Why They Hate Bush As a retired journalist who reported for 36 years from New York, I can answer the question posed on your June 3 cover, “Does Europe Really Hate Him?” (Europe). Most people here not only despise George W. Bush and his collaborators, they consider him a more unpredictable disaster than his father and totally unworthy to occupy the White House or lead the free world. Some see him as a global terrorist who practices double standards: he receives war criminals as respected friends in the Oval Office, even as he uses full U.S. military power to battle others who are not terrorists but genuine freedom fighters. Many of us hope he will disappear after one term, as his father did. Willem Oltmans Amsterdam, Netherlands
As an American living in Europe, I can tell you that Europeans really do hate Bush. And, as the popular vote in 2000 showed, more than half of all Americans do, too. That fact has been all but forgotten by the media and by the president, who has been anything but the centrist politician he promised to be with his “compassionate” conservatism. Geoffrey Pomerantz London, England
Before the contested election, Bush could not even name the leaders of India and Pakistan. We were worried that he’d concern himself only with domestic matters. How wrong everyone was! In the last nine months President Bush has become more internationally engaged than any other president before him. Eric af Wetterstedt Leksand, Sweden
Speaking as an average European, I’d say we don’t hate President Bush, but he worries us greatly. In his speeches, he responds to a single aspect of a complex issue and even then he seems to oversimplify. Whether it’s his reaction to global warming, the Kyoto treaty and international terrorism or steel imports, agricultural subsidies or the situation in the Middle East, he always manages to give the impression that he repeats whatever he heard from the one who spoke the loudest to him or, worse, donated the most to his campaign. With Clinton, we could disagree, but he never gave the impression that he did not understand the issues at hand. Bush does, and that’s scary. Besides, the wiser folks in his administration, like Colin Powell, seem to have far less influence than the cowboys do. So, given the power Bush has, his shallowness gives us the jitters. Benno ter Kuile Leiderdorp, Netherlands
Does Europe really hate him? Yes, and no. Responsible Europeans feel let down after the dubious outcome of the 2000 election–still considered by many here as stolen. The Bush administration is seen as the return of the Ugly American: the only remaining superpower refuses to cooperate with the rest of the world or to sign existing international treaties like Kyoto, the International Criminal Court and ABM. The attitude is, “We, the most powerful nation in the world, will not negotiate with or take into account the opinion of other countries–we’ll simply impose our will.” Europe does not hate Bush; it sees him as weak, a president who mouths the lines others want him to and who oversimplifies the issues, such as good against evil. We see him as a puppet with strings controlled by the energy, steel and defense industries, the Jewish lobby and the Israeli government, the Christian right–and ultimately by Karl Rove, who seems to be in charge of both the national and the foreign policies. K. B. Van der Poel Sorgues, France
Europe does not really hate President Bush. The common people support his policy in their hearts but are afraid to say so. Europe is dominated by left-wing, corrupt, low-profile politicians and a small bunch of protesters–Muslim migrants and communists–who make so much noise that they seem to be the majority. Don’t believe that, or the polls, because the media here lie a lot. Why do you think every time there’s an election here, right-wing parties win so many votes? I am a right-wing European who fully supports the policies of Bush, Ashcroft, Cheney and Rumsfeld, and hopes that the eyes of our politicians here will open and they’ll join America in the struggle to wipe out terrorism. Peter Vinck Anzegem, Belgium
As an American living in Europe who travels worldwide, I’ll tell you that the hatred of Bush is not limited to Europe. The United States is at odds with the rest of the world on issues, but Americans’ contact with the world outside their borders is often limited to Europe. That’s the only place they come in contact with such opposition and wrongfully conclude that it’s the only place where it exists. We see evidence of America’s isolation from the global experience in almost every sphere. From practical issues like the Unites States’ refusal to coordinate its standards–for electricity, telephone, television, satellite communications and road signage–with the rest of the world, to political issues like its near-total isolation on issues like Kyoto, the nuclear test-ban treaty, the land-mine treaty, the bioweapons accord and the ICC, to America’s near-total cultural isolation from the World Cup, an event that brings the entire world together. What really bugs all of us is, as you said, violence, simple-mindedness, provincialism, arrogance, ignorance and unilateralism. So, to answer your question, no, it’s not Europe alone that hates him; we all really hate him. Gregory Smith Stockholm, Sweden
Arundhati’s Politics The views aired by Arundhati Roy in “‘A Fearfulness in the Air’” (Interview, March 18) are totally biased. Roy has a right to her opinion on issues like the Narmada dam and the Gujarat riots, but she appears to have scant knowledge and little understanding of these problems. She is better off writing books. Sameer Chitale Pune, India
Your interview with Arundhati Roy demonstrates the double standard sinking “democratic” Indian government. The killing of innocent civilians by Hindus and Muslims is the work of dirty politics for the purpose of extreme exploitation. Saeed Yar Khan Stavanger, Norway
Arundhati Roy appears to be settling her scores with the BJP government because of her brief imprisonment for protesting the construction of the Narmada dam. The language she speaks is hyperbolic to say the least. Where was all her sympathy for communal harmony in India when the Memon brothers blew up Bombay or when Indian Airlines Flight 814 was hijacked or when Hindu pilgrims are murdered on their way to Kashmir? Why isn’t there even a whisper about the Godhra train incident, where women and children were burned alive? As for her remarks about the BJP’s record in Gujarat and elsewhere in controlling riots, maybe someone should send her a list of the number of riots that occurred under the “secular” Congress and leftist governments. M. Pramod Kumar Kotagiri, India
What do your columnist Ashutosh Varshney and novelist Arundhati Roy want Hindus to do? Sit back and play dead? M. P. Rao Nagpur, India
The Right to Vote in Japan Thank you very much for your timely story on Japan and Korea (“The Ties That Bind,” Asia, March 18). It is high time that the Japanese and Koreans learned to come to grips with their common cultural heritage. You seem to be concerned that resident Koreans “have the right of abode but cannot vote.” They do not have the right to vote in Japan any more than Korean or Japanese residents have a right to vote in the United States. Foreign residents in Japan can vote and even run for Parliament if they become citizens. Tetsuo Aoki Yokosuka, Japan
A Professor Gets It Prof. Andrew Moravcsik of Harvard is the first American who understands the European mind. I thought his article, “If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It” (Europe, March 4), was brilliant. Elisabeth Romeijn Le Poet-Laval, France
Punish the Priest As a Roman Catholic, I found your story “Sins of the Fathers” painful to read (Society & the Arts, March 4). You put the finger on the wound and it hurt. It’s incredible that the Boston archdiocese and an influential cardinal like Bernard Law, a righteous man, neglected to punish priests like John J. Geoghan. Seeing Geoghan in shackles I wondered if he feels shame or regret for the harm he inflicted on the church and on so many children for so many years. Severe punitive measures to deal with pedophilia among priests must be established. Jose Thomaz Gama da Silva Ouro Preto, Brazil
Thin Evidence If the evidence brought against Lotfi Raissi is any indication of normal procedure, I wonder how many people are behind bars in America on charges just as thin (“The Usual Suspects,” Periscope, Feb. 25). I’ll take the European way, any day. Max Robitzsch Darmstadt, Germany
Since when has releasing a suspect due to insufficient evidence been “ominous”? The United States may have abandoned the principle of innocent until proven guilty; we Europeans have not. Mike Connell Stavanger, Norway
Immigrants, Not Foreigners What a relief you addressed the issue of “Race in the Boardroom” (Business, Feb. 18)! Here, everyone says, “Auslanders don’t want to assimilate, they do not speak sufficient German.” That’s not true. I think you should also have investigated lower levels of the workplace where it’s no different. If Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, Transport Secretary Norman Mineta, Jacques Nasser, John Sununu and the Indian engineers of the Silicon Valley had foolishly migrated to Germany, they would be falafel, sushi and curry vendors here: the slots reserved for foreigners are cooks, dishwashers, fruit and vegetable sellers and tailors. Last year I myself went to the European Court of Human Rights, requesting Germany to open its job market to foreigners who are married to Germans and live here. Salim Samai Berlin, Germany
In France, a person of color is still, in the minds of most, a foreigner who will and should return to his country, even if immigration started long-enough ago to produce second- and third-generation residents. A French schoolteacher once told me, “I don’t have a single French child in my class.” All the children in question had been born in France, most had never seen another country, but they were the children of North African parents. In France, French is still a synonym for white. Lorene M. Birden Nevers, France
Greece’s Grievances I’m dismayed by your characterization of Greece as a country “where the United States is really loathed, certifiably and widely” (“Fears in the ‘Un-America’,” Europe, Feb. 11). Rather, Greeks’ attitude toward the States is one of resentment, indignation and consternation for such policies as the backing of the military dictatorship that ruled Greece in the ’60s and ’70s. Please don’t reduce Greece’s complicated grievances against the States to a blind hatred of the U.S. policy of backing Muslims in the region. To insinuate that the Cypriot issue can be relegated to a religious conflict is also inaccurate. And although it is true that Greeks feel for Serbs because of their shared identity as Orthodox Christians–not Orthodox “Catholics” as you mistakenly write–it was not the backing of Bosnians and Kosovars which angered Greeks but the bombarding of innocent Serb civilians in the name of a “battle for human rights.” Greeks are far more aware of world politics and current events than most Americans. Thus, thoughts of America’s having “gotten what it deserved” stemmed from their general knowledge of what is viewed as U.S. hypocrisy worldwide. Still, most Greeks condemned the tragic events of September 11, mourning the victimization of the innocent. Angelika Antonakos Athens, Greece
