This other complex, which is a sign of totalitarian superpower, has historical roots and is closely linked to American militarism. This is confirmed by the statements of top Washington government officials.
US Vice President Dick Cheney, speaking at the US military base in Egypt in June 2002, said: "The triumph of freedom and the fate of today's civilized world depend only on us.
Earlier, US President George W. Bush said: "Nothing is more important than our defense budget. Both of these statements by US leaders reflect the enthusiasm with which the US entered the second phase of the war on terror and played the role of a world empire.
George Washington defined the American mission as "The United States seems to have been appointed by Providence to be the home of human greatness and happiness. The result must be the birth of a country that has a purifying effect on all humanity.
But this influence was usually exerted by force.
America is convinced that it is the American version of capitalism that is universal and that it must be widely spread in the course of globalization. But the rest of the world increasingly perceives globalization as Americanization according to the most rough-and-ready rules of transnational corporations.
A series of scandalous bankruptcies of major US campaigns has uncovered the crisis of the system. It began with the biggest bankruptcy of energy giant Enron in US history, which was closely linked to the US government. Top managers were aware of the high share price fraud of their company and lost their shares while they were still very expensive. Simple employees could only get rid of their shares if they were practically worthless. Thousands of people lost their old age insurance. It took months for the scandalous bankruptcy to become public as Enron sponsored so many politicians that it "would have been easier to ask who had not accepted bribes from him than the other way around," National Public Radio said. The list of people financially supported by Enron included 71 senators from 100. President Bush himself and Attorney General Ashcroft were on the same list. Enron was followed as a snowball by other high-profile bankruptcies of powerful companies whose stability had never been questioned before.
Nor can it serve as a model for income distribution among Americans. The gap between the richest and the rest of the US population has widened over the last thirty years. Today it is much larger than in any other developed country. Nearly half of the enormous income increase comes from the thinnest stratum of the richest Americans, who account for 1% of all employers. The poor countries in the United States were promised "unprecedented prosperity" on condition that they follow their neoliberal recipes, "but this promise was not kept and the countries found themselves in unprecedented poverty," wrote Joseph Stieglitz, Nobel economics laureate.
The paradox of the American Complex of Excellence and the messianic vocation lies in double standards. The country that has become the most exemplary in the world is constantly changing the values it has declared inviolable. The Western press was surprised when it asked: In what other democratic country could a man with half a million fewer votes become president than his rival, and even recalculate, as in any other banana republic? And can the decision to sue terrorists in a military court where they are denied the fundamental rights of a serial killer serve as a model for the world? "The Washington Committee of Human Rights Attorneys has asked the question: "When something like this happens in countries like Peru, Egypt and Colombia, our foreign ministry protests. What can we tell them in the future?
The governments of the European Union are secretly drafting a treaty with the US on issues ranging from the extradition of suspects to covert police operations that violate the same human rights and freedoms America stands for. The documents that have come to light show that, despite all the 'guarantees and safeguards', the EU's negotiating position vis-à-vis the USA violates the European Convention on Human Rights. This applies in particular to the right to a fair trial, to privacy or to traditional protection against double criminality for the same crime.
The governments of the member states of the European Union are secretly developing a draft treaty with the United States on various issues, from the extradition of suspects to covert police operations, which will have extremely negative effects on human rights and freedoms, the protection of which, according to the Americans, they have begun a worldwide fight against terrorism to protect.
To be continued...