Do as we say, not as we do

The source of the antagonism towards America is not difficult to divine. Not content with reneging on treaties it doesn't like, threatening countries it doesn't like and ignoring objections to policies it does like, the Bush administration wonders why the rest of the world does not seem to like it.

After September 11 commentators opined that America had lost its innocence. Well, it looks like they have finally got it back again.

If George Bush wishes to claim victimhood for himself or his nation he will have to stand at the back of a very long line. The horrific events of September 11 gave Americans a taste of the world's pain; it did not give them a monopoly on suffering.

The truth is, so long as Bush pushes ahead with this mindless, murderous military campaign and a world trade regime which discriminates against the poor and undermines democracy, he will remain a legitimate focus for anti-war and anti-globalisation protests.

Yet opposition to American foreign policy demands introspection in Europe. One of the few hopeful developments to be salvaged from the wreckage of the World Trade Centre is for America to wake up from its insularity and understand how little goodwill and how much animosity it had generated.