IMHO, the world mostly wishes that America would "act its age". That the US government and a number of its citizens saw no hypocrisy in supporting supporting terrorists and oppressive regimes (Israel, Afghanistan, Iraq, the IRA, etc) whilst criticising, blockading or invading other countries (the US embargo on Cuba is so childish, it's almost funny), meant that the rest of the world has often seen America simply as the biggest bully in the playground. Might does not make it right.

George Bush said explicitly that his quarrel was not with the ordinary ppl of Afghanistan, but with al-Qaeda and its allies (ie. the Taleban). This is followed by carpet-bombing, which is by its nature indiscriminate and guaranteed to kill civilians. Arguments such as "the Taleban brought it on themselves" do not hold water - if the US wants to be the global policeman then it must itself behave ethically, and there's nothing ethical about carpet-bombing. Imagine if the UK had sorted the IRA by napalming all Republican areas of Northern Ireland after the bombings in Brighton or Manchester...

As a comment to "the little general", remember that Saddam Hussein and the Afghan Mujahaddein (sp?) were both backed by extensive US money, arms and training. Those were enormous successes, weren't they? Ditto, Israel's got serious US backing, and it's using tanks and airplanes against civilians armed with stones and rifles. The US just _loves_ Saudi Arabia, a country busily enforcing inhuman conditions on immigrants and women. And where the US has tried to prop up a morally-bankrupt regime, it's not done too much better - if the US _hadn't_ backed the Shah's regime, it wouldn't have had its embassy burned, its citizens tortured and killed, etc. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend" has been comprehensively proven to be total crap.

Graham.

PS. Note that all comments above refer to "America" the political entity, not "America" as any individual citizens. I know many Americans are opposed to their government's actions, and I respect them for that.