dropping respect

There's nothing new about disrespect for the United States in some parts of the world. In China and Russia, countries that have been in the recent past, foes of the US, people have been educated to look at this country as a trouble-maker and aggressor. Our participation in wars in various parts of the globe have given the impression that we are a meddling country that tries to capitalize on other people's misfortune.

But with the current situation, we find the US being disdained even in parts of the world where we were until recently considered a friend and ally.

WASHINGTON -- (AP) -Unease with American foreign policy and President Bush has intensified in countries that are some of the closest U.S. allies and around the globe, while Russia and China also face growing international wariness, a survey released Wednesday said.

Support for the U.S.-led war in Iraq, the NATO military action in Afghanistan and worldwide American efforts against terrorism have dropped since 2002, according to an international survey by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center. Views of the U.S. in much of the Muslim world remain particularly negative.

In one measure of Bush's unpopularity, the poll showed he is less trusted on foreign policy than Russian President Vladimir Putin by allies Britain, Germany and Canada, even as faith in Putin has plummeted. ...

[snip ...]
As the U.S. has waged its war on terrorism over the past five years, its overall image has worsened. It has dropped from 75 percent favorable in Britain in 2002 to 51 percent now; from 60 percent to 30 percent in Germany; and from 64 percent to 56 percent in Mexico.

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Comment:
The next President will have a great task trying to repair some of this damage unless we wish to remain a people accustomed to contempt. It wouldn't hurt, when we're selecting the next President, to pay some attention to what the rest of the world thinks. It seems to me that there is at least one candidate running who is about as inept and idiotic as our current resident of the White House. I don't think we're going to elect him, but there's that risk.

Pay attention!