To Tom Friedman: Why Does Everyone Hate Us?
Dear Tom Friedman, Thanks for your invitation to comment on "Why does everyone else hate us?" (IHT June 2, 2003). I am 57 years old, born and raised in USA, and have lived in France once (1980-85), and in England twice (1968-70, and 1990 to the present), so I have a somewhat European perspective on this question. Here are my thoughts: First, I think it is more productive to ask why so many non-muslim foreigners disagree with us, rather than why they hate us. There is an unfortunate tendency in public debate to descend too quickly below the substance of an issue into the pit of ad hominem argumentation. You have earned widespread respect as a columnist by focusing on substance more than most of your colleagues, but you are nonetheless guilty of occasional lapses into the ad hominem pit which I, as a faithful reader, feel duty bound to bring to your attention. Anti-American sentiments of the kind that erupted during the international debate over the wisdom and ...