Bullying does no good to U.S. image overseas

Tomorrow marks a year since it happened, 'it' being the day that 19 young men used passenger jets as weapons and downed the symbols of U.S. capitalism and power. And, oh, what an earth-shattering day that was for many more reasons than the terrible humanitarian tragedy which occurred.

Not only did thousands lose their lives on that sun-lit September morning, in the 12 months since, the world has undergone a consequent paradigm shift with traditional friends becoming foes, and foes emerging as allies.

Most of us watched the unfolding of events on September 11 2001 with disbelief. Many of us shed tears and prayed for the people trapped in those burning buildings and buried under the rubble. Ordinary people around the world rushed onto their streets to show their sympathy for America and its lost sons and daughters.

But instead of capitalising on that genuine outpouring of grief, the American President George W. Bush, forged his own window of opportunity, one which he hoped would increase America's geopolitical domination.

Tomorrow, there will be memorial services for the victims, while television channels will feature 9 -11 nostalgia. We will also be regaled with numerous replays of the American President standing with the New York fire-fighters and saying: "...the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon."

The sad reality was that those who did 'hear' from the Bush administration were not the ones who were behind the attack on America, and there will be no memorial services for them. Some 4,000 plus Afghans died at the hands of American forces, people who were unconnected with Al Qaida and the infamous 19.

Almost over-night, Bush's initial unilateralist policy was altered into one of domination. America's 'War on Terror' was born and all those who were perceived as being not with the U.S. were conveniently labeled as potential terrorists.

Under the banner of 'fighting terror', the U.S. now had the perfect excuse to extend its military footprint and to plant its forces, weapons and aircraft in countries, which prior to 9 -11 would have been American 'no -go' areas.

Empathising with America's legitimate requirement of self-defense, Russia and China made little objection to an American presence in the central Asian republics or to U.S. bases being established in Afghanistan. In return, the U.S. stayed silent on the subject of Chechniya and Chinese human rights issues.

Submitting to either threats or the prospect of benefits, Pakistan, Yemen, the Philippines, and Georgia also, opened their doors to the U.S. so that 'the terrorists' could be 'brought to justice'.

Meanwhile, Americans were dashing out to their nearest bookstore to buy Atlases and anything pertaining to the Arab world and Islam. Osama bin Laden became their personal bogeyman.

Suddenly, Arabs and Moslems came under the spotlight as never before. Many Americans, now armed with a little knowledge, began erroneously lumping all Arabs with Al Qaida and all Moslems as extremists. In the U.S. there were both verbal and physical attacks on people even resembling Arabs after 9 -11. Such discrimination is ongoing.

The U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft saw his own window of opportunity and began eroding the civil liberties of Americans with his Patriot Act signed in October 2001. The majority of Americans willingly offered up their privacy on a platter, as, after all, 'our country is at war'.

Wave of nationalism

As a wave of unprecedented nationalism, under the guise of patriotism, swept America, Arab visitors in their thousands were arrested and jailed for months, most for simple visa violations. None of these were found to have had anything to do with Al Qaida.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon soon jumped on the bandwagon.He wasted little time in stating that Israel had been fighting terrorism for decades and now it would follow the example of the U.S. President.

As a result, he has been given the green light to oppress and kill the Palestinian people with impunity.

Although the Bush administration failed dismally in linking Iraq with 9 -11, it decided that Saddam Hussein, an ally of former U.S. administrations, has to go.

Never mind that Israel refuses any kind of monitoring of its nuclear facility in Dimona (and according to Egyptian nuclear scientist Dr Fawzi Hamad, dumps its nuclear waste in the Western Negev), Iraq should open its doors and allow the world and its wife to invade its sovereign privacy... Or else!

In the world before 9 -11, Egypt and Saudi Arabia were firm allies of the U.S. and enjoyed amicable relationships. Today, Egypt has been refused extra aid, ostensibly because it has imprisoned Saad Eddin Ibrahim, an Egyptian-born American citizen, and human rights activist. In reality, Egypt is being punished for its lack of support for a U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Far from being intimidated by America's withholding of aid, ordinary Egyptians, who were interviewed on Egypt's Nile Television, all said that they would rather go hungry than receive any aid from the U.S., if such was given on the condition that Egypt has to bend to American demands.

Saudi Arabia feels slighted too by the anti-Saudi bias of the American media. To add insult to injury, Saudi Arabia was the subject of the Rand presentation to the U.S. Defence Policy Board, which painted the birthplace of Islam as America's enemy, adding that if it didn't play ball then her oil fields should be seized.

Before the attack on America, Iran's liberals were gaining ground, and President Moham-med Khatami made tentative friendly overtures to the U.S. Since Iran was dubbed part of an 'Axis of Evil' - another badly thought-out Bushism - ordinary Iranians are more entrenched than ever in their dislike of the U.S.

North Korea, which just a year ago was warmly responsive to South Korean President's Kim Dae-Jung's 'Sunshine Policy', is becoming closer to China and Russia. North Korean President Kim Chung -Il ignored the American insult, although for a while relations cooled with the South.

However, the two Koreas appear cognisant of America's 'divide and rule' policy and now have plans for a railway to link the North with the South.

Russia is like the carpet seller who smiles to all and sundry for the sake of profit. Vladimir Putin has recently signed a $40 billion trade and technology deal with Iraq, is cooperating with Iran on that country's nuclear programme, and regularly puts out the red carpet for President Kim Chong-il. Bush's Axis of Evil is Russia's Axis of Wealth.

Even Bush's long-term personal friend President Vicente Fox of Mexico snubbed him recently by refusing an invitation to the Crawford ranch, in protest against the execution in Texas of Javier Suarez Medina on August 14.

In Britain, Prime Minister Tony Blair is facing more and more opposition from his own cabinet and from backbenchers concerning any potential invasion of Iraq while EU leaders criticise his slavish stance when it comes to U.S. policy.

A recent poll, undertaken by a British tabloid, showed that 71 per cent of the British people are against a war with Iraq, and viewed George W. Bush as almost as much of a danger to the world as Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein.

Honest mediator

This time last year, the United States, while it had its detractors around the world, was by and large looked up - to as a bastion of human rights and civil liberties. It was also still considered a reasonably honest mediator when it came to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The U.S. now has more enemies than ever;