else to bash Bush with, especially before Nov elections.
Funny how much they like Americans when Americans are victims like them. When America gets up and takes action, that they can't relate to.
A whiny Leftist I know once wrote the same type of sentiment. That we had all these countries on our side and could have done something worthwhile, but we blew it. I still want to know what we were supposed to do? Have weekly candlelight vigils? Put sanctions on the terrorists? What?
A friend of mine was in France a few months ago. She met a couple French people who were actually nice and helpful. Most were rude. She asked someone she had been talking to why Parisians were so mean. He said they didn't want to appear nice, because Americans might think the Parisians like them.
Someone came up with the bright idea that we should grovel to the EU for permission to deal with Iraq, Iran, and North Korea. There is even strident support for "meaningful diplomacy" on this great forum. Germany and France negotiating with Iran over nuclear programs. Brilliant.
As IF they'd quit without us "legitimizing" them. As for Chirac and Merkel -- I don't give a rats arse if they are angry at the U.S. If it wasn't for the U.S.'s willingness to stand up to regimes that are fully prepared and committed to do everything in their power to dominate the world, neither of those countries would be what they are today. What a bunch of whiny pantywaists.
No, this from the direct descendants of Hitler. Germany should have been eradicated as a country for what they brought upon the world in World War II.
Funny, because the attitude "The end justifies the the means" is one thing Democracy and Terrorism have in common.
And really, I don't really see the connection between the Marshall Plan and "the end justifies the means". How about: "This from a direct beneficiary of allied firebombings."
Hahaha, you should connect with the German Loony Left Wing. You'd probably agree on so many levels besides the 'eradicate Germany as a country' thing.
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