One reader, Tim, wrote to me and pointed out, among other things, that many Americans hate George W. Bush. I realized I had never said that before in these pages. Nor have I made it clear that I do not pretend to represent the opinion of the majority of Americans. So to be sure…
Last night I was at a birthday party for an Austrian friend. I was very reluctant to go — though she is a good friend and almost family — because I know that the topic on everybody’s mind is the coming war with Iraq. She is in her twenties, and I knew that so too would everybody else be, besides my wife and I (33 and 34, respectively). It is completely natural for a group of 20-something Europeans to want to discuss the major topic of the day. The question was, how could I stay out of it? Once I start, it’s hard to stop, and, given the audience, there would be a high likelihood for bad feelings on what was supposed to be a happy birthday night.
At a Friday after-work protest at Stephansplatz in Vienna I had a short “discussion” with a few protesters. Two (at different times) asked me outright if I am American, and I happily said “yes” to both, though, of course, I knew their feelings about such a nationality.
I saw a captioned photo of a plaque that is on a building somewhere here in Vienna, remembering or commemorating or celebrating or whatever the fact that Josef Stalin lived in the building in 1913.
In a review in the 3 March 2003 issue of Austria’s profil magazine, Sibylle Hamann previews and critiques what looks to be another astonishingly simplistic attack on the United States — from a member of Austria’s national parliament, no less.
I just heard a CNN anchor indicate that an upcoming segment would be about the “overwhelming international pressure” to disarm that Saddam Hussein faces.
Funny!
This article at the USA Today website is about the recent experiences of some Americans overseas. To put it plainly, it’s about the mindless anti-American sentiment that they experienced first-hand.
“When one reads the reports of UNO [United Nations Organization] conferences, or international negotiations of any kind, it is difficult not to be reminded of l’Attaque and similar war games that children used to play, with cardboard pieces representing battleships, aeroplanes, and so forth, each of which had a fixed value and could be counted in some recognized way. In fact, one might almost invent a new game called Uno, to be played in enlightened homes where the parents do not want their children to grow up with a militaristic outlook.
Der Spiegel also has the interview online here.
[translations are mine, so beware!]
A few quotes from her:
I am sure Scott Ritter, whose book is ranked #19 at Amazon Germany, confirms everything you want to think about the US and Iraq. I’m sure you wanted to trust him because he was part of the UN inspection team, he has expertise as a weapons inspector and, therefore, he knows what he is talking about. You considered his book to be a good way to get away from the propaganda of the current United States administration and to find out the real truth from someone who was there, on the ground, in Iraq.