The United Nations General Assembly is convened every year but this year's UN General Assembly is quite different for the United States, for it can no longer exercise magic powers to order others about as it used to do before but has become the target of attacks from numerous nations.

As the host, President George W. Bush took the floor first at the UN General Assembly. Despite the softened tone in his address, he still themed on the same old tune to peddle to the world the prescription "Great Middle East (Democracy) Project". But in the face of bloodshed and atrocities in Iraq, his high-sounding, empty talk was nothing but rigmarole, to which listeners at the hall gave a cold shoulder. And the ensuing speeches were also quite bellicose.

In his speech, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the United States espoused peace but did not utter a word at Israel's kidnapping of an elected Palestinian government official, and so it has no right whatsoever to speak on behalf of the world. He also asked which UN agencies can fix crimes for the governments of the U.S. and Britain, the two permanent members of the UN Security Council, which have carried out aggression and occupation and other activities in violation of the international law.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chaves' rebuttal to the U.S. was all the more direct and straightforward, with the use of a quoted phrase from Bush "axis of evils". "The devil came here yesterday" Chavez said, referring to Bush, who addressed the world body during its annual meeting Tuesday. Chavez accused Bush of having spoken "as if he owned the world." "He came to share his rostrum to try to preserve the current pattern of domination, exploitation and pillage of the people of the world." Chavez also held high American left-win critic Noam Chomsky's book "Hegemony or Survival: American's Quest for Global Dominance" and recommended it to leaders of various nations sitting around.

Repeating his pledge to reject US pressure to reduce coca production, Bolivian President Evo Morales said, "We are winning the green battle, the coca leaf if beating the North American dollar." Hoisting a coca leaf, he said his nation would not yield to any pressure of the United States. The US State Department has released a list of drug producing nations and blacklisted Bolivia, which is indocile and disobedient to the U.S., simply for the fact that the people of Bolivia has had the habit of mixing coca leaves into the boiled, hot water as tea.

Then, leaders of Sudan and other nations in Africa, Middle East and South America followed suit in denouncing the US policy of meddling in other nations' affairs.

As the UN General Assembly is an international arena, it is not strange for someone to criticize the United States, however, it is rather extraordinary for so many people to speak with the same voice to denounce the nation, coupled with enthusiastic applauses. More than 60 percent of the Americans hold that their president has not won due respect overseas for his erroneous external policy, according to a latest opinion poll. The phenomena has been examined and introspected in a number of special articles and interviews with experts carried by the Washington Post, the New York Times and other major US newspapers, which say that people's growing aversion against the U.S. is due to the Iraq War, the Middle-East Project and the U.S. partiality and inclination to Israel in the recent Lebanon-Israel Conflict.

The deep-rooted arrogance, air of self-importance and running roughshod worldwide are, among other causes, attributable to the U.S. seclusion at the UN General Assembly.

With regard to the isolation of the U.S., remarks of France's Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy are sincere, enlightening and full of meanings. "You may believe yourself stronger because you have your own values of strength, he said in a recent interview, referring to the United States. "But for others there are other values. Therefore, I believe what is essential and ideal is to have respect of others and therefore knowledge of others. That is why the clash of civilization is in fact a clash of ignorance."

The French foreign minister acknowledged that the so-called "clash of civilization" results only from the ignorance of a conflicting party for other's values of strength, originating from its lack of understanding and respect for other's culture and values. Therefore, the "clash of civilization" is in essence a "clash of ignorance". His benign and sound advice to his American peers should be served as a concoction of "bitter herbal medicine with very good effects."

By People's Daily Online