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Matt Haughey nails it here, I've been thinking similarly ever since Dubya swung his Sauronic war gaze in Iraq's direction. When I left the US in 1/2002 with a one-way ticket to New Zealand via Europe and Southeast Asia, the "War on Terrorism" was in full swing and party line was that our forces were hunting down the 9/11 perpetrators in their secret caves of evil in Afghanistan. Knowing full well that a "War on Terrorism" was essentially a subjective, open license for violent enforcement of US foreign policy worldwide, I selfishly stopped paying serious attention to US news in order to have a more positive travel experience. But as Tony is experiencing right now, when other people discover you're a Yank, the talk inevitably and unfortunately turns to current events. That's when I would apologize to them for the technical difficulties we're having back home and promise to do my part in the next presidential election...

Now fast forward to the present, my 14 months of travel have ended, the madness in the US is full-on and I'm meekly participating, and Dubya & co. have finally gotten their war on. Umm, 'scuse me, what ever happened to the "War on Terrorism?" Evidently there's something like 70% approval by the US public of this nonsensical aggression in Iraq? That's just tragic, "Kudos to the Bush Administration" indeed... :(