Bush Drags American Image Down Overseas

By RAY HANANIA

(JERUSALEM) — Traveling through the UK, Israel and Palestine on a comedy tour last week, I heard consistent and disconcerting messages from many people.

Apparently, people outside of America don’t think much of us. The American image has been seriously tarnished.

It’s not just coming from people who we disagree with. The British and Israelis are our allies who this country has backed with huge foreign aid. Yet they are joining the chorus around the world They all complain that Americans are “too arrogant,” that we are “hypocrites,” and that we are trying to "control the world."

Years ago, it was a complaint we just heard from the French. Now, it seems, it’s coming from all over.

And why shouldn’t it. We are so consumed with ourselves we have lost sight of what others think.

While Bush took the world to war in Iraq to topple a tyrant named Saddam Hussein, the same president seems incapable of curbing the tyranny of Pakistan’s Military Dictator Pervez Musharraf.

We excuse it as a part of the “War on Terrorism.” The rest of the world says Americans pick and choose dictators based on what Americans need.

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http://www.swnewsherald.com/online_content/2007/12/120307wv_rh_usrep.php

A friend of mine was beaten up solely for being an American in Dublin many years ago. We've always been hated by a certain segment of Europe just as there are far-right wingers here who hate Europeans. Bush is merely embodying that stereotype for the good of the people he serves. He emboldens the bigots to speak out against us.