How Much Damage Has Bush Done?

Your point of view is interesting, I lived in Europe for eight years and appreciate your points of view; it's great to see that the billions of dollars we spent through the Marshal plan has produced peaceful differences. Two things you overlook are: Only US citizens vote, and the economy, not foreign policy will determine the outcome of the election. We've been through years and years of anti-Americanism, so what else is new. Polls in other countries mean nothing. The Americans living overseas vote in their particular state so even though they may be 80% democrats, scattered over 50 states I seriously doubt they will have the kind of impact you describe -- Frank Shipp

Why doesn't your rag of a newspaper conduct a poll of Americans asking them what they think of Germany and Mr. Schröder? You Germans can take your smug, self-satisfied views and shove them. How's that for candor, Heinz? If Germans had any sense of decency at all, they would shut their mouths before dispensing any advice -- let alone moral advice -- to George Bush or to America. Any "crimes" America has ever committed pale by comparison to what you animals did not once, but TWICE in the last century. YOUR leaders Kaiser Willie and Hitler were personally responsible for at least thirty million deaths, and you have the balls to ask Germans what they think about my president and my country? -- John Huettner

Violence destroyed our World Trade center but that can be rebuilt. George Bush destroyed our reputation, which takes years to rebuild. George Bush is a disgrace, and a blight on our country. -- Phil Greene

The Bush record of not respecting supposed allies that act like ungrateful snivelers when America stands up for itself, is pretty much in accord with the attitude of the majority of Americans. It is in the interest of France and Germany to limit as much as possible the power of the United States. That is why the US rejection of Kyoto, ICC, ABM and the UN itself is met with such outrage in some EU capitols. Since Europeans have accepted some loss of sovereignty that goes with EU, they expect Americans to do likewise in joining globalist institutions which place limitations on theirs. That is not a popular way of thinking here. Americans who live abroad may have been influenced by opinions obtaining there but back here voters could not care less what foreigners think. -- Jerald Ronish

I thank Marc Young and your newspaper for the opinion piece on Bush and the damage done. It is exactly accurate, and I plead with every expatriate voter to help us vote Bush out. His administration is a disaster for the United States and the world on every front - the war in Iraq, the environment, the economy, human rights, and much more. To top it off he blatantly misleads the public about his actions. We can't take it anymore. -- Lucy Cole, Alamo, California

Most Americans are oblivious to their reception abroad, and I blame the American media for much of this ignorance. Bush's record at home is remarkably but undeservedly good. -- Jeffrey Hamill

I am an a citizen of the United States and love my country but detest its current "leadership."
Our president's foreign policy has been a disaster. I am ashamed of the arrogance and soullessness that brought the US to this point. -- Manya Menapace

I understand Mr. Bush is not popular overseas. However, many people overseas were not in the US when it was brutally attacked on September 11th. No one here wants to see that again. Fortunately, the smarter voters in this country understand that drastic steps are needed to defeat an enemy BEFORE they attack again on our soil. I'd much rather see a preemptive attack on terrorist-regimes like Iran and North Korea, than to sit around and wait for them to launch a surprise attack on us.
Iraq was not a unilteral war. In fact, 60 out of nearly 300 nations joined us in order to remove a dictator that WAS just as evil as Hitler was. Saddam NEEDED to be removed. The United States, and the UN for that matter, gave Saddam NEARLY 10 YEARS to comply with demands to give up its WMD program. If Iraq truly had nothing to hide, then why not comply? Should we have waited another 10 years while Saddam continued to torture his own people? How long is too long? George W. Bush is the only leader in the world strong enough to draw the line in the sand and face these threats head-on. It may be years before this is truly understood. The UN is a weak, spineless organization that failed miserably to stop Saddam. Jacques Chirac is also weak, and could never stand up to terrorists the way Mr. Bush has. I'd rather see us fight terrorists, ALONE IF WE HAVE TO, on the streets of Baghdad instead of being attacked on the streets of Boston or elsewhere.
I will PROUDLY vote for President George W. Bush on Nov. 2nd. And many here agree with me, and I would prepare for a second Bush term now. -- Steve

Bush has been a complete disaster internationally and an embarrassment to those of us in the US who long for a return to diplomacy to solve problems. This country is, I'm afraid, moving into a very dangerous unilateralism on a wide range of subjects. This includes our refusal to join the EU and others in the International Criminal Court and Kyoto. I hate to say it, but I fear we are resorting back to pre-WWII US autonomy, hegemony and unilateralism in our relations with the world. I think this could be a semi-permanent condition and I don't know that even electing Kerry will solve it.
Americans are, unfortunately turning increasingly inward and are not taking criticism and disagreement from other nations and organizations very well. In fact, they increasingly appear to be fighting back and downright dismissive of allies and others who voice disagreement with our policies. It appears that being the only military "super-power" in the world is going to our heads. Remember the adage, "absolute power corrupts, absolutely"!! It appears to be true! -- Trevor Steven Taylor

You need to understand that most Americans know that the US is just about the only country in the world that can "go it alone." For that reason, we Americans don't care what the world thinks about us or our international policies. The independent streak of the Americans is actually increased when we hear that a large percentage of the Germans and French disagrees with something the US is doing, no matter what it is. As soon as the US does not require energy from foreign sources, we may just resign from the United Nations. According to the polls, that's the goal of more than half the Americans, and those are the ones who support George W. Bush. Thank you. -- James L. Reid, USA

I believe George W. Bush has hindered the spread of peace throughout the world. I believe he does not consider that others world-wide have a right to govern their own area and have a clearer view of the big picture. I also believe he was not taught to "play nice with others" when he was a child. He has the arrogant, smirk of a bully who was born into privilege and has never had to consider the other person's rights or feelings. -- Karen Seeger, USA

The only opinion that counts will be the election results in November. The EU public is generally misinformed by a biased media that spews constant anti-Bush information. The net result is an anti-Bush EU public. -- Boyd Lawrence, USA