A year after the attacks on New York and Washington, a study published this week by Reuters shows that the majority of Europeans are of the opinion that America should share in the responsibility of the events that culminated in over 3,000 deaths on September 11.
In an unprecedented study on the September 11 tragedy, more than 9,000 Europeans and Americans were questioned on matters relating to world events before and after the attacks. More than 55 percent of Europeans say that the attacks were the result of America’s external policies.
Among Europeans, French citizens were the most critical of the US, with 63 percent arguing that the United States should be blamed for the attacks. The European country that had the lowest number of citizens criticising the US was Italy, though those blaming the US were in the majority (51 percent).
Almost 60 percent of Europeans interviewed told researchers that since the attacks, America’s external policies and wars have been solely directed at protecting themselves, rather than the citizens of those countries or their allies. However, only 26 percent were of the opinion that post-September 11 military intervention by the US has been aimed at imposing itself on the rest of the world.
While the study showed that Europeans are far more critical of President George W. Bush, they do share similar opinions on the world in general.
“Despite reports of friction between European governments and the US, our research uncovered more common points of view than differences in the way the European and American publics see the world”, said Craig Kennedy, Chairman of the German Marshall Fund (GMF), which effected the study in conjunction with the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).
Their findings further revealed that the majority of both Americans and Europeans supported military intervention in Iraq, but only with international backing and approval.
In another related story, the Portuguese Prime Minister’s office said this week that Durão Barroso had been invited to the White House for discussions with George W. Bush. The meeting will take place on September 10, with the main topics on the agenda focused on the cooperation and defence agreement between two countries as well as the restructuring of NATO.
The US President had sent the invitation in May, but the Portuguese Prime Minister only formally accepted it last week.
On September 11, a day after the meeting, Prime Minister Barroso will participate in a ceremony on the World Trade Centre site, along with other world leaders, in memory of those who those perished a year ago. The ceremony will start at 08h46, the time when the first Boeing struck the Twin Towers.
