Iraqi War, soldiers and Bush: US encounters global image crisis

"Even Arabs who once firmly believed that the US entered Iraq to liberate Iraqi people wouldn't believe the lies of the Americans after the happening of the prisoner abuse,"said a pro-American Arabic in his letter to Pfaff, a columnist for the International Herald Tribune.

Today, even those congressmen who vigorously advocate big investment for US public diplomacy feel worried for the US image in the world. In his interview with the International Herald Tribune, Wang Yiwei, a scholar with the Fudan University, a pioneer in studying public diplomacy in China said the prisoner abuse was the Waterloo for the US public diplomacy.

911: the best time for enhancing the US image

Sept 11, 2001 is a turning point for the US foreign policy. The collapse of the World Trade Towers and the sadness the American people experienced gained a lot of sympathy. Politicians and scholars in the US began to reflect on the US foreign policy. Many began to ask one question, "why the world hates the US?" Since then the US government put large sums of money into the public diplomacy.

Public diplomacy should play a more vital role in the US foreign policy, said Henry Hyde, Chairman of the House International Relations Committee in a speech dated June 17, 2002. He suggested allocating USD 135 million to the TV broadcasting departments. He also suggested making China one of the major targets of the US public diplomacy.

"I sent a poster on BBS after 911, in which I expressed my condolence on the victims. But I never showed any sympathy to the US government. I was extremely upset by the domestic emotion of gloating over the US disastrous misery," Zhou Bin, a student of the Peking University recalled to journalist.

The people in Western Europe cast a sympathetic look to the Americans although many people in Asia and Arabic countries believe that the 911 Incident is a result of the US policy. According to statistics provided by the PEW Research Center, a US-based institution engaging in media research, 36 percent of people in Western Europe thought that the 911 was triggered off by Americans themselves. 68 percent of the Europeans take a liking in the US because they believe that the US is in pursuance of freedom.

The Iraqi war ruined the US image

Following the 911, President Bush made frequently visits to other countries hoping to form an international anti-terrorism alliance. The Sino-US relation began to show a favorable tendency because of their common needs. The Arabic TV station financed by the US was also established in the Middle East with a hope to restore the US image in that region. Ironically, the station was used to broadcast Bush's apology for the prisoner abuse instead of enhancing the US image.

The Iraqi war triggered off anti-war upsurge all over the world. In Paris, London and Berlin, millions of people went out to parade and protest in streets.

A report provided by the PEW Research Center indicated that the supporting rate for the US declined to a very low level as against that before the war, i.e. 48 percent in Britain, 31 percent in France and 25 percent in Germany. The rate is even lower in other regions of the world.

Media report says that the supporting rate for Bush dropped below 10 percent after the happening of the Iraqi prisoner abuse. Bush administration's tough policy carried out around the world under the cloak of anti-terrorism has roused strong objection against him. An expert of the public diplomacy told the International Herald Tribune, the US did pretty well in public diplomacy. However, its foreign policy is not on the same track with it. The statistics of PEW says 76 percent of the Jordanians thought that the US overacted towards terrorism activities. Only 16 percent of Pakistanis showed their understandings of the US anti-terrorist wars.

Soldiers, Bush and CIA

While the US public diplomacy is busying with building up the image of the country, President Bush is besmearing it. Prior to the 911, Bush often talked randomly. His ignorance for diplomacy had turned out a topic of media. His low education level is another thing criticized by the media. Once he asked, "Is our children learning?" in a speech. Even a beginner in English learning can see at once the grammar mistake in the sentence.

A French friend of the journalist still remembers the story of the Marshal Plan his grandpa ever told him. He said French people were grateful to the US for what it had done for Europe, but the current policy of the US government was boring. The US presidents in especial have no literacy at all. He said, "We French know that the US is incurable. Their presidents were at least illiterates if not idiots. From Truman the "Tie merchant of Missouri" to "political liar of the second generation" George. W. Bush, with Jimmy Carter selling rubber and second-class actor Ronald Reagan in between, the White House is utterly an Exhibition Hall of idiots."

Besides American soldiers and CIA have seriously damaged the US image. Aside from the prisoner abuse, the US soldiers raped local women in Japan and the ROK. The soldiers in service there are known as the "young master soldiers".

The biggest mistake CIA made is their assertion that weapons of mass destruction were hidden in Iraq. The wrong information became a laughing-stock for the world one year after the US troop's entry into Iraq. This also did damage to the US image. Who's going to stand on the side of the US even when the British do not believe in it?

Source: People's Daily Online