September 15, 2002
Wake-up call Nick Denton pricks the complacent:
The US needs a reality check. America’s view of world public opinion is about as realistic as was its vision of happy anti-communist villagers in the strategic hamlets of the Vietnam. The suspicion of American militarism runs deep; and with the exception of Iraq, Iran, and the UK, runs deeper among the people than the elites. Populist policies and democratic reform — whether in Venezuela, Egypt or Germany — are often going to run counter to America’s immediate interests.Or, as the great Belfast fanzine writer Walter A. Willis observed, Americans are “just like people everywhere else, except that they’re not terrified of American foreign policy.” [10:28 PM]
Christopher Hatton ::: (view all by) ::: September 16, 2002, 10:45 AM:
Well, much as I respect and admire the great Willis, he's wrong in my case. And maybe millions of others.
Hard-Hitting Moderator: Teresa Nielsen Hayden.
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