Towards a united theory of Australian anti-Americanism.

OUR VIEW of the world did indeed change on September 11, 2001. For a few months. But it's fine now and everything's back to normal. It's perfectly PC to resume the America-bashing.

Many among Australia's media columnists and progressive political set have welcomed this return to normalcy with great relish and venom. The present debate over Iraq has witnessed one of the most fevered efforts to discredit America that we have ever seen. It has made for an embarrassing daily spectacle.

There's an anti-American libel available for every occasion. Take your pick:

Want to appeal to the environmentally conscious reader? Try America Only Cares About Oil. Remember--America is a Petrol-Guzzling Nation. Never mind that America made no effort to take over Iraq's or Kuwait's oilfields (or impose democratic puppet regimes in those countries) when it had the chance in 1991. Ignore the fact that if America was only concerned with oil, it would not support Israel, who the oil-rich Arab nations all vehemently oppose. Wait, that's a complicated issue for another elite analyst.

For the true internationalist, there's America Must Not Act Without UN Approval. This is code for its cousin libel, You Just Can't Trust America. Since when has the United Nations had a monopoly, or even a good record, in promoting global security? To give but one recent example, it did comprehensively nothing to prevent the slaughter in the former Yugoslavia (America led the anti-Milosevic campaign). It has dismally failed to prevent over forty years of constant war in Africa where, at last count, about ten armed conflicts were raging.

In the light of the UN's record, if you were serious about dealing with an unelected despot poised to obtain weapons of mass destruction (much less one who sponsored terror and openly threatened you and your allies) would you leave the job solely to the UN? (You should not mention the vacillating Continental Europeans, as they may change their mind by the time it goes to print.)

Want to sound like a full bottle on foreign policy? It's easy with America Should Butt Out of Other Nations 'Affairs and Mind Its Own Business. But wait, they are doing that with the International Criminal Court and they are told to Not Be Such an Isolationist. Hmm ...