metalted - points taken. I wonder about this "hate" of the US though. Apologies to readers, I'm about to wander a bit I think. I think it's envy for the most part, rather than hatred. I agree with you about the British Empire, they couldn't give a rat's arse. They only let go of various colonial possessions when it became just too difficult to hang onto them. You know if it hadn't been for WWII, which began the destruction of the British Empire, I think that it would have kept growing and perhaps we might have seen a war between the US and Britain, as stupid as that sounds now.

Every country gets up to dirty tricks, some more than others. Yes the CIA have been involved in some very dirty tricks around the world but............KGB anyone? NKVD? MI5/6? Ahem. Where I do get a bit ticked is where crooks are lionised - Oliver North and his cabal for example. But that's for Americans to correct.

America is not a bad country, on the whole it's done more good in the world than bad, but it has done bad. Same as the Brits and the Romans of course, hah, they could have shown the Nazis a thing or two about occupying countries. The point is that your current administration are a bunch of bastards who are despised around the world. We're all waiting for Bush/Cheney to piss off ASAP, that is if they don't dismantle your democracy in the meantime.

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"There were no D-Day Heroes in 1973" - Cold Chisel Khe Sanh