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   Last Updated: Sunday, 11 May, 2003, 23:38 GMT 00:38 UK
   Email this to a friend Printable version 
   Anti-Americanism 'dangerous'

   Tony Blair and George Bush
   Britain is America's closest ally

   Continued anti-Americanism could result in the US disengaging from the
   rest of the world with "dangerous" consequences, Nato General
   Secretary Lord Robertson has warned.

   He was commenting on the threat to world order posed by the continuing
   rift between Europe and the US in the wake of the Iraq war.

   Relations between America and France reached an all time low following
   French President Jacques Chirac's outspoken criticism of the US-led
   conflict.

   UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said he was concerned about "trite
   anti-Americanism" in the UK, arguing it had "become fashionable".

   It's a sort of racialist view that the USA is wrong in principle and
   wrong in practice 

   Lord Robertson

   Lord Robertson and Mr Straw were speaking in "Which Way are We
   Facing", a BBC Radio 4 programme examining the British public's
   attitudes to the US and to Europe.

   The programme, to be broadcast at 1900GMT on Monday, also looks at how
   much British anti-Americanism there is.

   'Generic attack'

   Lord Robertson, a former UK defence secretary, said: "Anti-Americanism
   I see not as a criticism of individual policies or even an individual
   president. It's a sort of racialist view that the USA is wrong in
   principle and wrong in practice.

   "It is a generic attack on America and American standards and American
   values and approaches.

   "I'm very worried about anti-Americanism because I think it is deeply
   corrosive to a relationship that is critically important for the
   overall security of the world.

   Jacques Chirac
   Chirac - out in the cold?

   "These attitudes are deeply worrying, deeply corrosive and have to be
   tackled head on. If they're not, then the future is bleak indeed.

   "If they continue to be criticised in that unreasoning and emotive way
   then I see disengagement being the outcome and that being much more
   dangerous to all of us than American involvement or interventionism."

   Mr Straw echoed this concern and reminded people of the "immense"
   contribution made by the US "for the good".

   'Obsession'

   "I am worried about trite anti-Americanism in this country," he told
   the programme.

   "I think that people get obsessed about the United States because of
   its immense wealth and power. I think it's just become fashionable,
   this kind of anti-Americanism, and it's a convenient parody.

   "If you look at the United States of course there are things that we
   would not necessarily approve of, but if you look at the US's
   contribution to where we are today, it has been immense and for the
   good.

   "First of all they did literally save Europe from the most terrible
   tyranny in the Second World War but in addition if you look at IT, you
   look at biotech, the things that these days keep us going, make our
   lives happier and healthier, it's to America that we owe a huge
   amount.

   "People need to remember that."
   Email this to a friend Printable version 
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