As a fairly left-radical American with a long history of civil disobedience in support of varoius unpopular causes, I feel a degree of agreement with everything that Little Hawk has been writing here.

But, really ~ not everything the US has done ~ or more precisely, not everything that has been done in the name of America ~ is all that wrong. Since Vietnam and up until the coronation of GW Bush, the worst tendencies of American Imperialism, and the most egregious profiteering of the military-industrial complex, have been kept under relative control. To my mind, most of weelittledrummer's retorts have been on the mark.

The "war on terrorism" is real, but those knuckleheads in DC need to understand that it cannot be fought as a war against any nation-state, even those with whom we have serious differences. And it is certainly counterproductive to rain "shock and awe" upon any civilian population ~ that just proves our worst enemies to be right, and drives huge numbers of people into the opposing camp. The jihadists are essentially opposed to modern society as such, and thus to any and every modern-day government.

The real war that can be fought, and perhaps should be fought, is a guerilla action best carried out in relative secrecy by small numbers of highly specialized volunteers, like the Green Berets and Navy Seals, etc., and with the guidance of intelligence experts. That's more than scary enough for me; I am not volunteering to participate, and indeed don't like the idea very much, but I think I'd have to accept it if it were to come about, albeit with reluctance.

Back to the pre-drift topic ~ I suppose that I would gladly be paid in euros, too, but I don't have that option. My small-biz employer is not engaged in international commerce...