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The Accidental Tourist: Reflections of an American Student In Germany By Greg Pringle Komrades, In my second month in Dresden, I went to one of our Friday night parties in the Keller (basement) of my apartment complex. I was talking with one of my fellow students that night, a girl from Greece, about world politics. In the course of our conversation, she told me that even though she thought the September 11 attack was horrific, deep inside she was happy that this happened. That it was about time we were repaid for our imperialism. That we had been sticking our noses into other peoples' problems for too long. Needless to say, I was shocked, hurt and angry at this ignorant remark. I called over another student, a Frenchman, and asked him what he really felt deep down. Again I was told that although his heart went out to this tragedy, he felt a bit of pleasure at our long overdue comeuppance. I have since corroborated this opinion with many others, including another student at my school, an intern physician from Syria. He told me that we were completely unjustified going into Afghanistan and attacking innocent Muslims. When I brought up the subject of Saddam Hussein, he said that it is George Bush that is the terrorist. He questioned why we should have weapons of mass destruction, when Saddam Hussein isn't allowed to. This from one of the best-educated men in his country? Let me point out that almost all of the problems we are entangled with today are a direct result of European colonialism. Vietnam was a French colony that became too unmanageable, needless to say unprofitable. The division of the Turkish Empire after WW1 left a tinderbox waiting for the right moment to ignite and explode. Egypt and Pakistan were British. Algeria, French. Even Korea was a Japanese colony. What we have is this: once a European (or Asian) colony becomes unmanageable, the European colonizers turn tail and leave huge problems to be solved by someone else. Do you really think there would be an Israel today if there hadn't been a Hitler? Now we are the great Satan for not allowing the completion of this mindless genocide. Even here in Dresden, the people speak of America as some out-of -control aggressor. Hello? Why do you think the shackles of the Soviet Union were finally broken? It really is frustrating. In their eyes, it seems we created every problem in the world. Even Koffi Annan said today, "The blueprint of successful economies is seriously flawed. Some countries have too much and others not enough." Excuse me for not living in a mud hut. We are damned for not being impoverished and hated for not lifting everyone in the world from impoverishment. DO YOU REALIZE THE DANGEROUS SIGNAL KOFFI ANNAN WAS GIVING OUT? The Russians have a new 40 billion-dollar contract with the Iraqis, while our European cousins chastise us for their own political and economic expediency. Here's a quote from the incumbent Chancellor of Germany; "We will not be embroiled in the adventurism of the Americans." (I hope you realize it's election time here and that should give him a couple of badly needed points in the polls.) Yeah, just like a pipeline of natural gas will magically continue to flow with the very thing that allows their civilization to survive. I have to admit that George W. hasn't exactly wooed international opinion, but maybe he is privy to the fact that our allies couldn't care less about anything but maintaining their comfort (with Great Britain as the sole exception). You think I am disgusted, can you imagine what George W. is going through? Do you realize what folly it is to ask the Europeans for support? He knows, but unfortunately he is not able to tell the American Public, nor the world for that matter. He is between a rock and a hard place and very few of us really know how hard it is. WE can only rely on the media that continues to spew out its half-truths. When you read the newspaper, ask yourself, is this ACTUAL news or is the news being CREATED by this article, or by this sound bite or fancy graphics. A word of warning! Even though we are the unfortunate brunt of religious zealots and scorned by governments that can afford to be comfortable due to America's vision, a floodgate of hatred and chaos is about to be unleashed. Third world nations seemingly "demand" economic support and they are angered when they have to pay it back. It all boils down to the fact that most countries throughout the world, and the people that populate them, have come to expect everything in exchange for nothing. They seem to forget that there will be an ultimate price to pay, and this is usually blood. This is a precedent that has preceded all major conflicts in the history of civilization. We mustn't be too quick to try to resolve this. You see, the original problem disappeared as soon as the Twin Trade Towers quit smoking. Now it is the resolution of the actual problem that is becoming the defacto problem. We are losing the media war. Unfortunately, we can't just sit around with our fingers crossed like our European cousins.
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