The British abandoned their stiff upper lips and hugged Americans after 9/11. Now much of that goodwill has evaporated and the blame is being laid firmly at the door of George W. Bush.
By Paul Majendie
After the twin tower attacks, a military band broke with tradition and played the American national anthem at the Changing of the Guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace.
Less than 18 months later, one million people took to London's streets to protest against the forthcoming war in Iraq.
Now with President Bush heading to these shores next week to see Tony Blair for what should have been a triumphal reunion with his closest ally, the 200,000 Americans living in London are reflecting on how times have changed.
They recall with wonder how the British dropped their innate reserve after the attacks on September 11, 2001.
But now, after wars in Afghanistan and Iraq where British and Americans fought side by side, they face a wave not of anti-Americanism but anti-Bushism.
"It's tougher being an American in London than it used to be. Our President has made it so," said Newsweek Magazine's London correspondent Stryker McGuire.
"Even among friendly Britons, there's a growing scepticism about the gun-toting, electric-chairing land that has let Dubya be Dubya for nigh on three years now."
Christine Swanson, back home after taking the kids on the morning run to school, said: "I am frustrated. As horrible as September 11 was, it was a real opportunity to move forward in a positive way.
"There was a lot of goodwill to tap into and it took the incredible talent of George Bush to piss it all away in two years."
Almost 25 years after she first called London home, Pennsylvania-born Virginia Schultz vividly recalls the days after 9/11. "People were hugging me in the street. I thought the way they reacted then was wonderful."
"Right now there is strong anti-Americanism and I compare it to the Vietnam War. Bush has been targeted as the villain in all of this. I think he is even more unpopular than Nixon was."
The New York Times ' London correspondent Warren Hoge told Reuters: "America is now something of a rogue state, a pariah nation."
"People repeatedly say it isn't Americans we don't like, it is just Bush. He pushes hot buttons. Bush has so much to do with this rather stupendous fall-off in American popularity. It is quite amazing to think where we were the day after September 11 and how much of that goodwill has been squandered."
Film-maker Paul Berczeller, a New Yorker now living in London, agreed: "The groundswell of goodwill has definitely evaporated. It was a real missed opportunity.
"As an American living in Europe, I have tried to explain back home how negatively Americans are viewed in Europe."
Banker Eleanor Hope-Bell felt overt support had subsided. "The motivation to say something to someone in the street or the immediate need to act on your emotions isn't there."
But Anglo-American ties, she argued, are deep-seated. "When you think about World War Two, that will never go away, the brotherhood will never go away."
Virginia Schultz, who has already dodged tragedy twice, is philosophical about changing times.
In New York for a dental appointment, she witnessed the second of the twin towers crumbling.
In London 18 years earlier, she was late for an appointment and thus missed an IRA bomb that killed six people outside Harrods store.
Reflecting on the ebb and flow of anti-Americanism, she concluded: "This happens and you live through it."
After the twin tower attacks, a military band broke with tradition and played the American national anthem at the Changing of the Guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace.
Less than 18 months later, one million people took to London's streets to protest against the forthcoming war in Iraq.
Now with President Bush heading to these shores next week to see Tony Blair for what should have been a triumphal reunion with his closest ally, the 200,000 Americans living in London are reflecting on how times have changed.
They recall with wonder how the British dropped their innate reserve after the attacks on September 11, 2001.
But now, after wars in Afghanistan and Iraq where British and Americans fought side by side, they face a wave not of anti-Americanism but anti-Bushism.
"It's tougher being an American in London than it used to be. Our President has made it so," said Newsweek Magazine's London correspondent Stryker McGuire.
"Even among friendly Britons, there's a growing scepticism about the gun-toting, electric-chairing land that has let Dubya be Dubya for nigh on three years now."
Christine Swanson, back home after taking the kids on the morning run to school, said: "I am frustrated. As horrible as September 11 was, it was a real opportunity to move forward in a positive way.
"There was a lot of goodwill to tap into and it took the incredible talent of George Bush to piss it all away in two years."
Almost 25 years after she first called London home, Pennsylvania-born Virginia Schultz vividly recalls the days after 9/11. "People were hugging me in the street. I thought the way they reacted then was wonderful."
"Right now there is strong anti-Americanism and I compare it to the Vietnam War. Bush has been targeted as the villain in all of this. I think he is even more unpopular than Nixon was."
The New York Times ' London correspondent Warren Hoge told Reuters: "America is now something of a rogue state, a pariah nation."
"People repeatedly say it isn't Americans we don't like, it is just Bush. He pushes hot buttons. Bush has so much to do with this rather stupendous fall-off in American popularity. It is quite amazing to think where we were the day after September 11 and how much of that goodwill has been squandered."
Film-maker Paul Berczeller, a New Yorker now living in London, agreed: "The groundswell of goodwill has definitely evaporated. It was a real missed opportunity.
"As an American living in Europe, I have tried to explain back home how negatively Americans are viewed in Europe."
Banker Eleanor Hope-Bell felt overt support had subsided. "The motivation to say something to someone in the street or the immediate need to act on your emotions isn't there."
But Anglo-American ties, she argued, are deep-seated. "When you think about World War Two, that will never go away, the brotherhood will never go away."
Virginia Schultz, who has already dodged tragedy twice, is philosophical about changing times.
In New York for a dental appointment, she witnessed the second of the twin towers crumbling.
In London 18 years earlier, she was late for an appointment and thus missed an IRA bomb that killed six people outside Harrods store.
Reflecting on the ebb and flow of anti-Americanism, she concluded: "This happens and you live through it."
Comments
Hide the following 8 comments
Anti-Bushism is not equivalent to Anti-Americanism
13.11.2003 14:55
Like many others on Indymedia I have the greatest affection for the United States and for American people. But I will fight tyranny in all its forms until I die.
Eugene Debs
Anti-Americanism began long ago
13.11.2003 15:17
Historian
When??
13.11.2003 15:57
Folks have been hating them ever since.
Bendeus
well yeah but
13.11.2003 18:00
(*Eugene Debs was the leader and Presidential candidate of the Communist Party of the USA in the 1920s+30s, trivia fans!)
kurious
When exactly- another candidate
13.11.2003 19:40
Furat Al-Samaraie
Socialist Party
13.11.2003 23:07
Eugene
Eugene Debs
post 9/11 sympathy is SYMPATHY not allegiance
14.11.2003 00:57
If there's anyone from the US living in Scotland reading this, I'll be in George Square on Thursday night with other protestors - I'll have a placard with the logo 'Bush: Has trouble getting along with others', and would like to meet you - cause I don't think this'll be the last demo we'll be on in the next year or two...
J. Brady
jabrady
e-mail:
jabrady30@hotmail.com
I stand corrected
14.11.2003 11:21
kurious