Hey, Bill, I hope you don't have me confused with whoever it is you're talking about...

I don't have you confused with whoever it is you think most of the people on this thread are talking about.

You might be interested to know that in Canada hardly any of your US media is seen as anything but conservative (with a very few rare exceptions). You guys are living in a world of your own down there...a self-created thought bubble. What you see as "liberal", most of the world sees as rather to the right of center, and there is not one other nation in the World whose population (a majority of them, I mean) supported your pre-emptive war of aggression on Iraq, other than Israel. A few governments supported it. Their people did not.

Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction. Iraq was not a friend of Al Queda. Iraq was not involved in attacking the WTC. They hate the USA, yes...and they have plenty of reason to by now. The whole Third World hates the USA by now. The Turkish population hates the USA, but their government just agreed to send troops to Iraq. Why? Because they need American financial assistance for their ailing economy. 80% of the Turkish population is against assisting the American occupation...so tell me...does America really want a healthy, functioning democracy in Turkey? I don't think so. America wants an obedient client state...just like the obedient client states Russia had when the Warsaw Pact was still alive.

Dont make the mistake that Third Worlders hate the USA because the USA is democratic. Good God, no! Virtually all Third Worlders want democracy passionately, except for the few despots at the top, and most want modernization too, while desirous of preserving their own culture at the same time. They hate the USA because they are deathly afraid of being invaded, colonized, bankrupted, bombed, and ruled from afar against their will by the World's one reigning superpower.

I see you as a reasonable, intelligent guy, Bill...who is a product of his environment. I would probably be quite happy to have you as a neighbour. I'm not at all surprised you see things the way you do.

The next tragedy like 911 will not be prevented by terrorizing the rest of the World. It will be hastened by so doing. How long before it's a nuke in a suitcase? And then what innocent, distant country will pay the price for the New Roman Empire's megalomaniac ambitions and its need to defend what it buys out or what it steals from those less powerful?

The whole World is afraid of the USA. Very afraid. You are living in a rogue nation.

- LH