I’ve talked about how oppositions give us mirrors. They provide opportunities for us to see ourselves as others see us. The current historic Pluto-Saturn opposition is now prominent in the U.S. chart, and it sits across the self-others axis, the Ascendant and Descendant, where self-projection meets relationships.

911 was one whammy of a mirror.

The rest of the world has reacted to 911, and given us many other mirrors, which the U.S., in its "splendid isolation," truly needs. The first reactions were sympathy from all quarters, a joining with the U.S. people in their shock and pain.

But then come the thoughtful comments from other nations, none of them—as usual—reported in the U.S. press. I subscribe to World Press Review, a center-of-the road magazine which does exactly that—review world press. Their November 2001 issue is filled with comments gleaned from dozens of newspapers and magazines from around the world just after 911. (World Press Review can be found in libraries. Check it out.)

Nearly all of the comments refer to the U.S. need to dialog with, share with, and listen to the rest of the world, a need noted in my lead article on Pluto exposing the U.S. cracks in Sagittarius and in Capricorn. Here are a few samples:

From The Guardian, London, England.

"Dismay at U.S. foreign policy, distrust of George Bush’s temperament, fear of the hawks, understanding of the Palestinians who cheered at the news, sympathy for other Arabs whose cities have been bombed and children starved, indignation at the huge imbalance in wealth between the Third World and the West. None of this should inhibit our sense of tragedy and outrage.

"The Pentagon had blood on its hands. The World Center was a pillar of mammon. But no one deserved to die in that way…When the dust clears, the scary new order will appear. This is the last week of the world as it was."

From Ideele, Lima, Peru.

"Revenge is not a solution. The problem is that 'them' is so vague. A country? A people? A culture? A religion? A race? A massive attack on the civilian populations of countries that could be protecting terrorists will feed the hate and resentment this phenomenon lives on. It will be an attack on everyday, average folks, like those affected in New York or Washington, who just happened to have been born in a different place in the world….As the people and the leaders of the United States identify Arabs and Muslims as the enemy they need to fight, we are talking about billions of human beings, something like one of every five people on Earth."

From Al-Ahram, Cairo, Egypt.

"Indeed, the United States has managed to turn the love and admiration that peoples around the world once felt for America as a champion of liberty, democracy, and self-determination into universal suspicion and distrust—a transformation that is the result of Washington’s misuse of power and abuse of the moral foundations upon which it built its civilization."

From The Daily News, Zimbabwe.

"If the retaliation causes the same massive loss of civilian life that were witnessed on Tuesday, then the world will not have learned anything from the unbridled use of power."

From The Sunday Mail, Harare, Zimbabwe.

"The attacks show that global security does not lie with high tech armaments but with justice and fair play…Talk to them and have a hard look at their grievances. Bombing them to smithereens will not guarantee security because ideas and beliefs can withstand even nuclear blasts, and who knows—the terrorists may soon be attacking with tactical nuclear weapons."

From Elisa Ben-Rafael, Jerusalem, Israel.

"Yes, America, stand tall. Have the courage to be like the people on Flight 93. Do not repeat on a grander scale the mistake that Israelis and Palestinians have made for so many years. Do not act out of hatred of the enemy, but instead out of love for your country."

From Liberation, Paris, France.

"The United States of George W. Bush was the very embodiment of the temptation of isolationism…The United States will have to be involved in the world, and the strong-arm approach of cruise missiles will not suffice. The best defense against terrorism is not war, it is justice."

From the Sunday Star-Times, Auckland, New Zealand.

"Leaders of the free world must examine the historic context of this obscenity. The United States is not blameless in the growth of these shocking terrorist cells, particularly in Afghanistan where they flourished with U.S. money along with the Russian invasion in the late 1970’s."

From Mail & Guardian, Johannesburg, South Africa.

"The root problem is that the United States is hated throughout the Arab world and in many other developing countries for the arrogance of its power. As shown by its rejection of the International Criminal Court, refusal to endorse the Kyoto Protocol, and withdrawal from United Nations racism conference. It seeks to impose norms on weaker countries while seeing itself as above international regulation. Both isolationist and controlling, it is ignorant of the world it rules and oblivious to the suffering caused by many of its actions. An example is the 11-year blockade of Iraq, which has left dictator Saddam Hussein unscathed but caused untold misery to ordinary Iraqis, including the deaths of an estimated 500,000 children. Engagement, not military action, will ultimately deliver sustainable peace."

From NIN, Belgrade, Yugoslavia.

"Lacking an interest in the outside world, Americans seem unaware that elsewhere, in another part of the world, American weapons destroy homes and bridges and kill children and other innocent people on behalf of Western values. Americans are sometimes hated not because they support Western values, but for completely prosaic reasons. One such reason is that they direct foreign policy and commit violence against foreign countries and peoples in a very tangible way and for their own interest, not always in the name of higher values. America has reaped a whirlwind, however cruel that sounds."

From Al-Ra’i, Amman, Jordan.

'We need to distinguish between the methods of the American political leadership and their arrogance in their unparalleled domination of the world, and American citizens who have committed no offense and who fell victims to 'Black Tuesday.'"

From Lidove Noviny, Prague. Czech Republic.

"It now appears to be an illusion that it could be possible to isolate America behind a secure wall. The United States is forced to become actively engaged abroad. A real solution to security threats must be directed at their political causes."

From El Pais, Madrid, Spain.

"These signs of international solidarity ought to lead the United States to return to multilateralism and to stop acting, as it has done on too many occasions, as a lone ranger."

From The Canberra Times, Canberra, Australia.

"The U.S. leadership has been waffling for months over the merits of missile defense when it should have been looking at the risks of blowback from its Middle East policy. If the United States pressured Israel to provide some justice to the Palestinians, even Islamic fanatics like Osama bin Laden would come under pressure from other Muslims to modify their actions.

"One thing that will hold America back from finding a just and diplomatic solution to the problem is that the American people are to a large extent kept in the dark about the impact of their foreign policy. The U.S. media and the Bush administration have a responsibility to educate their public about what might be driving Islamic terrorism. That political naivite is characteristic of America, where foreign policy is often dressed up in a fancy ethical guise.

"Americans will support violent retribution, but will they look to the deeper causes?"

From O Estado de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil.

"George W. Bush took office piously believing that the United States is not only the center of the world but the universe’s reason for being. In contradistinction to his predecessor, Bill Clinton, Bush has thus far not demonstrated any tact in the art of managing U.S. dominance and its coexistence with the complexities of diverse national realities. The Sept.11 attack exposed the real meaning of the concept of international reciprocity."

From Semana, Bogota, Colombia.

"It was only natural that after a half century of the American government devastating cities around the world—Tokyo, Dresden, Hiroshima, Korean villages, Hanoi, Beirut, Panama City, Tripoli, Kabul, Baghdad, Belgrade—it would be New York and Washington’s turn to experience horror. They have spent years sowing rancor through the world; they should not be surprised now by what they are reaping."

From The Philippine Star, Manila, the Philippines.

"The United States must learn to return to prayer and reflection—as a means of linking hands with humankind. The United States must also learn how to share its resources and wealth of talent with other nations and people from all over the globe."

From Vecernji List, Zagreb, Croatia.

"The world of capitalism bows to two gods—money and technology. Everything that cannot adapt, or does not want to adapt, to financial or technological standards faces scorn, poverty, and grief. Terrorists kill people because of cracks in the moral facade. Such moral faults are security gaps as well. Christian civilization can defend itself only by Christian means. Without it, Christian civilization is not what its name implies."

From Le Monde, Paris, France.

"The attacks make one thing clear: Isolationism is never an option for America."