America deserves some love and respect 

By Roger Mitton 

EARLIER this week, a reception was held to mark the launch in America of a book highlighting the 
negotiations that led to the US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement.
 
Among those speaking at the event were the chief negotiators for each side, Mr Ralph Ives, the 
Assistant US Trade Representative for the Asia-Pacific, and Singapore's Ambassador at Large, 
Professor Tommy Koh.

Both ladled praise on each other.

At a time when it is fashionable, both here and around the world, to lambast the United States 
for pretty well everything, it provided a rare interlude of gracious amity.

One of Prof Koh's comments stood out. He recalled that many people had asked how a little 
country like Singapore can negotiate with a superpower like the US.
 
Well, despite the disparity in size, that is exactly what happened.

'I never felt bullied or intimidated during the two years of negotiation,' said Prof Koh. 'The 
United States treated Singapore with great respect.'

That reciprocity of respect should not be disparaged or taken for granted.

In referring to it, Prof Koh's remark echoed a statement made earlier the same day at an Asia 
Foundation panel discussing America's role in Asia.

One of Prof Koh's colleagues, Dr Kim Kyong-won, a former South Korean ambassador in Washington, 
noted that the US currently has excellent government-to-government relations with all the 
countries of North-east Asia, except North Korea.

But, said Dr Kim, if you walk outside the government offices and ask ordinary Chinese, South 
Koreans or Japanese what they think of the US, the answer will not be positive.

Nowadays, it seems the whole world hates America.

The fact that the US is the only dominant superpower in the post-Cold War age does not help 
matters. No one likes to be dominated, either directly or indirectly.

And unfortunately, even with the best of intentions, America does often give the impression that 
it seeks a kind of soft domination, a desire for all the world to be built in its image.

That was exemplified by a comment in The New York Times earlier this week by Mr Nicholas 
Kristof, one of the more objective and measured columnists in that most sophisticated of 
newspapers.

Bearing in mind America's goal to democratise the Middle East, he recounted a recent trip to 
Iran.

Mr Kristof wrote: 'Ordinary people are proving themselves irrepressible, and they will triumph 
someday and forge a glistening example of a Muslim country that is a pro-American democracy in 
the Middle East.'

It was that 'pro-American' that stuck in the craw. In an unsubtle way, it epitomised why America 
brings such opprobrium upon itself.

We all want to be democratic, and we all want the citizens of Iran and other nations to be 
democratic. But that does not mean they have to be pro-American.

Americans would do the world a favour if they would understand this better. But their frantic 
desire for everyone to love and respect them, and to be like them, gets in the way.

Of course, to a degree, every country seeks the same thing.

In his talk earlier this week, Prof Koh pleaded for the US to show South-east Asia a little more 
love and respect.

Frankly, however, what is needed now is some reverse flow. Life is a two-way street, and in 
these times of rabid anti-US sentiment, Americans would welcome a little more love and respect 
from South-east Asia and the rest of the world.

They deserve it. For there is no more generous and loving people on earth.

That is often forgotten when the daily press headlines prisoner abuse and bomb attacks on 
civilians.

Sure, their government and military make horrendous mistakes. But it pays to remember that the 
disparity Dr Kim referred to in North-east Asia between official government views and those of 
ordinary people is also prevalent here.

If you walk onto the street of any American town and ask the plain folks what they think about 
the government in Washington, you will get a right earful.

Just look at the plummeting approval ratings of President George W. Bush.

No one lambasts the US government more than Americans themselves.

So, let's keep things in perspective.

Others should not bash Americans and all things American simply because they oppose US 
government policies.

Frankly, it is hard for any right-thinking person not to be offended by many of those policies.

For example, the hypocrisy of bringing out an annual human rights report condemning others for 
detention without trial and similar abuses when the US itself is detaining 600 innocents at 
Guantanamo is an outrage.

The execution of a mentally-ill person in Texas this week defies comprehension in the world's 
most developed nation.

The sight of dozens of homeless people sleeping on the streets of the US capital every night is 
shameful, as are the long queues at charity kitchens every morning.

You see, it is not hard to find fault with America. At the same time, it is hard not to be 
offended by this ugly global epidemic of anti-Americanism. It has gone too far and it needs a 
corrective.

So let me say, upfront, that I still like America despite all its flaws. And I actually like the 
people.

In my opinion, it's time they were cut some slack.

They too deserve a little love and respect.