A growing sense of dismay at arrogance

Bruce Stannard, Australia
scotsheritage@optusnet.com.au

1983 Nieman Fellow; Australia, publisher, Scots, a quarterly with a global readership of 250,000.

There was, of course tremendous sympathy for the United States in Australia, following the 9/11 outrage. There still is. But since then I think many people have watched with a growing sense of dismay and unease as the Bush administration displays an arrogant and overbearing "we know what's best for you" attitude in Iraq. People ask, perhaps naively, "why can't the Americans mind their own damned business?"

Australian troops are fighting alongside the Americans in this conflict as they have done in every major stouch since WW2. So far there has been only one fatality and that through an accidental self-inflicted wound. If the Australians were to take significant casualties, as they did in Vietnam, I have no doubt that anti-war, anti-American sentiment would manifest itself much more strongly.

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