A Guide to the World's Only Superpower
I read the article on The Japan Times Weekly Feb 4, 2006 that introduced us the book titled ROGUE STATE, written by William Blum, which got a bona fide book blurb from Osama bin Laden.
He is a writer who is accostomed to laboring in relative left-wing and not well known in the U.S. His foreign-policy critique is that U.S. interventions abroad create enemies. How he mentions about it on his book is "If I were the president, I could stop terrorist attacks against the United States in a few days. Permanently. I would first apologize - very publicly and very sincerely- to all the widows and orphans the impoverished and the totured, and all the many millions of other victims of American imperialism."
He made clear that he deplores the attacks of Sep. 11, 2001. But he said that they were an understandable retaliation against U.S. foreign policy. "The thesis in my books and my writing is that anti-U.S. terrorism arises from the behavior of U.S. foreign policy. It is what the U.S. government does, which angers people all over the world." He also said, "I am totally against what they did. But we cannot view that as totally the acts of a bunch of madmen. If we do....we will continue making the same mistakes, and the war on terror will be as doomed to fail as the war on drugs." When it is pinted out that terrorists target innocent civilians, which is not U.S. policy, he replies that U.S. tactics in Iraq have led to the deaths of thousands of civilians. "We bomb homes and these people have families, and Washington refuses to apologize for these civilian deaths. The absence of concern makes their actions almost equal to a deliverate targeting of civilians."
It was a bit of surprise for me to know that there is an American who thinks like that. Because I found a similar story on the internet that a Japanese student went to U.S. university and found out that Americans tended not to know the fact that they have been hated by people all around the world when the student discussed about Kosovo dispute with American students.
The same thing has been happening to Japan.
We have kept having a strong hostility towards us from South Korea and China. We have never admitted enough for them about our historical facts that we treat both country's civilians horribly during our invasions and wars. I was not even taught what we had done in wars that we involved, we was taught only about our win and lose. The both countries argue with this Japanese educational falt. It's like we did not apologize - very publicly and very sincerely- to all the widows and orphans the impoverished and the totured, and all the many millions of other victims of Japanese imperialism.
I think we have angered the both countries by showing the absence of concern for the historical facts. I also think that Japan still now are not willing to apologize - very publicly and very sincerely- because apologizing what we did for them is a polite way to say Japan's losing forced by not economicaly equal countries.
A Guide to the Asia's Only Superpower ....?
He is a writer who is accostomed to laboring in relative left-wing and not well known in the U.S. His foreign-policy critique is that U.S. interventions abroad create enemies. How he mentions about it on his book is "If I were the president, I could stop terrorist attacks against the United States in a few days. Permanently. I would first apologize - very publicly and very sincerely- to all the widows and orphans the impoverished and the totured, and all the many millions of other victims of American imperialism."
He made clear that he deplores the attacks of Sep. 11, 2001. But he said that they were an understandable retaliation against U.S. foreign policy. "The thesis in my books and my writing is that anti-U.S. terrorism arises from the behavior of U.S. foreign policy. It is what the U.S. government does, which angers people all over the world." He also said, "I am totally against what they did. But we cannot view that as totally the acts of a bunch of madmen. If we do....we will continue making the same mistakes, and the war on terror will be as doomed to fail as the war on drugs." When it is pinted out that terrorists target innocent civilians, which is not U.S. policy, he replies that U.S. tactics in Iraq have led to the deaths of thousands of civilians. "We bomb homes and these people have families, and Washington refuses to apologize for these civilian deaths. The absence of concern makes their actions almost equal to a deliverate targeting of civilians."
It was a bit of surprise for me to know that there is an American who thinks like that. Because I found a similar story on the internet that a Japanese student went to U.S. university and found out that Americans tended not to know the fact that they have been hated by people all around the world when the student discussed about Kosovo dispute with American students.
The same thing has been happening to Japan.
We have kept having a strong hostility towards us from South Korea and China. We have never admitted enough for them about our historical facts that we treat both country's civilians horribly during our invasions and wars. I was not even taught what we had done in wars that we involved, we was taught only about our win and lose. The both countries argue with this Japanese educational falt. It's like we did not apologize - very publicly and very sincerely- to all the widows and orphans the impoverished and the totured, and all the many millions of other victims of Japanese imperialism.
I think we have angered the both countries by showing the absence of concern for the historical facts. I also think that Japan still now are not willing to apologize - very publicly and very sincerely- because apologizing what we did for them is a polite way to say Japan's losing forced by not economicaly equal countries.
A Guide to the Asia's Only Superpower ....?
posted by yoko at
6:42 PM
1 Comments:
I know you wrote this a long time ago, but whatever.
First, your writing is very good. I don't know how to translate those TOEFL scores above, but I suspect they're good.
Regarding anti-Americanism and American foreign policy: people will be violently anti-American no matter what policy America has. There is no such thing as a universally loved super-power. For example, there were riots in the streets of Europe in protest of American intervention in Kosovo to prevent the ethnic cleansing happening there. On the other hand, America was condemned for NOT intervening in Rwanda to prevent the genocide of the early 1990's. Separately, America was renounced for supporting dictators and despots like Saddam Hussein, then we're roundly and loudly criticized for doing something about him. At the same time, we're blamed for the situation in the North Korea and we're expected to police the world's nuclear arms trade (i.e. Iran).
Afghanistan is a poignant example. If there was ever a case of a brutal regime of despots oppressing its people, it would be Afghanistan under the Taliban. Those were bad guys. What's more, America had cause to declare war on the Taliban by any standards of War. That government aided and abetted in the murder of thousands of American citizens in what constituted an act of war against the United States. Yet, there were demonstrations again against American action. We inadvertently bombed civilians see, that was wrong. Never mind American citizens were murdered in cold blood. Because we're America and for no other reason, there's a moral equivalence drawn between murder and what can at most be called involuntary manslaughter.
In some sense, Japan has the same position in Asia as America has in the world. It's certainly the biggest economic powerhouse in the region. In the same way, Japan will be disliked by its neighbors no matter what Japan's policies may be. Think about the most recent controversy in China over Japan's text books. Text books. I mean really, how inane.
I think Japan and America each have enormous responsibilities in regards to the rest of the world. Morally, we need to help the less fortunate. Politically, we need to be on the side of the oppressed and economically we need to help people onto the path of economic growth. Along the way, we will be criticized and we have to be mindful to do the right thing, but we shouldn't be embarrassed by our position and power. As long as we use them for good, we'll do alright.
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