Anti-American Sentiment Grows Over War in Iraq

By Erik KirschbaumSun April 06, 2003

BERLIN (Reuters) - They were seen as the "good cops" who saved West Berlin, defended Western Europe during the Cold War and put an end to the bloodshed in the Balkans -- but the Iraq war has left that image of the United States in shreds.

The erstwhile defenders of freedom and democracy are now more likely to be viewed by their allies around the world as war-mongering imperialists, "bad cops" and "bullies" who lost their way by brushing aside the United Nations and attacking Iraq.

At home President Bush's popularity has soared over his handling of the war with Iraq.

But opinion polls in countries that have long been reliable U.S. supporters show steep erosions in the popularity of the United States.From Germany to South Korea, millions of protesters have denounced Bush and the war to oust President Saddam Hussein.Even in Britain, Washington's staunchest ally and military partner in the Iraq campaign, half the population opposes the war and anti-American sentiment is growing, with only one in seven trusting Bush to tell the truth, according to a poll last week.In many other nations huge majorities oppose the war and surveys show growing criticism of the United States.

Anti-U.S. sentiment has grown so high that a poll in France for Le Monde newspaper last week showed a third did not want the United States to win the war. A quarter were on Iraq's side.

INCREASING ANGER

There have also been boycotts of U.S. goods. And many say the United States' long-standing image in many parts of the world as a benevolent force and stabilizing factor has suffered."Bush has caused long-term damage to the good reputation of America," said Dietmar Herz, a political scientist at Erfurt University. "Even many who had been pro-America talk about the United Sates as 'aggressors' and 'invaders'. There's a lot of anger. The anti-America mood hasn't been so high since Vietnam."

The change in climate can be felt almost everywhere but is especially striking in places like Berlin, where Americans enjoyed a special status because of the 1948-49 airlift that kept West Berlin free in the midst of communist East Germany.Millions of cheering Berliners turned out in 1994 for tickertape parades for U.S. soldiers going home after the end of the Cold War. Now armed guards and armored vehicles seal a whole city block to protect the U.S. embassy in central Berlin.Half a million took part in a recent Berlin peace rally -- the largest gathering in post-war German history. Many criticized what they called Rambo-like U.S. lust for war.

"Those in Washington who dream about themselves being the new Rome and that the world will dance to their tune are out of touch with reality," said former Chancellor Helmut Kohl in a rare swipe at the United States.Nearly nine in 10 Germans said they lost their respect for the United States over Iraq, according to a Forsa opinion poll. Another found nearly 50 percent believe Bush is a "warmonger."

Even many who defended the United States during U.S.-bashing in Europe in past decades say they are appalled now."I'm shocked and so disappointed by the United States," said Gertrude Pawelka, a retired teacher in Austria. "I never thought they'd start a war of aggression. I liked America, it was always for justice. It scares me now the way it's whipping up hatred."

In South Korea, shielded by the United States from possible attack by the communist North, thousands have rallied against the war. In a poll by its largest Internet portal operator, more than 75 percent of 80,000 users said Bush was the real "axis of evil."The anti-U.S. sentiment grew even higher right after the war began, said Oh Eui-nam, political science professor at the Korea University Graduate School of International Studies.

"Bush has cast off the restraint which held back America's 42 previous presidents -- now he is seeking to get into the empire business," wrote columnist Jonathan Freedland in Britain's Guardian newspaper."The very notion of unprovoked, uninvited, long-term and country-wide invasion is pretty un-American, too."

Even in strongly pro-U.S. Israel, commentator Hemi Shalev wrote in Maariv newspaper that many Israelis were quietly reveling over war setbacks the "condescending Americans" were suffering."There is a secret satisfaction over any hitch, mishap or blunder. Let's see them preach to us now, after a suicide bomber and jittery soldiers killed women and children at a roadblock."

Russians, who have acquired a taste for U.S. goods, also criticized the U.S. attack in language recalling the Cold War."I regard America as our enemy," said Nikolai Korolyov, 51. "They will invade us next if we don't watch out. They are the enemies of the whole world."

(Additional reporting by Michele Gershberg in Jerusalem, Michael Holden in London, Sveta Graudt in Moscow, and Yoo Choonsik in Seoul)