Foreign opinion of the U.S.

Stanley Crouch makes a good point:

A new study by Manhattan-based Charney Research queried 14 focus groups in Egypt, Morocco and Indonesia, made up largely of college-educated men and women. Apparently, the Muslim attitude toward the United States is so hot that people accept anything they think proves our cruelty, our bigotry against Islam and our imperial intentions.

Much of this, of course, is based in the perception of inordinate Jewish influence on our foreign policy. But the old idea of the Jewish mouse pulling the American bull around by a ring through its nose has been replaced by the belief that, instead of the actual 2%, the Jewish population in the United States is as high as 85%.

:

...Our job is to create a reasonable discussion of our differences in perspective. But we have to face up to how hard that may be in countries where the educated elite believe that only 15% of us are not Jews.

Exactly.

:

Various surveys have found time and time again that the rest of the world, especially in recent years, has a quite low opinion of the U.S. But so what? why we should pay any heed to the opinions of people who are so obviously backwards?

:

This is particularly true of the Arabs. Arab countries have shown that they do not have the first clue about what it takes to build a successful country. Most Arab countries are cesspools of corruption, political oppression, and poverty with little respect for human rights. Economically they are inconsequential, save for their energy reserves. They have not produced any notable inventions or advances in medical knowledge for the past few hundred years. And they certainly have nothing to teach us about conducting warfare, having lost conflict after conflict after conflict against tiny Israel.

:

So then why do we look to them for validation of our foreign policy? Why do we seek their approval? This is like asking a homeless person for career advice. If anything, the fact that Arabs were opposed to the overthrow of Saddam Hussein and expressed reservations over military action in Afghanistan should be interpreted as confirmation that these were the correct policies.

:

And I don't mean to exclusively pick on the Arabs -- the Europeans are equally misguided. Indeed, unlike the Europeans the Arabs actually have an excuse for their ignorance, being forced to dwell in countries that have no respect for liberty or intellectualism. (Indeed, Arabs tend to do quite well once they leave their homelands)

:

At first glance the views of the Europeans would seem worth considering. Unlike the Arab states the contributions and success enjoyed by Europe can not be dismissed. When such people taking such an active stance against U.S. policy it might be a good sign that Washington is up to no good. On closer examination, however, we can see that they have nothing to teach us about foreign policy either.

:

During the 1980s President Reagan's visits to Europe were greeted by widespread protests. The U.S. deployment of Pershing missiles to Germany was widely opposed, as was the deployment of cruise missiles to bases in the U.K. Reagan, Europeans were convinced, was bent on starting World War III. The U.S. president's mentality, a German friend explained to be, was "Besser tot als rot" -- better dead than red.

:

Less than a year after Reagan left office the Berlin Wall fell.

:

In the 1990s the Europeans dithered while the slaughter continued unabated in Bosnia, and even pushed for an arms embargo on the former Yugoslavia that had the result of denying the Bosnian Muslims the ability to defend themselves against the better armed Serbs (kind of like gun control). Dutch "peacekeepers" meanwhile stood idly by while Serbs butchered Bosnian Muslims in the "safe haven" of Srebrenica. It wasn't until the U.S. placed some well-placed bombs on Serb positions that the killing stopped.

:

Oh yeah, and Europe blew itself up in two world wars in the last 100 years.

:

So why do we care what they think?