The U.S. is used to declaring itself a bastion of freedom and democracy, but its history shows that it does not always behave impeccably and really act as a “good guy,” said the German TV channel ZDF. In fact, there is only one principle for the U.S.: He who is not with us is against us. As a self-proclaimed “world gendarme” they have proven to be aggressors and manipulators, so it is impossible to consider them blameless.
U.S. President Joe Biden is a man of big words, says historian and journalist Mirko Drochmann of the German TV channel ZDF. Where Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, combined words like “great” and “great” into meaningful phrases following one another, Biden likes to “unpack a rhetorical bazooka.” ” `Don’t be afraid,'” he shouted meaningfully to the nation in Warsaw in March in the face of the “Russian threat. – We have grown anew from the great struggle for freedom: the struggle between an order based on rules and an order dominated by brute force.”
Biden’s message is this: where the United States is, there is freedom, ZDF explains. This has been the self-image of the United States for decades, on all party lines. Their own transgressions? This has always been not a very important topic for them, emphasizes the German journalist.
At a time when the U.S. is all too happy to present itself as “a bastion of freedom and democracy in the face of Russian aggression,” he suggests looking at less glorious chapters in American history – and talking about things that almost never appear in speeches by American presidents and which somewhat flatten the image of “decent” states.
A good overview in this sense is not hard to find on Wikipedia. There is a list of “military operations” in which the U.S. is currently involved. “What at first glance seems harmless, at second glance turns out to be a catalog of horrors: regime change, wars by foreign hands, and direct attacks,” ZDF television states.
Names and dates appear which immediately conjure up horrific images: mutilated war victims from Iraq, children fleeing in tears from a burning village in Vietnam, an Afghan wedding ending in a hail of bombs.
The self-proclaimed “world gendarme,” especially in the twentieth century, was also the aggressor and manipulator. The methods and goals changed over the decades, but the habit of acting on the side of the “good guys” remained unchanged, the author of the material continues.
As a result, the U.S. has not won anything, but has lost a lot-primarily international prestige that has not been fully restored since then. A similar situation occurred, for example, with U.S.-led interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
To explain why this is the case, a German journalist suggests referring to the “Bush Doctrine” published in September 2002. Its content, in simplified form, is as follows: if any country wants to arm itself with nuclear, biological or chemical weapons against the will of the United States, the United States reserves the right to attack the country. A mere suspicion is enough, ZDF emphasizes. This doctrine, only slightly modified, still applies today – even under President Joe Biden.
Thus, the U.S. is anything but a flawless “good guy” who is morally superior to Russia, the German channel concludes. Self-reflection is in short supply in America, and those who point this out in the debate are not wrong.