Posted on 06/11/2008 12:43:18 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Anti-Americanism is at record levels thanks to US policies such as the war in Iraq, and Washington's perceived hypocrisy in abiding by its own democratic values, US lawmakers said Wednesday.
A House of Representatives committee report based on expert testimony and polling data reveals US approval ratings have fallen to record lows across the world since 2002, particularly in Muslim countries and Latin America.
It says the problem arises not from a rejection of US culture, values and power but primarily from its policies, such as backing authoritarian regimes while promoting democracy, human rights and the rule of law.
"Our physical strength has come to be seen not as a solace but as a threat, not as a guarantee of stability and order but as a source of intimidation, violence and torture," said Bill Delahunt, chairman of the subcommittee on international organizations, human rights and oversight.
"We have dangerously depleted what (former president Ulysses S.) Grant... identified as our greatest source of international power -- our reputation for what he called conscience. I would substitute the phrase 'moral authority'," Delahunt added.
The report blames specific policies for falling approval ratings, notably the war in Iraq, support for some repressive governments, a perception of bias in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute and the "torture and abuse of prisoners" in violation of treaty obligations.
It says "disappointment and bitterness" has grown from the perception that much-vaunted US values "have been selectively ignored by successive administrations" for national security or economic ends.
The committee also says unilateralism, particularly in military action, has led to "anger and a fear of attack that are transforming disagreements with US policy into a broadening and deepening anti-Americanism."
These factors, as well as visa and immigration issues, have helped create a "growing belief in the Islamic world that the United States is using the 'war on terror' as a cover for its attempts to destroy Islam," the report concludes.
A Republican member of the subcommittee, Dana Rohrabacher, disagreed with the report and its premise, telling a Washington hearing where the document was released that "I don't think the United States needs to apologize" for its acts.
There had been mistakes in the 'war on terror,' notably in the field of human rights, he said, but argued the United States must not base its foreign policy on public opinion but on "what is right."
He also disputed polling figures suggesting widespread anti-Americanism in Europe, noting that voters in France and Germany and in parts of eastern Europe have recently elected pro-American governments to power.
"I believe that we still have a great deal of people around this world who in their heart understand that America is the force, the only force that is going to protect the decent people of the world against radical Islam, communists, Nazism... and thank God we're still willing to do it," he said.
Delahunt retorted that the report "was not in any way meant to apologize -- its about our national security." He said it was the first step in deciding how to "win hearts and minds, so that it's a win-win for everyone."
At the meeting, the subcommittee also heard testimonies for their next report on the impact of the United States' declining reputation on foreign policy.
Esther Brimmer, director of research at John Hopkins University's Center for Transatlantic Relations, noted that after the September 11, 2001, European nations were keen to help the United States, including in Afghanistan.
But their support was "deeply impacted by the invasion of Iraq," and cooler relations contributed to Washington's failure to secure Macedonia's membership of NATO and to undermine its role in reforming the UN's human rights mechanisms, she said.
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lol
sorry, this is series stuff, think 'soft power'.
more like, yur tax dollars hardly at work for you.
US soldiers prepare to enter a residence during a night raid in a suspected neighborhood, in the west side of the Muslim Sunni northern restive city of Mosul, in 2005. Anti-Americanism is at record levels thanks to US policies such as the Iraq war, and Washington's perceived hypocrisy in abiding by its own democratic values, US lawmakers said Wednesday. (AFP/File/Mauricio Lima)
I keep hearing how the world hates us, but millions of illegals keep sneaking in.
Apparently they don’t hate us enough! :)
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
“..particularly in Muslim countries and Latin America.”
We are in a war on terror. These places have terrorists. W does not coddle these countries as they have been in the past. And now they don’t like us. Boo hoo.
Well then thank the MSM and the Democrats for that because we just freed 50 million world citizens from two of the most brutal regimes on Earth. If the world cannot figure that out, then screw'em.
Record anti-americanism for leftists worldwide.
Everyone can thank our Democrat leaders in our own government! They lead the propaganda charge against our President, and did everything they could to make us look bad.
If there is anyone to blame for this...just look to our own leaders in our own government!
Lets give a round of applause to Dick Durban, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and John Murtha to name a few!
and link.
who is on the committee??
this link is for the specific committee and members,
http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/members.asp?committee=oversight, link above is for all committees in Foreign Affairs.
A Weird Sort of Racial Chauvinism [Victor Davis Hanson]
A common trope of many pundits is that when they travel overseas now, they begin to tingle when those abroad, especially in the so-called former Third World, press them on Obama’s chances. Then the now banal theme follows: the Middle Easterner, African, South American, etc. tells the American pundit that he can’t believe an America would pick a (fill in the blank) — former Muslim, person of color, man with Hussein as a middle name, etc. — and that suddenly this liberality has restored his faith in the United States.
Then the pundit, straining to be fair, usually says he doesn’t know whether Obama could change things as much as his foreign admirers imagine, but at least this is an exciting time (finally) to once again be American. Indeed, the argument that an Obama presidency would appeal to our critics overseas and prove our liberality is becoming a powerful reason to vote for Obama for many of our elites.
Aside from the obvious point that we should not pick our presidents on the basis of whether those in mostly autocratic, non-democratic societies approve, there is something very tribal and racialist about all this chauvinism.
If a white male Christian of European ancestry were suddenly a likely successor to the Mubarak dictatorship, or were next in line to take over the Mugabe kleptocracy, or were stealing Venezuela from Hugo Chavez, or were going to be elected the next leader of South Africa, it would be of less than zero importance to me, and I would hope to other Americans of similar backgrounds. And I think most of us would shudder should an Englishman or Australian say “I just hope your next President is another white male Christian like McCain.” I was in Greece in 1988 when the socialist liberal Greeks went ga-ga over Mike Dukakis solely on the basis on his shared ethnic background and it seemed pretty absurd, especially when many promised they would change their dark view of Reagan’s America if a Greek-American were elected President.
So, one, I don’t see what is so great when a foreigner tells an American journalist that his view of America might change should we elect a person closer to his own perceived racial or religious self-image. Seems instead illiberal, tribal, and retrograde. And two, if Egyptians, Iranians, Congolese, or Bolivians want real changes in their own lives, then they should look to their own autocratic systems, not the United States that can do little to alleviate their mostly self-inflicted miseries other than to continue to shell out hundreds of billions in petrodollars and ever more humanitarian aid.
06/11 01:43 PM
Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight
The Decline in America’s Reputation: Why?
http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/110/42566.pdf
Fully 80% of anti-American feeling in the world emanates from the Democrat party and the mainstream media.
The largest promoter of anti-American propaganda is not al-Jazeera but CNN.
So sad that these groups now hate us because we know that prior to WOT they all were firm supporters of the US and our global policies.....geeeeesh!
You got that RIGHT!!!! Right on the Money!
What is Congress’ explanation for why their dismal aproval numbers are even lower than the President?
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