END OF WARS (Part 13)

The following is largely excerpted from Chapter 1 of SIMPLE SOLUTIONS for Humanity:

What doesn’t the world like about the U.S.?

...........ISSUE ..................................APPROVE ..DISAPPROVE

o North Korea’s nuclear program ..........30% .............54%
o Iran’s nuclear program .......................28% .............60%
o Global warming .................................27% .............56%
o The Israeli-Hezbollah war ...................21% .............65%
o The war in Iraq ..................................20% .............73%

A good place to start is by introspection. We find every excuse for deriding China on virtually everything it does. So why did the United States in 2006 choose not to seek a seat on the new U.N. Human Rights Council? Why didn’t the conscious of the world, us, continue our attempts to improve the world? Very simple, the potential embarrassment that we would not win one of the seats, for we now rest at the top of the list for the exploitation and manipulation of human rights, that’s why. Add to these the Patriot Act, which provides an excuse for eavesdropping and circumventing civil rights at home, and one gets an uneasy sense of really Big Brother.

Internationally, America the Protector! A little loyalty, perhaps, might be nice. Our only wish is for you to become democratic. Why, then, in a poll taken early in 2006, half of South Korean youths who will be old enough to vote in the next elections, say that Seoul should side with their neighbors to the North if the United States invades North Korea? Also, 40% chose China as their most important partner, with the U.S. tying North Korea with 18%. What kind of thanks is that? U.S. attack North Korea? Preposterous! But, in a CBS/New York Times Poll taken in February of 2003, 52% of Americans responded that if diplomacy fails, military action should be taken if North Korea begins to develop nuclear weapons. Well, Great Leader Kim Jong Il finally did shut down his nuclear reactor in mid-2007. An actual agreement, though, awaits the Obama Administration.

Further, we saved France in World War II. How many there feel good about the ole US of A? Well, as a matter of fact, there is a book called The Arrogance of the French: Why They Can’t Stand Us—and Why the Feeling is Mutual. Written by a U.S. News and World Report correspondent in Paris, the bottom line being that France sucks. Remember our Freedom Fries and boycotts of French wine after their complicity with Saddam Hussein? The why has to do with a combination of arrogance and envy. I went to an energy conference in La Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean in 2005. I was the only American. There were some initial chidings and jokes. Then, I made a remark that I can’t understand why my President scuttled the Kyoto Protocol and how I can’t agree with him on virtually everything. All true. I became a virtual celebrity and relationships began to gel. So, maybe the problem is our Great Leader, George W. Bush.

I travel the world. Japan kind of likes us, especially their Ministry of Foreign Affairs, particularly when a Republican is president. Singapore seems okay, especially if you talk business. Ah….I don’t remember, though, encountering too many friends anywhere else. In Edinburgh, Scotland, at their annual Arts Festival, there were more down with Bush signs than any other protest. Anytime President Bush visits any site, from Pakistan to the U.K. to Timbuktu, you can count on significant to massive demonstrations.

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The Dow Jones Industrials leaped 184 to 8686. World markets also all went up, but crude oil dropped to $38.25/barrel and gold fell $7/toz to $873.60.

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