A global perspective

My beautiful girlfriend is studying abroad in Italy right now and I miss her terribly. Even more disheartening than not having seen her in over two months is hearing of the problems she’s facing over there simply because she is an American.

Let me elaborate.

About a month ago she was walking through the tight, stereotypically-Italian streets of Siena - where she is staying - when she and a friend she was with stepped into a coffee shop so that her could buy a snack. After going a few minutes without receiving help from the employees behind the counter, the friend was about to ask for some service when one of the Italian workers gave with a snooty, Mediterranean ‘No.’ When my girlfriend and her friend asked why, the employee responded (in accented English), “Because you come from a country where George Bush is your president.”

Stunned, my girlfriend just said, “Buona giornata (Have a good day),” and she and her friend turned around and left.

The aforementioned story was not exaggerated or made up – it really happened. And she said it wasn’t a one-time thing.

In fact, more and more often American citizens are experiencing this kind of hostility when touring throughout the world (especially Europe) and it seems most of it stems from the actions of our commander in chief, i.e. his decision to invade Iraq.

In March of 2003, President Bush tried to gain international support for the invasion, but came up a little short of his goal. France neglected to send troops, Canada neglected to send troops, Germany neglected to send troops. Even Egypt and Israel (arguably our two greatest allies in the Middle East) refused to support the war against Saddam Hussein.

These nations, and others that did not send support, said Saddam did not have the weapons of mass destruction [WMDs] Bush claimed were there and invading Iraq would distract us from the real war on terror as well as from countries like Iran and North Korea – both of which were reportedly making greater strides toward dangerous WMDs.

And the 30 countries that did send aid (the coalition of the willing) did so with much reluctance and protest from their respective governments’ political rivals and numerous citizens and activists.

The coalition of the willing included allies such as the UK, Poland, South Korea, Australia, the Philippines and…you guessed it: Italy.

In March of 2003, against strong domestic opposition, then-Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, sent 3,000 Italian troops to Iraq – the fourth most after the US, UK and South Korea – in order to assist the nation he said “is the best friend of my country.”

The war now reaches its fourth anniversary later this month – and not a lot of progress has been made - Just look at the facts.

Just look at the facts.

The WMDs found by military forces proved too old to be used as designed (according to the US Department of Defense, the administration’s own inspectors and Charles Duelfer, the chief weapons inspector) and 16 different US spy agencies say that the war has made terrorism worse because it has fueled another generation of Islamic extremists.

Since the invasion, the land of my ancestors has amassed the third highest number of soldier casualties (33) of any coalition nation stationed in Iraq.

It is for these reasons (and others) that Americans are facing resentment when touring foreign countries.

The mistakes our administration makes here are affecting the wellbeing of Americans elsewhere. The Italians are sick and tired of our establishment’s faulty decisions resulting in the deaths of their soldiers – and, quite frankly, I don’t blame. But how is it the fault of my girlfriend – or any other American, for that matter?

Newsflash Europe: many US tourists hate President Bush and his policies. And even if they don’t, the unpopular decisions of a nation’s government cannot be blamed on the citizens of that nation. It’s just like how Italians/Italian-Americans were not responsible for the atrocities of Benito Mussolini during World War II.

The carnage that this mess has caused is being blamed on innocent Americans like my girlfriend and it’s just not right.

I know that are no Italians or other foreign nationals reading this, but I feel obligated to try to protect all of my fellow citizens.

Americans tour the world probably more than any other group of people in it (in fact most countries’ economies flourish because of it) and it’s not fair that they get harassed because of our president.

So, to any foreigners out there who might hold a grudge against Americans, not every loud tourist with red, white and blue on their lips likes President Bush.

The consistent harassment our citizens endure has lead to many of them placing Canadian flags on their bags in an effort to avoid a tongue-lashing.

I’ll be visiting my girlfriend over Spring Break and I won’t exactly be shouting the National Anthem in the middle of a piazza. But if someone approaches me if I come from the US I will say, “Yes I am – and I’m not ashamed of it either."