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Fear of terrorism drove Bush to declare war on Iraq. Fear of our European allies and of members of the UN pulled him inexorably to unilateralism, to disdain all other viewpoints, and to the concoction of the many reasons for the war. Fear of admitting a mistake keeps our troops there. Fear of being accused of changng his mind, makes him insist on having the election exactly as scheduled, whether the country is ready for election or not.
His excessive fear is responsible for his macho behavior. He wants to be feared, not loved. And Bush IS feared. He is feared everywhere. He - and by extension, all Americans - are also hated everywhere. Today around the world Americans are not welcome, as they used to be. The good name of America is gone.
Before Bush left for Chile and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, I read in the paper that Bush will try to mend fences. Good, I thought. But as soon as he got to the summit, he delivered warnings about Iran and North Korea. Mending fences? I thought he would have something good to say about trade. No, he sticks to the macho stuff.
Next, I hear Bush was involved in a scuffle between American Secret Service and Chilean "carabinero."
Today, I hear that the American Secret Service insisted that everyone attending a state dinner pass through metal detectors. Chilean President Ricardo Lagos would not put up with this. A Chilean source said:
"President Lagos considered it unacceptable that the highest-ranking officials in the country and distinguished men of business would be submitted to a search that can be humiliating."
So the state dinner was cancelled!
President George W. Bush is scared, so scared that he does not trust any other "Secret Service" but his own. The "carabineros" are proud of what they do. They think of themselves as professionals and as incorruptible. They, not anyone else, are in charge of security in Chile. They feel insulted by the disdainful actions of the American president and those around him.
A similar thing happened when Bush visited England a few years ago. There he managed to annoy the Queen.
The only explanation of this sort of action I believe is fear. It's the job of the "Secret Service" of the visited country to protect all visiting officials. If Bush does not have enough confidence in them, he should not visit the country. If he does go, he should allow them to take care of security. He can be positively confident that they will do their best not to have something bad happen to the president of the U.S.
But Bush is fearful. A fearful Bush displays aggression to hide his fearfulness. A fearful Bush develops fearful policies: They induce fear in others.
I hope that now that he has been reelected, Bush will discard his fears and discard his fearful policies.
