What the Rest of the Hemisphere Thinks of America

Oh that God the gift to give us, to see ourselves as others see us. ~ Robert Burns

I am an unbelieving member of a society that believes God has given the United States the holy mission of molding the rest of the world in our image. It is a society that doesn't even have the common decency to ask first before imposing our will upon our neighbors. 'Please,' 'thank you,' and 'I'm sorry for screwing up you country' are words that don't exist in our diplomatic lexicon. Most Americans don't even bother reading other country's newspapers before deciding that America knows best. Thanks to Watching America, let's take a look at what the rest of the Western Hemisphere thinks of the Great United States.

The Intolerable Wolfowitz
La Nacion, in Chile, points out that Paul Wolfowitz did not just bring his neo-con insensibilities to his job at the World Bank. He brought an entire staff of like-thinking sycophants. "He contaminated the World Bank with his favoritism and the imposition of politics that were used to eliminate his adversaries."

Brazil's O Globo observes Wolfowitz's arrogant disregard for the knowledge and experience of anyone beyond his small circle of confidants. "Wolfowitz (and Bush) are stubborn, dogmatic and stupid. These are very bad qualities for those who wish to transform the world and international relations in their own image."

Angering Ecuador
John Negroponte's failed visit to Ecuador was the topic of an article in El Comercio. Negroponte is not a welcome figure in much of Latin America because of his ties to right-wing death squads in Honduras during the Reagan Administration. The visit was also tainted by a recent dispute over the United States' lack of respect for Ecuadorian sovereignty. "[Ecuador President Rafael] Correa, who said this weekend that the Ecuadorian Navy was not part of the navy of the United States."

American Terrorists
Mexico's La Jornada sees the attack on Latino marchers by Los Angeles police on May 1 as part of a systemic growth of violence against Mexican immigrants. "The growing wave of xenophobia and racism against Latinos in the United States is not a series of isolated incidents: it is nourished by Washington's deliberate policy of criminalizing immigrants."

Bush: initiated one war, lost three
Argentina's Argen Press and the Edmonton Sun in Canada both state what is obvious to everyone else in the rest of the world, the United States is lost in Iraq and, because of that war, has lost much more. Argen Press compares George Bush to other American presidents and comes to the same conclusion as did Jimmy Carter, "The nation, once indulgent of his [Bush's] lies - lethal lies for over 3,000 of its own sons and daughters - no longer believes him. No U.S. President has ever harmed his country as much."

As for Canada, their opinion of the Iraq War is stunningly simple, "the 'mission' whatever it may once have been, will never be 'accomplished.'"