I wonder sometimes what they think of us across the big pond. BBC Radio was in town to feature Ames for a BBC program called “Live Five.” WOI broadcasted the program locally and the BBC aired it all over the world. It was part of the British network’s coverage of the anniversary of Sept. 11. The three U.S. locations were Washington D.C., New York and Ames. Wow.

Radio host Rhod Sharp charmed the audience with his command of British wit and some facts about Iowa that even Iowans found interesting.

Although it was the wee hours of the morning in Britain, we know that people were listening after receiving a call-in from Norway and other statements via e-mail.

The show consisted of a panel of prominent members of the community and an audience of about 30 people. Sharp, the host, would make statements, discuss with the correspondents in New York and Washington and then turn to the Iowans for the hometown perspective.

As a member of the audience, I couldn’t help but think about the kind impression being portrayed of Iowa and the United States. For the most part, I think it was a good impression. Sharp mentioned Iowa’s leadership in agriculture, Iowa as a haven for refugees and our famous Midwestern work ethic.

But in the political sense, we as Iowans were broadcasting a largely critical and almost cynical view of the Bush administration’s policies relating to Sept. 11 and the subsequent war of retribution. This was not the view of the entire group, but certainly a strong majority.

At one point in the conversation, Sharp took an informal poll of the audience as to whether or not we felt safer with the creation of the new Department of Homeland Security.

The audience laughed. That was the answer. Not yes or no. Just laughter.

What would the people listening at the wee hours of the morning in Europe think? Is that not an embarrassing answer to what was a serious question?

I am not suggesting that we obsess over our reputation and image in Europe; that also seems a dangerous path. But honestly, in a room relatively diverse in its opinion of the current administration, there was laughter.

That speaks to a change in Iowan opinion of one of the shiniest new jewels in our government’s war crown, the Department of Homeland Security.

The BBC program got me thinking about our foreign policy image in the world.

I wonder what the oil workers who were employed by Dresser-Rand and Ingersoll-Dresser following the Gulf War of 1991 are thinking right about now. Dresser-Rand and Ingersoll-Dresser are subsidiaries of oil supply giant Halliburton.

A company, by the way, Vice President Dick Cheney headed as CEO at the end of the Gulf War. According to a recent editorial piece by syndicated columnist Molly Ivins in the Des Moines Register, the combined value of Halliburton’s contracts with Saddam’s Iraq under Cheney were more than any other U.S. company at the time.

What does this mean? Mr. Cheney is current cowboy numero uno in invading Saddam for his “weapons of mass destruction” in the name of security. But that stuff must not have been important a few short years ago when doing business with Iraq looked pretty good for the Halliburton bottom line.

Halliburton helped Saddam rebuild his oil fields after the war, and Cheney’s Halliburton got his money – not a bad deal.

This type of disconnect must be one of the reasons the nations of the world are clamoring for a spot on the Bush-Cheney war wagon. Just remember Halliburton the next time you hear Mr. Cheney describe the horrors of the Iraqi dictator’s regime.

It is a safe assumption that public opinion is changing.

My Sept. 11 English class discussion also illustrated the point. In the entire class time, not one member of the class spoke up in favor (and nearly all spoke) of the current “terrorism” policy. In protests, radio shows, and discussion groups, the voice of Iowan dissent is growing louder.

What did emerge from Rhod Sharp’s internationally recognized BBC conversation with an Iowa audience?

One strong message was the mounting sentiment of an Iowan citizenry who oppose an unjust and hypocritical war on Iraq, and that is something Europe likes to hear.

Omar

Tesdell

is a junior in journalism and mass communication and technical communication from Slater. He is the online editor of the Daily.