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Covering the War from Europe
Reporter's Notebook from NPR's Sylvia Poggioli
This reporter's notebook was filed for npr.org by NPR correspondent Sylvia Poggioli, who has been reporting from Europe.
NPR's Sylvia Poggioli.
Photo: NPR News
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May 5, 2003 --
This reporter's notebook is not from the Iraqi frontline. But I did cover a war of sorts -- the diplomatic conflict between the United States and Europe and the inter-European clash that has destabilized most of the West's international institutions.
I was back in London, where I had already covered the diplomatic aspects of the 1991 Gulf War.
London was an excellent place to monitor the unprecedented verbal aggression of this diplomatic conflict which re-awakened long-buried mutual prejudices: the British pro-war tabloids were filled with full-page epithets against the French, dismissed as "WORMS." Some French commentators dusted off the old Napoleonic charge against Britain as "perfidious Albion."
The anti-war European media analyzed U.S. war policy through the prism of American Westerns -- what Europeans see as the John Wayne syndrome in American foreign policy.
And there was strong European resentment -- also in the British media -- at what was seen as the simplistic "Mars vs. Venus" parallel formulated by foreign policy analyst Robert Kagan: Europe as a continent of soft, comfort-seeking weanies, and America as the country with moral certitude and determination that always comes to save Europe from its darkest side.
The nastiness of the transatlantic diatribe has shown that the gap between the United States and Europe has never been so wide. Differences over social and political issues began to emerge soon after the end of the Cold War. But widespread European admiration for Bill Clinton helped play down contrasts over issues ranging from the death penalty to genetically modified foods.
The real disputes began with the arrival of the Bush administration and its stances on the Kyoto climate change treaty, the ABM and land mines treaties, as well as the International Criminal Court.
But Sept. 11 was the real watershed. The massive outpouring of European solidarity with the American people in their moment of tragedy soon turned sour. As French analyst Dominique Moisi told me in March, Europeans underestimated the impact of Sept. 11 on the American psyche. And, with regards to the issue of weapons of mass destruction, Moisi said, "Americans ask the right questions, but come up with the wrong answers," while Europeans remain vague and undecided.
What impressed me the most in this crisis was the massive presence of European public opinion.
This was in sharp contrast to the first Gulf war -- when widespread fear emptied the streets of London for weeks, shutting down restaurants and theaters.
The streets of London -- and the European street as a whole -- were crowded and angry. All polls showed that the vast majority of people throughout Europe, "old" and "new," were opposed to the war.
In Spain, whose Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar was one of President Bush's staunchest supporters, up to 90 percent disagreed with the government's pro-war policy. And in Britain, only 19 percent approved the war before the conflict began. There, the pro-war numbers shot up after the fighting began in solidarity with British troops.
In the months leading up to and during the war, I was present at massive anti-war rallies in Florence, Rome and London. I was struck by the fact that traditional leftist red flags were far outnumbered by a new symbol -- the rainbow striped peace banner that now hangs from windows, transforming the urban landscape of many European cities.
Many of the anti-war demonstrators were also newcomers: couples with young children, elderly middle-class people and numerous persons who told me they had never protested in the streets before. The overall message -- even from young people -- was that this continent, Europe, which during the 20th century waged the most brutal wars in the history of mankind, has a strong collective memory.
Perhaps Americans have underestimated these root causes of Europeans' overwhelmingly anti-war sentiment. The legacy of the Holocaust and the continent's many massacres is that today in Europe military spending is negligible and consensus-building and working through international institutions are popular demands.
Another new element in the European anti-war wave was the nature of the demonstrations. All sectors of society were present -- women in fur coats and immigrants marched side by side; Islamic green flags fluttered amid the rainbows; young women in black headscarves held hands with young women with bare midriffs. Members of Muslim communities, who are relegated to ghetto-like conditions in European cities, were for the first time able to participate in a major event alongside the mainstream society.
Many friends and colleagues have asked me if the anti-war climate in Europe has made it difficult for an American to live here.
Having covered months of demonstrations and after a journey through the Muslim world in Europe, I heard extensive criticism of the Bush administration but as an American I never encountered personal hostility.
And it was an American anti-war anthem that accompanied many of the demonstrations: Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind."
In Depth
 Read and hear a five-part series by NPR's Sylvia Poggioli examining Europe's growing Muslim population.
Hear other NPR reports by Sylvia Poggioli
NPR News Coverage of the War in Iraq
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