U.S. Money and Power Can’t Buy Us Love

Re “U.S. Losing Popularity in World,” Dec. 5: I’m a student at the College of Europe, pursuing a master’s degree in European politics. Though I was aware of negative sentiment about the U.S. before I arrived here, I was extremely disheartened to learn that even students who had lived or worked in the U.S. had a negative view of America. U.S. foreign and domestic policy after Sept. 11 is looked on with disgust, and the most common jokes on our listserv are political cartoons lampooning President Bush.

Now that I’m gaining perspective on the States, I can understand Europeans’ anger and frustration with a country that pursues ends so contrary to its stated values. When we have one of the worst public education systems among industrialized nations, no health-care system, terrible pollution and we conveniently forget the foreign policy disgraces of our past (not least with the Iraqis after the Gulf War), American statements about “liberating” other countries and “spreading democracy” begin to sound a little hollow.

I’m furious with an American policy that acts the bully. America could couple power with benevolence, technological might with progressive values and wealth with generosity. Thousands are starving, dying of AIDS and suffering under sanctions, but you’ll seldom see that on the nightly news. Our myopia seems to be getting worse.

Maryanna Abdo

Bruges, Belgium

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People of foreign countries perceive America as the most wealthy, powerful country on Earth, and they are green with envy because for the most part they are so impoverished. But they would all like to come here, and do by the millions.

This hateful feeling is only ameliorated by the billions of dollars that the U.S. has bestowed. Polls of the Turkish people reveal that only about 30% of the populace feels friendly to the U.S. The irony is we are about to plow hundreds of millions of dollars into their country. Of course, this is for possible war preparedness, but the trickle-down effect to the Turkish people will be tremendous. Even the Kuwaitis are now getting into the unfriendly column, along with the Saudis. As long as money and protection alone cannot dispel international ill will toward us, why not just shut off the money and let them fend for themselves against aggressors?

James Kerr

Laguna Beach

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I was appalled, but not surprised, by President Bush’s ignorance about American history when he was quoted as saying, “We’ll do everything we can to remind people that we’ve never been a nation of conquerors; we’re a nation of liberators.” I would encourage the president to remember that an entire continent was taken from people, by conquest, who already lived there -- ask any American Indian. Filipinos fought a three-year guerrilla war with the U.S. after our “liberation” of them during the avoidable Spanish-American War. The American Southwest and California were wrested from Mexico by force. Florida was extorted from Spain -- essentially we told Spain to sell it to us or we would take it by force. Should we even mention the history of Texas?

Bill D. Holder

Cypress