Battleangel

No wonder really. Which is why I ought to pinch myself and realize that George W Bush and his neocon entourage is the best thing that has happened in a very long time. Military imperialists are considerably more provocative and just so heavy-handed that anyone is able so see the disconnect. As opposed to lets say economic imperialists like Clinton when the same disconnect, hypocrisy existed but was cleverly hidden underneath layers of quite reasonably-sounding humanitarian concern and a less overt use of force.

In the 18 countries previously polled by the BBC, people who said the United States was having a generally positive influence in the world dropped to 29 percent, from 36 percent last year and 40 percent the year before.

“I thought it had bottomed out a year ago, but it’s gotten worse, and we really are at historic lows,” said Steven Kull, director of the Program on International Policy Attitudes. Kull attributed much of the problem to a growing perception of “hypocrisy” on the part of the United States in such areas as cooperation with the United Nations and other international bodies, especially involving the use of military force.

Views of U.S. foreign policy are also becoming more negative among U.S. citizens, the poll found. Of the 1,000 Americans surveyed, 57 percent said the United States is having a mainly positive influence in the world. That is down from 63 percent last year and 71 percent two years ago.

The United States managed to get through the Vietnam war without anyone holding them responsible and so it is fair to say that unfortunately this too will come to pass. Soon, we’ll be back to covert policies again, a new more likable puppet in the Black House and besides, people do have a much too short a memory to care for this in the long run.