Soli says:

“The record of the Bush administration must have shown that however powerful the U.S. may be, it cannot shape the world in its own image. Nor can it treat the rest of the world with the callousness and conceit displayed during these last few years…

And of course a little dose of humility, even if it is just of the make-believe kind, would go a long way toward re-ingratiating the United States to the world public. You have got a lot of repair work to do. Good luck.”

Thanks for the excellent post. You don’t mention specific issues but I would say that our most egregious behavior has been in Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan in that order. Our unconditional support for Israel’s atrocious subjugation of the Palestinian people and occupation of Palestine has been our most serious mistake.

The Zionist invader took Palestine from its rightful owners by force with an assist from the world’s super powers. It will soon be taken back by force.

Scanning the posts above, I agree with those who are encouraged by the huge Democratic turnout in Iowa (nearly double the Republicans) and the long lines that are waiting and cannot even get in to Barrack Obama’s rallies.

I intend to vote for Obama in November, but I’m very disappointed in his stance on the Israel-Palestine issue. The problem is that this issue is not given an honest airing for the American people. As a result, the American people are basically ignorant of this issue, and it would be political suicide for an ambitious politician to address this issue fairly. Just as it would have been political suicide for Hillary to vote against the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Here is an article that shows what we are up against. It shows how Barack Obama executed his abrupt flip flop on Palestinian support when he began his campaign for a US
Senate seat from Illinois:

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article6619.shtml

How Barack Obama learned to love Israel

Ali Abunimah, The Electronic Intifada, 4 March 2007

...“In 2000, when Obama unsuccessfully ran for Congress I heard him speak at a campaign fundraiser hosted by a University of Chicago professor. On that occasion and others Obama was forthright in his criticism of US policy and his call for an even-handed approach to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.”…

…“But Obama's gradual shift into the AIPAC camp had begun as early as 2002 as he planned his move from small time Illinois politics to the national scene. In 2003, Forward reported on how he had "been courting the pro-Israel constituency." He co-sponsored an amendment to the Illinois Pension Code allowing the state of Illinois to lend money to the Israeli government. Among his early backers was Penny Pritzker -- now his national campaign finance chair -- scion of the liberal but staunchly Zionist family that owns the Hyatt hotel chain. (The Hyatt Regency hotel on Mount Scopus was built on land forcibly expropriated from Palestinian owners after Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967). He has also appointed several prominent pro-Israel advisors.”…

…“If disappointing, given his historically close relations to Palestinian-Americans, Obama's about-face is not surprising. He is merely doing what he thinks is necessary to get elected and he will continue doing it as long as it keeps him in power.”…

“Only if enough people know what Obama and his competitors stand for, and organize to compel them to pay attention to their concerns can there be any hope of altering the disastrous course of US policy in the Middle East. It is at best a very long-term project that cannot substitute for support for the growing campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions needed to hold Israel accountable for its escalating violence and solidifying apartheid.”

It is clear to me that our only hope for an honest government is campaign reform with total taxpayer financing of political campaigns. All lobbying must be totally banned.

I would like to respond to Soli Ozel regarding the United States trying to shape the world. While there may be some truth to that he says, for him to be honest about his assertions, he should also advise the Muslim part of the world the same. It can not be denied that since the beginning of their religiion they have been intent on controlling the world by use of terror. Mr. Ozel unless you are willing to do this, your comments are simply a bunch of worthless mumble jumble.

It is the first sign of successful rehabilitation that one admits one's mistakes. America has made some serious mistakes in foreign and domestic policy since Clinton's first election. Perhaps none were avoidable, but that does not alter how negative the consequences have been. Of course most Western countries must share the responsibility with the USA, but the USA is seen by the rest of the world as the figurehead of all that is wrong with our societies. Even our attempts to help have been patronising - we throw money at the developing countries, then stand back and criticise smugly when corruption and inefficiency eat it up. I think that people who defend American foreign policy over the last 10-20 years need to learn some alternative points of view.

It is the first sign of successful rehabilitation that one admits one's mistakes. America has made some serious mistakes in foreign and domestic policy since Clinton's first election. Perhaps none were avoidable, but that does not alter how negative the consequences have been. Of course most Western countries must share the responsibility with the USA, but the USA is seen by the rest of the world as the figurehead of all that is wrong with our societies. Even our attempts to help have been patronising - we throw money at the developing countries, then stand back and criticise smugly when corruption and inefficiency eat it up. I think that people who defend American foreign policy over the last 10-20 years need to learn some alternative points of view.

Well said.......

I have been sharing these same sentiments for the past
many years with friends, family and whomever would listen to me about our President's actions
and the direction it was taking us.

You will notice I still capitalized the word, "President", because I still highly respect the
office if not the current holder of same.

His audacity has insulted not only foreign
leaders and countrymen, but the very people
he supposedly leads: all the citizens of the
USA. To be so blatant with his disregard of
our wishes, to represent us as this arrogant country filled with ego-dirven "bring em on"
bullies and top it off, with the theivery of his
friends and cohorts with military contracts and
the like. I say, a pox on you and the adminis-
tration that supports you, and please don't
worry about what your legacy will be, I think
you kno3w quite well how you will be thought of.

callousness and conceit are not ours but how we are portrayed in the foreign press. part of the problem is that you believe the lies and need to not be so lazy and find out the truth.

Howard, Idunt think I have time to responded to yr writing, u use such big words and know how to speelll ck. sowwy , maybe nixt time:)

Larry L writes:Maybe if you read the article you might notice he's talking about recent history

yes, yr exactly right...what have you done for me lately...that is exactly the problem. Any civilized person, friend or family wouldn't use this line of thinking. Ungrateful, self serving people do.

Mr Ozel makes excellent points and I believe that at least in the case of Mr. Obama the desired change is possible. The Republicans do not seem to have learned as much about the need to change American foriegn policy attitudes, but among them Huckabee shows a bit of promise.

An encouraging sign in the Iowa caucus was the number and enthusiasm of the Democratic members. It bodes well for whoever wins the Dem nomination.

As an American who lives in the UK, I see clearly that the world is watching the American election as closely, perhaps moreso, than the Americans themselves. I can also say without qualification, that the world expects that the US will regain and express the values that made it a respected country in the past.

Alex, your comments serve only to underscore a sad fact: many Americans still have a stubborn, sweaty grip on an obsolete isolationism. Not only that, you seem to believe that this Nation and its leaders, policies, and acts are somehow impervious to the world's derision. Good grief, next thing you know some American will be claiming that the US created the Earth in seven days.
I'd wager that the German, Japanese and South Korean peoples will take exception to your assertion that the US "singlehandedly" built their nations into industrial Superpowers. Our so-called lead in the global war on AIDS came very late in the game, as has our very acknowledgement of the genocide in Darfur.
Soli suggests merely, and quite reasonably, that the US--as a fading (some might suggest that this fall from grace is as ineluctable as the physical law of gravity) Superpower that still manages to wield considerable influence at the world table--brush up on its manners and clean up after itself. I agree with him. We have many fences to mend and an obscenely tarnished image to burnish. We are not immune to either censure or the need to improve/change based simply upon the commission of prior good acts. Undoubtedly, since its inception the US has, in many circumstances, displayed beneficence in the global arena, as is incumbent upon any global community member with the resources to bestow such generosity. But nothing takes the shine off a gift like bragging about how much you spent on it, nor is civilized behavior to do so. And the examples you cite in defense of your argument are decidedly not immune to criticism. For example, why in the world would you suggest that other Nations need to "help in Iraq"? Ally and enemy alike made very clear in the days prior to the US invasion that they did NOT support an act of aggression, and history has borne witness to the tragic folly (indeed, criminality) of that act. Perhaps you would do us a favor and enlighten us as to the meaningful differences between a self-serving dictatorship and a self-serving "democracy." It's actually a source of bemusement that you even refer to our country as a democracy when the current administration has gutted the Constitution. I'm left to wonder if you've just emerged from a seven year coma.
A final point: please use Spell Check when you're engaging in discourse on an international forum. The validity of your discussion points, even if they'd had merit, is obfuscated by your embarrassing lack of familiarity with such basic writing elements as "grammar" and "spelling."

Mr. Ozel makes a good case for the need for change of US policy towards the rest of the world. I look forward to the day when the Bush Administration, with all its ties to Multinational Corporate rapists and pillagers will no longer be the face representing the citizens of the United States of America. I love my country and am ashamed of how we have squandered the good will most of our brothers and sisters in the rest of the world had for us prior to the illegal and immoral invasion of Iraq, withdrawal from the World Court and the Kyoto Treaty, gag orders on reproductive rights, Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, torture, rendition flights, the drowning of New Orleans, and so on ad infinitum. It makes such an important difference to the whole world who is elected (or in GWBush's case, selected) President of the United States. I truly hope that the American electorate will take their civic duty of voting very seriously in all the primaries, so that we will have a worthy representative . So far, so good: Barack Hussein Obama is a candidate we can all be proud of!!

Mr. Ozel makes a good case for the need for change of US policy towards the rest of the world. I look forward to the day when the Bush Administration, with all its ties to Multinational Corporate rapists and pillagers will no longer be the face representing the citizens of the United States of America. I love my country and am ashamed of how we have squandered the good will most of our brothers and sisters in the rest of the world had for us prior to the illegal and immoral invasion of Iraq, withdrawal from the World Court and the Kyoto Treaty, gag orders on reproductive rights, Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, torture, rendition flights, the drowning of New Orleans, and so on ad infinitum. It makes such an important difference to the whole world who is elected (or in GWBush's case, selected) President of the United States. I truly hope that the American electorate will take their civic duty of voting very seriously in all the primaries, so that we will have a worthy representative . So far, so good: Barack Hussein Obama is a candidate we can all be proud of!!

I share the concern and hope of Mr. Ozel that the next American administration will recognize and practice the art of diplomacy. In my opinion, saying this is simply acknowledging reality under the Bush administration, not a show of arrogance. I believe that the "you are either with us, or against us" logic has decreased support for America throughout the world and most importantly in literate democratic societies that in truth have always been the only supporters of the U.S..

But I also believe that neither the U.S., nor any other power will be able to "go it alone" in the world of tomorrow and that the world should not have been sitting down playing politics for the past 7 years waiting on America to change administrations.

Globalization wasn't an American invention and surely was inevitable given technological progress today. These "rising" world powers must also accept responsibility for the problems of the world and carry a fair share of the load but will they?

Does anyone really believe that the U.N. is an effective forum for resolution of world problems or that China, Russia, India, Venezuela, Iran, or any number of nouveau riche nations in the world have seriously contributed to a better world?

What other country has "earned" consent for its policies today and does anyone ever expect them to earn consent? Yes, I hope diplomacy returns to Washington but it would be good to see a lot more expected from those who would be king.

Turkey is right about earning the world's consent. To earn something one has to be respected. Sadly this administration has lost the respect of many of the world's leaders even some we are financially aiding.

I absolutely agree with Soli Ozel. The United States has had a superiority complex far too long. Certainly that is true with the current administration. America needs to axt as a member of the family of nations and not as if it were somehow the head of that family like a godfather. I like what Obama is currently saying about trying to unite the diffferent factions within our own country. I also endorse what Edwards has been saying about letting the middle class lead our nation. Those philosophies would serve us well if we applied them to our relations with other nations giving respect to their points of view even if we didn't agree. We may have a lot of strength and power, but like an exuberant youth, we need to gain more wisdom. Much of that can happen when we start listening to the points of view of others before we go lunging ahead.

I am sure that I was not the only one that awaited the results of Iowa with baited breath. Ever since reading the article in the Atlantic by Andrew Sullivan I have been convinced that Obama would be the man. Mr Obama can lead our country out of the morass and into a better future. The man may be young, his rhetoric may vaguely remind someone of another great US leader, Dr. King, but he is bright and he seems born to, forcefully if necessary, guide our country into a more responsible role without and a more compassionate role within. He appears to already feel the weight and the awesome responsibility of the task he will be taking on.
I also look forward to a changed Democratic Party, a party that will listen to the independents and the liberals working toward a more equitable society throughout and within the bounds of financial responsibility.
And above all, I look forward to a swift end to the Republican driven carnage of human lives, their wrong headed decisions and their disregard of budgets in their insane fight against phantom terrorism which is an ill-disguised cover to cover their lust for more oil and riches for a few.

Wow, two out three comments act like everyone should grovel at the feet of the mighty sword of the USA. Are you kidding? Maybe if you read the article you might notice he's talking about recent history. If you believe that George Bush has not done any damage to America's image since taking office then perhaps you need to go back to your bubble. Invading a country under false pretenses is not going to make people happy. Torturing captors and giving it prettier names like 'enhanced techniques' is not going to bring flowers and showers of support. Shall I go on with the Constitutional abuses as well? No. If you don't get it yet, maybe try reading articles from all sides and around the world instead of just acting like nothing wrong has happened in the last seven years...

Protect us, feed us, clothe us. Send us your doctors, medicine and international aid. Save us from the terrorists we breed, educate and ship around the world to mame and kill in the name of God. But first apologize for it and then ask our permission. Repair work? The arrogance. Look in the mirror.

Alex, I think you missed the point, you did not do it alone. You did it by gaining the co-operation, and assistance of many other nations. In the past, your leaders spoke a vision, and for the most part lived up to that vision. More importantly the people of the world believed you.

Now, George speaks, the world laughs.

Soli, If you look at how the "world" has responded to Dafur or have erased any idea of helping in Iraq or the progress made in North Korea, you'd see the "world" is a nice concept but in reality is a place of self serving dictatorships and fiefdoms with a scattering of western democracies. The US should pursue its interests with the many friends it has rather then the few obstinate nations who serve there own interests. Take a look at the UN, the closest thing to a world body we have, how many dictatorships are there ? how many real democracies ?, yes, that is yr "world". The "world" needs to do alot of fixing, but fixing itself. Pretty arrogant how you to think we should "fix" relationships.We've spent billions defending the world against communism , singlehandedly built industrial powers like South Korea, Japan and Germany, lead the fight against global aids etc etc, and we need to repair ? very arrogant and ungrateful attitude for what we have done.