Margaret Tutwiler, in her first public appearance as the State Department official in charge of public diplomacy, acknowledged on Wednesday that America’s standing abroad had deteriorated to such an extent that “it will take us many years of hard, focused work” to restore it.
You got that right woman! The whole world is getting annoyed by the US because they mind every country’s business. Whenever there is a war in any country the US wants to be the pathetic hero. Look what happpened to Iraq and Afganistan, they are not any better. They still cannot prove they can make the world better. The US government are just full of it.
Yeah the US has a problem with PR unlike what Saudi Arabia, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Germany, France, Canada, etc.
Yes, PaoGao, I totally agree, these fuckers are going to be the same ones whining when they need us but that’s besides the point right?
I will take our pr problem any day and by the way despite what the shrill intellectuals have to say, when their citizens continue to swim fight and fly to get to America. I wonder what would happen if the US would set up an office in Teheran and say anyone who wants a US passport gets one. The country would fall apart in days. So much for that pr problem. Ditto for ANY Middle Eastern nation. I don’t care what they say but anyone who thinks that this is not true has never been there. All supposed anti Americans in Jordan, Egypt, etc would go in a heartbeat so wherein exactly lies the PR problem?
Be realistic. Internationally, nobody has ever liked the U.S. We can make the world safe for Frenchmen, save China from the Japanese hordes, protect Germany from the Soviets, “loan” Turkey gobs of money, protect Saudi Arabia and Kuwait from Saddam Hussein, save Kosovo Muslims from rampaging Serbs, give more food aid to the starving post-Soviet (and pre-9/11) Afghanis than all other nations combined . . . doesn’t matter, the fucking leftists will just keep chanting the mantra “the U.S. is a bunch of imperial bastards” until most of Europe and half the U.S. follows their line.
We should’ve stayed in France and Germany, same with Japan, forced them all to learn English, used them as front-line cannon fodder against the Soviets back in 1948, and then overrun China. Dust the Middle East, and then crush Africa under our jackboots. The world would be a better place.
But then we’d have been just like Germany, Russia, or Japan. . . .
oh how i long for the golden days of the 70’s and 80’s. anti-american protests, burning us flags, left wing liberals who were still convinced that communism was the better way… what’s not to like?
I don’t know about all that other stuff you said, but I am from nearby kosovo, and the US Goverment made more destruction there, than they care to mention. The “AMERICAN GOVERMENT SAVE THE WORLD!” please! take a new hard-honest look at your goverment actions around the world and you tell me only ONE country where they have been and brought peace and serenity and I’ll tell 5 where they have brought chaos and misery.
The thing with the american people is that their goverment have so much indoctrinated them, the truth is suppressed and the lies are on CNN.
The good thing is that not all American think like you. I have many friends in the US who are uphold by the way their goverment treats international affairs and would rather this money be spent in internal affairs, because if a country needs help, it’s really AMERICA.
The CNN-ization of the news? The rise of a global news services. Satellite technology enabling CNN and its few competitors to extend their reach to the world
Are you saying that the US did not play a major, if not primary role, in pacifying Europe in WW2 and in ensuring the peace for Western Europe for 50 years thereafter? And are you saying that the US did not play a major, if not primary role, in pacifying East Asia in WW2 and in ensuring the peace for much of Asia since then?
You say the US caused much destruction near Kosovo. You are aware, are you not, that the US didn’t want to go anywhere near that mess. But since the people living there could not seem to act like human beings and the Europeans were happy to sit and watch the killing progress… at least for some time until they finally asked the US to go in and stop it… how do you think the US should have handled the mess there? My cousin spent time in Kosovo trying to keep those people from killing each other. I can assure you that none in my family was happy about him being sent there to deal with that mess created by those people. You say you are from near Kosovo… tell us what your government and people did to fix that goddamned mess.
Is all of what is reported on CNN "lies’? Is there never any truth?
Well, if your people could have or would have handled the mes in Kosovo, the US wouldn’t have to have been there. If you can’t fix the problem yourself and you beg the US to “do something”… then don’t bitch about how we handled it.
[quote=“tigerman”]
Are you saying that the US did not play a major, if not primary role, in pacifying Europe in WW2 and in ensuring the peace for Western Europe for 50 years thereafter? And are you saying that the US did not play a major, if not primary role, in pacifying East Asia in WW2 and in ensuring the peace for much of Asia since then?
You say the US caused much destruction near Kosovo. You are aware, are you not, that the US didn’t want to go anywhere near that mess. But since the people living there could not seem to act like human beings and the Europeans were happy to sit and watch the killing progress… at least for some time until they finally asked the US to go in and stop it… how do you think the US should have handled the mess there? My cousin spent time in Kosovo trying to keep those people from killing each other. I can assure you that none in my family was happy about him being sent there to deal with that mess created by those people. You say you are from near Kosovo… tell us what your government and people did to fix that goddamned mess.[/quote]
One thing is sure, we DO have a different opinion on these issues.
[quote=“tigerman”]
Are you saying that the US did not play a major, if not primary role, in pacifying Europe in WW2 and in ensuring the peace for Western Europe for 50 years thereafter? And are you saying that the US did not play a major, if not primary role, in pacifying East Asia in WW2 and in ensuring the peace for much of Asia since then?
You say the US caused much destruction near Kosovo. You are aware, are you not, that the US didn’t want to go anywhere near that mess. But since the people living there could not seem to act like human beings and the Europeans were happy to sit and watch the killing progress… at least for some time until they finally asked the US to go in and stop it… how do you think the US should have handled the mess there? My cousin spent time in Kosovo trying to keep those people from killing each other. I can assure you that none in my family was happy about him being sent there to deal with that mess created by those people. You say you are from near Kosovo… tell us what your government and people did to fix that goddamned mess.[/quote]
That’s fine. But, I’d still like to read your reply to my questions above. How do you think the US should have handled the mess there? If you’re going to be critical, then offer an alternative or at least some constructive criticism.
And please do tell us what your government and people so near to Kosovo did to fix that goddamned mess.
Tigerman: the US played a major part in WWII but never the primary role. That would be something you could take credit for had you stepped in a little earlier rather than leave the Brits to fight alone in Europe, N. Africa, East Asia, South East Asia and defending her own shores for over two and a half years. Thanks though for the food and the armaments sent over by convoy.
If you are in the area and NEGATIVE about US involvement in the region, you can only be from one country: Serbia. I have traveled extensively throughout the region in recent years and I can guarantee you that these nations will NOT be complaining:
Slovenia
Croatia
Hungary
Romania
Bulgaria
Albania
Bosnia
Kosovo
So that leaves two that have anti-American views: Greece (perenniel) and then the most vociferous: Serbia. So I would surmise that based on your name and given that you have claimed to be a neighbor that you are Serbian, in which case, I would direct your attention to the media of your own nation which was tightly controlled during Milosevic’s reign and hardly warranted more than a “completely lacking in freedom” rating from ALL international media rating organizations including that of the precious UN.
Sorry that the issue was one of great concern to you. I know that these issues are very strongly felt but I would second Tigerman’s question and ask what should the US have done differently or instead?
And in all fairness, why should Americans care at all about their image abroad? Should we ask the Turks what they think of the Greeks? the Armenians? Syrians? Bulgarians?
Should we ask the Croats what they think of the Serbs? I would hazard a guess that except in some quarters in Greece, Serbia is mostly widely disliked in the region. Then with Hungary should we ask how they feel about the Germans? the Romanians? the Slovaks? the Austrians? the Serbs? etc.?
I for one am not going to be losing any sleep over this. The world is better overall because of the United States and those that find specific problems with American foreign policy or America can certainly bring those up for rational discussion but the emotional ruined more places than helped is clearly not the case and if it is, I want detailed proof of this position since I for one believe that there is absolutely no way to prove such a premise and in fact that it can very easily be disproved.
Perhaps if the British (and others) would not have followed a policy of appeasement in the first place they would not have needed to fight “alone” for that period. Look, the problem was in Europe, not North America. The US had little reason to be mobilized for war at the time. You guys, however, watched Hitler rearm Germany and then attempted appeasement. You guys faught as heros. But you couldn’t finish the job by yourselves. You needed American economic and military might to finish the job. Despite the heroics of the Brits and the sacrifices of the Soviets (no mention of French assitance here), the tide only turned after the US entered the war. As such, there certainly is a case to be made, that the US played a primary role in WW2.
And why should the US have been obligated to assist any European nation protect colonies in N. Africa, East Asia or SE Asia? Regardless, it was primarily the US effort against the Japanese in WW2 that defeated the Japanese. I am not at all discounting the heroics of any of the soldiers from the UK, NZ, Australia or Canada who faught bravely in the Pacific. But to say that the US didn’t play the primary role in defeating the Japanese is incorrect, IMO. The Japanese surrendered on the USS Missouri.
But, you’re more than welcome for the food, arms and loans. I’m always in favor of helping the Brits.
So no one noticed the Japanese military build up prior to Pearl harbour? Britain (under Chamberlain) was guilty to some extent of appeasement but weren’t the Americans still talking to Japan immediately (like minutes) before Pearl harbour was bombed? I think that both Britain and the United States were pretty much asleep within their relative spheres of influence at the time they entered into war with Germany and Japan respectively.
This is a pointless fight given that Britain is our spiritual, constitutional, cultural, legal, political, economic inspiration. Let’s direct our attention rather to the continentals that BOTH Britain and the US saved especially Germany (while civilizing it with democratic values). France was collateral damage and I regret our good efforts haha.
Now what was the alternative? Russia so I think that both nations can congratulate themselves on being the examples that allowed Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Turkey, and now Eastern and Central Europe to rise above themselves to a higher quality and standard of living.
Britain and the US have made a great team, one that I look forward to lasting four more centuries!
