Public opposition to their leaders’ folly

Barely four months after terrorists attacked and laid to waste New York City’s Twin Towers, at a time when much outrage for the terrorists and compassion for their innocent victims were running high, an international public opinion poll was conducted among the world’s "opinion-makers". The international sample covered more than thirty countries worldwide, with European, Latin American, Middle Eastern, Asian and North American respondents being engaged in telephone and mail interviews. Among the "opinion makers" were media people, businessmen, public officials , academics and other concerned personalities.

The poll wanted to find out what people worldwide admired best and deplored most in the United States of America.

Regardless of nationality, creed and profession, the survey respondents expressed great admiration for what America is a symbol of, what the society and its people stand for and project ever so consistently to the rest of the world – democracy, human rights and fairness. On the other hand, they deplored most what the American authorities often actually do – subvert democratic regimes, support regimes violating human rights and take advantage of weaker countries.

There is much irony in the fact that most Americans do subscribe to what decent human beings anywhere are prone to idealize while their government and its authorities often act to serve contrary ends.

The American people’s inherent preference for democracy, human rights, fairness and peace ultimately does prevail. Worldwide, many people recognize the difficult challenges which concerned Americans often have to mount against their own, folly-driven leaders. In the end, such challenges are mostly resolved in favor of national good sense and international fair play. Whether the test case be the Philippines early in the 20th century, Vietnam much later or the Middle East right now, the American public’s innate capability for wisdom has shown itself to be a reliable rectifier of official folly. Despite the frequent obscurantist tactics of many officials and the nation’s occasional jingoistic fits largely attributable to official misrepresentation, disinformation and outright lies, most Americans manage to figure out the truth and the imperatives of their problematic situations. Eventually, they are also able to compel the authorities to adopt more sensible policies in addressing these critical challenges.

The march of folly among American policymakers in the case of Iraq is beginning to show signs of weakening. Despite Secretary of State Powell’s recent speech in the UN Security Council denouncing Saddam’s subversion of UN policy against Iraq’s possible arms build-up and possession of weapons of mass destruction, American public opinion is already practically split on going to war against that country. More and more Americans continue to join the ranks of anti-war protesters and American media have increasingly covered and more sympathetically projected these mass demonstrations.

It is not unlikely that American public opinion will soon show a majority consensus against the American government activating a preferred military option in the Middle East.

Americans are likely to be more anti-war precisely because the international sentiment for peace has also dramatically strengthened in most parts of the world. Not only the Arabs and the Muslims, but the Christians too have openly opposed the United States undertaking a military strike against Iraq at this time. The Germans, the French, the Russians and other Europeans – many conspicuously members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization or NATO – among other nations have publicly expressed their strong opposition to US policies marching the world towards war in the Middle East.

Leaders prone to folly of course make for foolish policies. Their "foolitics" will cost the Filipino nation much, overly much.