Bush isn’t all bad ‘across the pond’
George Bush just made a state visit to London to dine with Queen Elizabeth and enjoy time with his friend Tony Blair. As the media has shown, one of the largest demonstrations in U.K. history took place against the visit by the U.S. President.
Protests were held all week by different groups of people. Although you saw the side of England that is opposed to Bush, what you didn’t see were the mass amounts of people who do support him.
I am studying in England right now as an exchange student.
I was in London Wednesday, a day when a number of organizations gathered to raise their voices. I spent the day walking through Harrods and Covent Garden. What the media failed to show were the millions of people who were carrying on with their daily business as usual. It didn’t show all of those who silently support Bush. In London, I did not see one single demonstrator in any of the places I visited. If you thought that all of Britain was angry with Bush and the U.S., that is simply not the case.
Recent polls showed a majority of people support Bush and the War in Iraq. The English paper The Sun interviewed Bush on the eve of his trip. It had wonderful things to say of our President. The final line of the article said, “We are proud to associate ourselves with his views. And on behalf of our 10 million readers, we extend him a very warm welcome to Britain.” Letters poured in in response to the article, and a number of them were put in Tuesday’s paper. One person said, “Any protest against Mr. Bush is a protest against a man who stands up for what is good in the world.” Another man said, “George Bush should know that the majority of us welcome him here, and most of the rentamob demonstrators he will see, would, and frequently do, protest at just about anything.”
Living here has given me the opportunity to have a new perspective on many things. I find myself lucky to be here at this point in our nation’s history. I have been able to talk to many of my British peers about their opinions of our country and our leader. Although some were anti-Bush and anti-war, I have found that most are in support of the U.S. and what Bush stands for. The sentiment shared by most is that something just had to be done about Saddam Hussein and his regime. It is that everyone else was too scared, but Bush was willing to step up to the challenge. They all think the world is a safer place with Saddam out of power.
In summary, if you think that the U.S. is hated by all British people because you saw a protest on television, think again.
From someone who is actually here speaking to British people, know that most people value the relationship between our countries and are proud to be able to call us their strongest ally.
Erin E. Walker
senior
biological sciences