Yesterday there was a Digg story, linking to an article over at the The Telegraph which had first been digged by johndi saying:

“I’ll be the first to admit many of our policies are misguided, and sometimes just wrong. I’ve traveled quite a bit, and haven’t found a country yet where the people like their government. Consider how you feel about your government, before you criticize Americans based on ours.”

Now, all that long intro – I have written only – to be able to post my response to that statement:

Dear johndi,

[Quote]Consider how you feel about your government, before you criticize Americans based on ours.[/Quote]

That isn’t a valuable statement at all. Most if not all countries might have some inner problems, and some problems with international relations. Yet no country with so much power, or closely so, tries to impose itself just as much on the rest of the world.

Just because there is no single military or economic power to challenge the United States in any way, doesn’t mean that they have the right to do just about anything they want. Be it CO2 emissions (Kyoto – ever heart of it?), warfare (Afghanistan & Iraq), or human rights (Guantanamo).

Was it another country who would allow itself such disrespectful actions against other countries; was it another country to try to interfere in situations and places where it better had to keep its social and demographic ideas out; was it another country with a politician which would claim that you are either with or against us; the politicians would be removed from their positions, and the countries would face embargoes from whatever nation on earth. Not so the United States.

To me, in all honesty, and without any offense meant, the United States is acting and arguing as a young teenager. Feeling omnipotent yet not facing the consequences or the dangers of its actions. Acting egocentrically and claiming that nobody understands why they are acting so.

Note that this is a political problem; I do fully understand and acknowledge that the decisions made by whatever president in office is not always the opinions and the path the population would have chosen.