Anyway, nearly half of American people and majority (nearly 75%) of the people of the world outside America were against Bush's reelection, but American people decided to reelect George W Bush and impose him on the rest of the world.. Any country has the right to elect its leader and it matters very little to any other country, but unfortunately, America being the only superpower, the implication is different for the rest of the world. It is more so as America's leader can order an attack on any country in the name of combating terrorism or 'liberating people' as if entire responsibility has been entrusted by the world to one country -- the United States of America. Even the UN is helpless in such a situation. Iraq is the burning example. Iraq was attacked on the plea that it had WMD and had been violating the UN resolutions, but wasn't the Iraqi invasion the total violation of the UN resolution and indeed the UN Charter? UNSG Kofi Annan himself declared, though at a very late stage, that Iraq invasion was illegal and against the UN resolution. But who cares? The UN is the most undemocratic world institution established by the most democratic countries of the world, and unfortunately some members of the same institution wage war to establish "democracy" of their choice in many parts of the world, of course on selective basis, even if it involved mass killing of innocent people.

As mentioned before, the American people have the right to elect their own President and they have done so. It was the most tightly fought election. As it seems the American election result was based on two main issues -- war on terrorism (meaning Homeland security) and moral issues namely gay marriage, abortion stem cell research etc. The war on terrorism remained practically a blind issue for most of the Americans. 9/11 changed America totally. As it is generally known, the Americans appear to be less concerned or less bothered about the rest of the world. They take themselves to be self-sufficient in their own land. This is why the ordinary Americans except those who care about the human rights do not worry much about Iraqi people. Some probably even do not know where Iraq is situated let alone what the Iraqi people have been subjected to.

They trusted Bush more as he is the war President. They thought it to be risky to have new President while a war has been going on. They also apparently believed President Bush when he said -- we must destroy "terrorists" outside America before they come and attack us as done on 9/11. He used 9/11 as much as possible to his benefit. The important issues raised by John Kerry that President Bush has alienated America's traditional allies, created enmity with the Muslims and Arabs, unnecessarily risked American lives and wasted American tax payers' money on war etc. did not make much impact on the new voters.

On moral issues, President Bush got the support of the traditional conservatives and particularly the church going people. He remained firm and very rightly so against gay marriage and abortion (abortion can be allowed only on medical grounds). John Kerry did not come out clearly on these issues. Gay marriage, undoubtedly a great sin, was something that Kerry wanted to leave to the States for decision. On these issues Kerry apparently lost votes.

Anyway, today America stands deeply divided though President Bush has said he would try to heal the differences and work in a bipartisan way. This is indeed the right way to go about it. But he has some associates who he should get rid of. The departure of Rumsfeld is something the world would undoubtedly appreciate. His stay even for another year or so which appears to be under discussion now may bring more uncertainties in the world stage. Any hurried decision on Iran or N Korea may bring disaster to America as well as to the rest of the world. Colin Powell who is a good man but remained practically ineffective because of Dick Cheney and Rumsfeld is likely to leave early. His possible replacement reportedly is Ambassador John Danforth who is presently the US Ambassador to the UN. He appears to be a good choice. Some weeks ago he talked about a possible platform for the leaders of the people of Faith, which we ourselves have been promoting for sometime. This idea, if crystallised, may usher in the possibility of some form of cooperation among the people of Faith to talk about the conflict in the present day world of terror. We would certainly welcome his inclusion in President Bush's cabinet

The fear Ah, Bush again -- with the majority of people around the world and also with many Americans should be taken up as a challenge by President Bush himself and efforts should be made to remove it as quickly as possible. Being the superpower President he should go for an effective dialogue with the people of Faith as suggested by Ambassador Danforth and particularly with the leaders of Muslim world (including Arabs) with a view to finding a solution to the present day conflict that may ultimately turn into a clash of religions and indeed clash of civilisations.

Muslehuddin Ahmad, a former Secretary and Ambassador, is presently the Vice Chancellor of Presidency University.