Friday, April 04, 2003

Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch claims that the US public has an "inferiority complex" when it comes to accepting world opinion over the war in Iraq. He is a big supporter of the war and he urged to the US to forge ahead courageously instead of being deterred unnecessarily by world opinion.

It is surprising that Murdoch, being a media person himself could be so out of touch with the world; "superiority complex" would be a better expression to describe the US's attitude towards the world. When has the US ever bowed to world opinion? The US has always acted based on its own interests. There might be some caution over US public opinion but never world opinion in general.

But one has to acknowledge the fact that the US as the superpower of the world has no choice but to exert its will and act on what it thinks is right. Every conflict in the world is also a US problem. To have to shoulder such responsibility, it is unavoidable that the US must act with a certain amount of authority. This authority is often interpreted as "arrogance".

Yes, the US has to be given the authority to act responsibly for world. But what the world hopes to see is an authority that is exercised with humility, compassion and justice.

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