[Abcdxxxx]

Look you're spinning your wheels.

Both the Turks and the Brits collonized nearly all Muslim land at some point...and yet these nations did not suffer from various grudges and vendettas in the post occupation years. There is no precedent for this festering resentment built on such Imperiliast actions. Any disdain for America is based around a lack of will to coexist, and this is a problem even within Muslim on Muslim relations. I doubt Iraq is ready for Democracy, but it's rather stupid to pretend there's some national integrity to uphold here. We're talking about a nation that self ethnic cleansed itself. The Brits were just as responsible for putting the Baathist party, and eventually Saddam, in power as we were. Our inside deals, and through the back door involvement in that regions politics? That's your own guilt as an American. You're talking about an "Arab street" or whatever they call it that functions without a free press. The intellectual free thought amongst the Arab world happens in coffee houses, but it's not like common knowledge in a world where propaganda, and corrupted reality are regularly intermixed. Mein Kamp is the best seller out there, not some translated copy of a Noam Chomskey book. So should America take some responsibility? Yes, and that's why we shouldn't turn a blind eye to someone like Saddam. If anything, the idea that we as a country often put bad people in power, is more of a pro-war argument to me. Will we fuck up again? Yeah, probably....but I'm hopeful we can at least eliminate the constant human rights abuses in the process. In other words, put some fucked up guy in power to replace Saddam, and I'm at least happy we're removing the torture chambers, etc. That's my point here.

As for Syria... semantics aside, I suggest you go back and read Bush's words rather then react to the spin that came after. Unless the text I read was edited, he never mentions a specific number of "axis" nations...he mentions a few by name, and threatens their allies as well. I think we agree that the "axis" label is stupid as fuck... but if he isn't talking about Syria then who is he talking about? Anyone else housing those exact terrorist groups he named? Anyone else have explicit relations with N. Korea, Iran, and Iraq too? On the surface, you're right, Syria were not named.... but it was obvious who he meant.