There has been a worldwide backlash against U.S. unilateralism. This isn’t limited to the Arab and Muslim worlds which are outraged by the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq as well as by their perception that they are being unfairly targeted by President Bush’s so-called War on Terror. The worldwide backlash also extends to unprecedented cooperation between China & Russia in opposing U.S. policies, to Latin America, and even to the Non-Aligned Movement as explained below.
June 6, 2006: The Indonesian Defense Minister spoke words of wisdom to the brilliant-incompetent U.S. Secretary of War, Donald Rumsfeld. Notice, that Rumsfeld immediately took offense at what Sudarsono told him (which was the truth). Recently Retired Major General John Batiste, a harsh of Rumsfeld who has called for his resignation, hit the nail on the head when he said (of Rumsfeld) “You can’t tell that man anything. He knows it all!”
Indonesia says U.S. alienates Muslims
By Michael R. Gordon The New York Times
Published: June 6, 2006
JAKARTA The Indonesian defense minister warned the Bush administration on Tuesday that its approach to fighting terrorism was alienating Muslims and that it needed to be more sensitive to local governments.
“In the application of security, including anti-terrorist laws, it’s best that you leave the main responsibility of anti-terrorist measures to the local government in question,” Juwono Sudarsono said at a news conference as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld stood by his side.
Sudarsono added: “It’s important to us because, as the world’s largest Muslim country, we are very aware of the perception, or misperception, that the United States is overbearing and overpresent and overwhelming in every sector of life in many nations and cultures.” …
… the Indonesians dispensed some advice. An important lesson in the fight against terrorism, Sudarsono said, was the need to show some patience. Washington, he said, should not be so insistent on achieving immediate results at the expense of local sensitivities.
“So I was telling the secretary just recently, just two minutes ago, that your powerful economy and your powerful military does lend to misperception and a sense of threat by many groups right across the world, not just in Indonesia,” Sudarsono said at the news conference.
His remarks prompted a response by Rumsfeld, who insisted he has been sensitive to other nations’ concerns from the start. “I have never indicated to any country that they should do something that they were uncomfortable doing,” he said.
June 7, 2006: Yesterday, the Indonesian Defense Minister expressed concern about how Muslims are being treated in Bush’s War on Terror. Today, the former Prime Minister of Malaysia expresses concern that the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Afghanistan, and perhaps Iran are the opening salvos of WWIV (The Cold War is considered by some to have been WWIII). This shows the concern and the backlash against U.S. foreign policy.
Mahathir says US policy in Iraq, Iran prelude to fourth World War
PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia (AP) Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Wednesday accused the United States of leading the world into another global conflict in which nuclear weapons could be used. Mahathir said the U.S.-led invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, and Washington’s threats to attack Iran over its nuclear program were tantamount to a “fourth World War.” He described the Cold War as the third World War. “Maybe this is an alarmist view … but the fourth World War is already on and unless something is done, it will spread from Iraq and Afghanistan to Iran and beyond,” said Mahathir.(Posted @ 14:20 PST 2006/06/07 – 07 June 2006)
In the Arab and Muslim worlds the backlash against Bush’s War on Terror and U.S. unilateralism unites Muslims in efforts to drive foreign occupiers for their lands, and it feeds Muslim resentment at being singled out by Americans for prejudicial treatment.
Muslim backlash tends to take on religious overtones, but in South America the backlash against U.S. unilateralism has been to unify many of the Latin nations in trade agreements that exclude the United States.
The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is growing in the number of member nations which increases its political clout. That adversely affects the Bush-Cheney regime’s efforts at pushing its programs through the United Nation.
The increasingly assertive third-world. By Mark Leon Goldberg [TPM Cafe]
Finally there is the Shangai Cooperation Organization which unites Russia, China, and several central Asian republics against U.S. hegemony.
Shanghai Cooperation Organization Wikipedia entry – see “Relations with the West” section
We have 4 clear examples of backlash against U.S. unilateralism:
- Insurgency, resentment, and suspicion of U.S. policies towards both Arabs and Muslims in general by denizens of the Arab and Muslim worlds.
- Unity in Latin America against U.S. trade and foreign policies in that region.
- Growth of the NAM (non-aligned movement)
- The Shanghai Cooperation Organization which pits China, Russia, and several central Asian republics against U.S. interests in that region and beyond.
