The events of 9/11/2001 brought the United States great sympathy from many corners of the world, as our president undertook to unravel the terrorist network that had been set up by Osama Bin Laden to exploit discontent in the Muslim world. Indeed, it might be said that the events of 9/11/2001 created his presidency.
A year ago, we were in Afghanistan, removing the Taliban from power and rooting out whatever members of Al Quaeda we could. At the time, I approved of what George W. Bush was doing, but I wondered if the Israelis, the Russians and the Indians would coopt his rhetoric in order to justify their own actions vis á vis the Palestinians, the Chenyans and the Kashmiris, respectively. I also suspected that the U.S. might cut and run after the military component of the Afghan adventure drew to a close.
While I believe that only a small fraction of promised aid for reconstruction of Afghanistan has been forthcoming, there have been a few significant achievements there. Apparently many women are now to be seen moving about freely and even pursuing educational objectives, things that were completely forbidden by the Taliban. Regrettably, the U.S. has done little to quell the struggles for power among various warlords, except to refer to them by the pleasant term "local representatives."
Almost all the goodwill that the U.S. enjoyed in the aftermath of 9/11 has been frittered away. Today, as it is on the brink of a preemptive war against Iraq, the U.S. finds itself rather isolated, its only enduring advocates being Great Britain and Israel. In this new world order, the other nuclear powers, China, France, India, Pakistan and Russia, have become anti-war advocates.
So, where did George W. go astray? Certainly, his rhetoric has not been helpful. Talk of a crusade stirred up bitter memories across the Muslem world, while the "axis of evil" reference to Iraq, Iran and North Korea put those countries on notice that they could expect the U.S. to move against each of them in turn. It has long been recognized that the U.S. regards itself not to be subject to international laws that it expects other countries to obey. Even our friends were not pleased when Bush declared that anyone who is "not with us" would be considered to be "against us." Increasingly, I think the United States is being perceived as a very large loose cannon.
If the administration decides that it is "we against the world," we may find that many of the liberties that we take for granted are suspended or done away with permanently. One already wonders how many Americans are languishing in Guantanamo, never to be heard from again. This may explain why Canadian border crossings are already overwhelmed by fleeing Muslims, some of whom are citizens of this country, and all of whom are frightened by our government.
One bright spot in a dark picture is the apparent fact that eastern European countries that once felt compelled to go along with whatever their Soviet masters wanted now feel similarly disposed toward the United States. Perhaps this will be enough, although it wasn't enough to preserve the Soviet Union, the former bully on Europe's eastern block.