The United States used to have a heroic reputation in Europe (and most of the world) since World War 2. In the old days America, in particular in my youth, was regarded with considerable awe. Progress happened in the United States, and not just technological progress. America signified the vanguard of social progress, freedom, consumer culture, cosmopolitanism, cultural diversity, multiculturalism, sexual liberty, advanced science and philosophy. In the 1980s I greatly appreciated how the US protected Europe against authoritarian ‘communism’.
Taking this in to consideration it is sometimes bewildering why the US let all this goodwill slip away. In the 1990s, at the end of the cold war, the US changed many of its international policies and values considerably – and after the late 1990s there was an increasing sense that US has become increasingly corporatist and unilateral. But there was also this pervasive atmosphere of unease at what was happening in the inner workings of the US political system. From a naive perspective the US was always the “good guy”. This feeling has shifted completely since the Bush government.
In September 2001 the world was very tolerant towards the government of George. W. Bush. Then after the disaster of September 11 2001 the world stood with America, against the pervasive evil of terrorism. But then two things unfolded before the eyes of the world.
First, the US started enacting every more oppressive and often sinister policies in law enforcement and international policies. Second, slowly but surely there has been accumulating evidence that not one – but a whole range of things were factually incorrect about the United States reading of events unfolding on September 11 2001.
This article does not challenge the official reading of these events. The official reading of events on this day is that several Saudi kidnappers flew several planes in to the World Trade Center buildings in New York, and the Pentagon in Washington DC.
We have now arrived in a place where inside the US an increasing number of highly educated people contest the official narrative of this story with increasingly sophisticated arguments. That is not much of a problem for the US, since there is still a pervasive medium consensus inside the US hammering down the official story of events on that fateful day. The problem for the United States is that the dialogue on events on 911 for people living outside the United States has completely shifted towards dismissal. Everywhere I travel, people outside the US do not believe the official record of events on September 11, 2001. There is pervasive belief outside the United States that elements inside the US government conspired in some intricate and arcane manner to let several planes fly in to these buildings as a most sinister pretext for a massive change in US policies and strategies.
A debate of the evidence has become pointless and is simply an exercise in argumentation back and forth. My opinion on the matter should be clear but I will not insist it here because, again, that is patently pointless and needlessly argumentative. My only observation for this article is the simple and undeniable conclusion that outside the US there is a pervasive consensus that elements inside the US government are capable of mass slaughter of their own population to change policies. In other words – outside the US there is consensus that the US is at least in part governed by unmitigated forces of evil.
I leave you all to contemplate the implications. I have discussed this with a dozen or so Dutch politicians of several parties – VVD, SP, D66, GL, PVV, Pirates and PvdD – and even in those ranks of governing politicians there is pervasive doubt towards the official statements of the United States. They do not say so publicly, but there seems to be an in-door consensus.
The My conclusion is quite simple – outside the US major parts of US policies and statements are discounted, or at least taken with a major grain of salt. Too Many people outside the US think elements of US government believe they are criminals.
As I side, a debate on the facts of what precisely happened on September 11, 2001 has become an endless bickering mess. People who deny official events come up with arguably quite contrived and outlandish theories about ‘drone planes’ or ‘hijackers being alive in Saudi Arabia’. I have insufficient information to see merit in the more outlandish theories. On the other hand I have seen such compelling scientific evidence that major parts of the officially sanctioned narrative can not be true that I am bewildered.
Must I conclude that the United States has gone completely insane? Because that is what essentially too many people world wide are started to believe.
Our former hero and savior the United States has gone mad and has come under the spell of untrustworthy and criminal elements.
This very doubt is making the US increasingly vulnerable in international politics.