When he was in Europe this spring, President Obama made the following comment at a town hall-style meeting with German and French students in Strassbourg:
the world. Instead of celebrating your dynamic union and seeking to
partner with you to meet common challenges, there have been times where
America has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive. But in
Europe, there is an anti-Americanism that is at once casual, but can
also be insidious. Instead of recognizing the good that America so
often does in the world, there have been times where Europeans choose
to blame America for much of what is bad. On both sides of the
Atlantic, these attitudes have become all too common. They are not
wise. They do not represent the truth. They threaten to widen the
divide across the Atlantic and leave us both more isolated. They fail
to acknowledge the fundamental truth that America cannot confront the
challenges of this century alone, but that Europe cannot confront them
without America.”
One blog I often read and learn from is NachDenkSeiten, which has been critical of Germany's participation in NATO's mission in Afghanistan. Now, I am all for constructive criticism of NATO's and the US war in Afghanistan, but NachDenkSeiten links approvingly to a highly critical piece in a German/Swiss blog Alles Schall und Rauch (loosely translated as "It's All Smoke and Mirrors"). Here we find a number of arguments for why the Bundeswehr should withdraw from Afghanistan immediately, including:
eine glatte Lüge. Die Taliban wehren sich nur gegen die Invasoren,
zuerst gegen die sowjetischen Eroberer und jetzt gegen die westlichen
NATO-Truppen. Dieser Abwehrkampf ist völlig verständlich und
berechtigt, denn jedes Volk würde sich gegen fremde Besatzer wehren und
hat das Recht dazu. (Thus the excuse "We have to prevent terrorist attacks here (in Germany), so we need to fight terror in Afghanistan" is a complete lie. The Taliba are only defending themselves against invaders – at first against the Soviens and now against NATO troops. This defensive war is understandable and just, since any people would defend themselves against foreign occupiers and has the right to do so.)
Der Hauptgrund den die Amerikaner für die Invasion und Krieg in
Afghanistan angeben, die Taliban hätten Osam Bin Laden mit seiner
Al-Kaida beherbergt, der angeblich die Anschläge vom 11. September 2001
geleitet und Amerika damit angegriffen hat, stimmt nicht und ist auch
gelogen, denn die Amerikaner haben Bin Laden bis heute deswegen weder
angeklagt, noch suchen sie ihn wegen 9/11. Warum? Weil sie zugeben
müssen, dass sie keinen einzigen Beweise gegen ihn haben. Wenn sie
keine Beweise für seine Führungsrolle und Tat haben, wie können sie
dann einen Krieg damit begründen? (The principal reason cited by the Americans for the invasion and war in Afghanistan is that the Taliban had been harboring Osama Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda; bin Laden allegedly organized and ordered the attacks of Sept. 11, 2oo1 and therefore had attacked America. But this is a complete lie, for the Americans have never charged bin Laden for these acts, nor is he even being sought in connection with 9/11. Why not? Because they (the Americans) have to admit that they don't have a single piece of evidence against him. If they don't have any evidence of his leadership or actions, how can they use this argument to justify a war?)
It turns out that Alles Schall und Rauch is just one of many left-wing blogs dedicated to the "9/11 Truth Movement", that is, those who believe that 9/11 was the result of a conspiracy of the CIA and the Bush administration:
Story der US-Regierung, dass ein kranker Bin Laden aus einer Höhle in
Afghanistan mit seinen 19 Amateuren, die beste und teuerste Luftwaffe
der Welt ausschaltete und Amerika angegriffen hat. (The most absurd 9/11 conspiracy theory of all is the official story of the US government, that a sick bin Laden from a cave in Afghanistan was able to circumvent the best and most expensive air force in the world and attack America.)
So great is the anti-American hate of these bloggers that they now side with Mullahs and Amadinejad against the protesters on the street in Iran seeking freer, more democratic society. The protests, they write, are funded by the CIA.
This admiration for the repressive regime of the ayatollahs in Iran is widespread among German left-wing groups, according to Reinhard Mohr in Der Spiegel: Ein Slibowitz auf Ahmadinedschad.
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Germans fail to understand the combination of a free society and evil intent which made it possible for the conspirators to bring down the WTC. We are no longer as free a society as we were before 9-11.
Wtf!!!
You`re a truther, hattie?
What nonsense. “Schall und Rauch” is a slightly hinterwäldlerisches Right-Wing blog. They were big about Ron Paul and the owner has a pretty big mouth.
But, every sane person doubts the official conspiracy theories around “9/11”.
However claiming that this is due to some mysterious “anti”-something ideology is the way of sore losers.
Your country doesnt do any “good” in the world this way, we’d be much better off without such displays of hatred and bad character as you’re putting out here.
You people have a lot of issues with racism, violence, and general backwardness. Stop blaming and terrorizing others and start to work on yourself.
What “good” do you do?
You’re a perfect example of the “insidious anti-Americanism” that President Obama addressed.
I think it’s essential to sharply distinguish between critique of American foreign policy and rabid Anti-Americanism. Obviously the two frequently come in pairs, but the fact that Anti-Americanism is present doesn’t necessarily negate the discourse being presented.
Similar confusions are often made re. Anti-Semtism–because the USA plays a significant role in enabling Israeli foreign policy, some equate criticism of Isreal’s policies in Palestine to Anti-Semitism. It hardly needs to be mentioned that the mass media exaggerates these confusions as much as possible in their efforts to paint dissent as irrational. The rhetoric of “Left=Mullahs” or “the left will embrace Islam” was a favorite of peeps like Andrew Sullivan when he was a rabid Iraq war supporter…but I don’t see any evidence these characterizations reflect anything close to the real views of left circles (whether Marxist or anarchist).
For myself I tend to be skeptical about reports out of Iran because the war in Iraq taught me to be skeptical of Anglo-American media re. the Middle East and the concrete factors that drive its viewpoints. But that doesn’t mean supporting Amadinejad or his political philosophy and I’m not aware of any figure on the “left” who would argue otherwise. When there are points of solidarity there are points of solidarity but that does not mean support.
I’m looking forward to studies on Anti-Americanism in the near future–I predict the leading indicators of European Anti-Americanism have decreased sharply with the election of Obama–and if this war in Iraq actually ends that will help too. I also think if you took a poll based on the Obama statement quoted above the vast majority of Europeans would agree with it wholeheartedly.