[ALBSA-Info] Fwd: NYTimes.com Article: America and Anti-Americans

[Agron Alibali]

> 
>
> >America and Anti-Americans
> >
> >February 4, 2002
> >
> >By SALMAN RUSHDIE
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >LONDON -- They told us it would be a long, ugly
> struggle,
> >and so it is. America's war against terror has
> entered its
> >second phase, a phase characterized by the storm
> over the
> >status and human rights of the prisoners held at
> Camp X-Ray
> >and by the frustrating failure of the United States
> to find
> >Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar. Additionally, if
> America
> >now attacks other countries suspected of harboring
> >terrorists it will almost certainly do so alone. In
> spite
> >of the military successes, America finds itself
> facing a
> >broader ideological adversary that may turn out to
> be as
> >hard to defeat as militant Islam: anti-Americanism,
> which
> >is presently becoming more evident everywhere.
> >
> >The good news is that these post- Taliban days are
> bad
> >times for Islamist fanatics. Dead or alive, Osama
> bin Laden
> >and Mullah Omar look like yesterday's men, unholy
> warriors
> >who forced martyrdom on others while running for
> the hills
> >themselves. Also, if the persistent rumors are to
> be
> >believed, the fall of the terrorist axis in
> Afghanistan may
> >well have prevented an Islamist coup against
> President
> >Pervez Musharraf in Pakistan, led by the more
> Taliban-like
> >elements in the armed forces and intelligence
> services -
> >people like the terrifying General Hamid Gul. And
> President
> >Musharraf, no angel himself, has been pushed into
> arresting
> >the leaders of the Kashmiri terrorist groups he
> used to
> >encourage.
> >
> >Around the world, the lessons of the American
> action in
> >Afghanistan are being learned. Jihad is no longer
> quite as
> >cool an idea as it was last fall.
> >
> >States under suspicion of giving succor to
> terrorism have
> >suddenly been trying to make nice, even going so
> far as to
> >round up a few bad guys. Iran has accepted the
> legitimacy
> >of the new Afghan government. Even Britain, a state
> which
> >has been more tolerant of Islamist fanaticism than
> most, is
> >beginning to distinguish between resisting
> "Islamophobia"
> >and providing a safe haven for some of the worst
> people in
> >the world.
> >
> >America did, in Afghanistan, what had to be done,
> and did
> >it well. The bad news, however, is that these
> successes
> >have not won new friends for the United States
> outside
> >Afghanistan. In fact, the effectiveness of the
> American
> >campaign may have made some parts of the world hate
> America
> >more than they did before. Critics of the Afghan
> campaign
> >in the West are enraged because they have been
> shown to be
> >wrong at every step: no, American forces weren't
> humiliated
> >the way the Russians had been; and yes, the air
> strikes did
> >work; and no, the Northern Alliance didn't massacre
> people
> >in Kabul; and yes, the Taliban did crumble away
> like the
> >hated tyrants they were, even in their southern
> >strongholds; and no, it wasn't that difficult to
> get the
> >militants out of their cave fortresses; and yes,
> the
> >various factions succeeded in putting together a
> new
> >government that seems to have broad support among
> the
> >people.
> >
> >Meanwhile, those elements in the Arab and Muslim
> world who
> >blame America for their own feelings of political
> impotence
> >are feeling more impotent than ever. As always,
> anti-
> >American radicalism feeds off widespread anger over
> the
> >plight of the Palestinians, and it remains true
> that
> >nothing would undermine the fanatics' propaganda
> more
> >completely than an acceptable settlement in the
> Middle
> >East.
> >
> >However, even if that settlement were arrived at
> tomorrow,
> >anti- Americanism would probably not abate. It has
> become
> >too useful a smokescreen for Muslim nations' many
> defects -
> >their corruption, their incompetence, their
> oppression of
> >their citizens, their economic, scientific and
> cultural
> >stagnation. America-hating has become a badge of
> identity,
> >making possible a chest- beating, flag-burning
> rhetoric of
> >word and deed that makes men feel good. It contains
> a
> >strong streak of hypocrisy, hating most what it
> desires
> >most, and elements of self- loathing. ("We hate
> America
> >because it has made of itself what we cannot make
> of
> >ourselves.") What America is accused of - closed-
> >mindedness, stereotyping, ignorance - is also what
> its
> >accusers would see if they looked into a mirror.
> >
> >These days there seem to be as many of these
> accusers
> >outside the Muslim world as inside it. Anybody who
> has
> >visited Britain and Europe, or followed the public
> >conversation there during the past five months,
> will have
> >been struck, even shocked, by the depth of
> anti-American
> >feeling among large segments of the population.
> Western
> >anti-Americanism is an altogether more petulant
> phenomenon
> >than its Islamic counterpart and far more
> personalized.
> >Muslim countries don't like America's power, its
> >"arrogance," its success; but in the non-American
> West, the
> >main objection seems to be to American people.
> Night after
> >night, I have found myself listening to Londoners'
> >diatribes against the sheer weirdness of the
> American
> >citizenry. The attacks on America are routinely
> discounted.
> >("Americans only care about their own dead.")
> American
> >patriotism, obesity, emotionality,
> self-centeredness: these
> >are the crucial issues.
> >
> >It would be easy for America, in the present
> climate of
> >hostility, to fail to respond to constructive
> criticism, or
> >worse: to start acting like the overwhelming
> superpower it
> >is, making decisions and throwing its weight around
> without
> >regard for the concerns of what it perceives as an
> already
> >hostile world. The treatment of the Camp X-Ray
> detainees is
> >a worrying sign. Secretary of State Colin Powell's
> reported
> >desire to determine whether, under the Geneva
> Convention,
> >these persons should be considered prisoners of war
> was a
> >statesmanlike response to global pressure - but Mr.
> Powell
> >has apparently failed to persuade President Bush
> and Donald
> >Rumsfeld.
> >
> >The Bush administration has come a long way from
> its
> >treaty-smashing beginnings. It should not abandon
> >consensus-building now. Great power and great
> wealth are
> >perhaps never popular, yet, more than ever, we need
> the
> >United States to exercise its power and economic
> might
> >responsibly. This is not the time to ignore the
> rest of the
> >world and decide to go it alone. To do so would be
> to risk
> >losing after you've won.
> >
> >
> >Salman Rushdie is the author of ``Fury: A Novel''
> and the
> >forthcoming essay collection ``Step Across This
> Line.''
> >
>
>http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/04/opinion/04RUSH.html?ex=1013939574&ei=1&en=8fb1399d3a29e153
> >
> >
> >
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> >
> >Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company
> 
> 
> 
> 
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