In my air force career, I travelled and worked in countries all over the world and have always had a generally positive view of every country I have been in. People are inherently good because we are creatures made by the divine will of the almighty Creator, (swt). In my experience, most people everywhere, just want to live in peace, security and justice, and be able to care for their families.
My two biggest impressions since coming here though are,
1. I think due to some posters, there is a very skewed and inaccurate idea of my county's relationship with China (PRC). Almost no American would recognise the relationship that is often displayed by posters here, (which is displayed as adversarial). The actual relationship is of course, generally very friendly. America is China's best "customer". American companies do huge business in China and Chinese cities are home to thousands of American businesses. Americans by the tens of thousands, vacation and live in China. Chinese-Americans number into the many millions and have strong ties to the country of their origin. Most American stores are filled with Chinese products and most Americans are happy to have them and happy that China has thrown off the economic shackles of communism. China is happy to have such close ties with America and any conflict between our two countries is really, nearly unthinkable. What conflicts we have with China are often due to the fact that China has yet to reform politically as well, (that is from our perspective of course).
2. I have been taken aback by the level of hostility between posters from Pakistan and India. I know I shouldn't be surprised and such historic conflicts do occur in the world, (Greeks and Turks, etc.), but the level of hostility just seems so intense and so wasteful. Both countries have such rich histories and great cultures and immense problems as well and it just seems pointless to always try to constantly prove why one country is better than the other. I am glad to be able to read different points of view and to have a more informed opinion although it is depressing at times. I really fear for the political future of Pakistan, for example, and hope and pray that a durable and democratic political solution can be arrived at.
I will close by saying that the most sensitive topic, that reading posts on this board has caused me to change my opinion on, is to become more aware of how some actions of my country have been very damaging to other peoples. Now don't misunderstand, as an American, I fully support the legitimate security actions of my country. Take for example, the finding and killing of Osama bin Laden. That man was responsible for the cold blooded murder of over 3,000 of my countrymen and we simply could not risk the security of our operation by informing the Pakistani government. We had been burned too many times before. Having said that, clearly many of our actions over the years have been very damaging to our relationship with Pakistan and I find that distressing. Being on this board has educated me in that regard and on how much more careful American security policy needs to be and I will express that through my country's democratic process. I hope there is more enlightened leadership in my country that will amend some of our errors in that regard.
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