The world’s sympathy did not last, and their patience is next to go.One year later, citizens of the world condemned the Sept. 11 attacks and expressed their deepest sadness at the profound loss of life.
While all nations agreed that the events of Sept. 11, 2001 were tragic, few agreed with the reactions of U.S. foreign policy makers.
Many worried that policies causing the waves of terrorism had gone ignored. Rather than reviewing the causes of the conflicts, the focus of United States’ policy-makers had been on going to war.
In nations throughout Asia and Africa, English-language newspapers voiced harsh criticism of U.S. policy.
In India, the New Delhi Outlook said, “The pain and grief [New Yorkers] endured as a result of the attacks of Sept. 11 have been used by their leaders as pretexts for a bogus, brutal and self-serving ‘war on terror.’
I can’t imagine a more obscenely disrespectful commemoration of the victims of Al-Qaeda than the infliction of multiple World Trade Center-style horrors on the people of Iraq.”
In Nairobi, Kenya, the East African Daily Nation said, “The conditions that shaped the likes of Osama bin Laden and others have yet to be addressed.”
In Bangkok, Thailand, a memorial was held by Thai and American cultural elite under tight security inside the high, razor wire-studded walls of the U.S. embassy compound.
Outside the wall, a group of about 100 people including Buddhist monks and children gathered in a peaceful anti-war protest.
Protesters held painted signs depicting George W. Bush wearing a Superman costume with a dollar sign on his chest. British Prime Minister Tony Blair was depicted as a small dog. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was shown wearing a swastika-patterned tie and trousers.
Many Middle Easterners are wondering which of their nations will be the next stop on the “War on Terror” world tour.
In Dubai, United Arab Emirates, The Gulf News said, “An underlying fear is that it is not at all clear that Bush wants to stop at Iraq. He has described Iran as being part of the axis of evil; and in addition the administration is reviewing very detailed criticism of some of its long term Arab friends in the region.”
Before Sept. 11, 2001, most lives lost in anti-US terrorist attacks were those of Asian and African nations. If that was not enough to make nations’ policy makers reconsider their support for U.S. policy, then the “War on Terror” may eventually scare them away.