right after 9/11, we had the sympathy of most of the world. now practically everybody hates this country.
Don't react to the vocal minority that makes the headlines and the usual war-time propaganda meant to divide us. Other governments in the area are also threatened and attacked by Al-Qaeda. Saudi Arabia has bombings that don't even make the news. The well educated leaders who understand what they represent, do not hate us. Even Iran's government is danger because no matter what Qaeda says, they aim to overthrow their government too.
During WW2 the same thing happened. There were many who hated the US involvement. Even had people in this country demanding all troops be brought back home, just like there are right now. Then after the war when people could speak truthfully about their involvement the propaganda was sifted from the facts, and the USA was proven to be a very brave hero. The people who thought they had it all figured out but were proven wrong ended up looking foolish. So it's just history repeating itself again. All of this has been done before. Even guys like Bin Laden are nothing new. It's a mental condition called "megalomania" where a person gets so drunk on power they think they have a divine right to rule the world. Saddam suffered from it too and tried to accomplish that through the Palestinians who he helped impoverish. He helped ruin the statehood they could have had by now when the US under president Bush offered to make that happen for them. But Saddam didn't want statehood for the Palestinians, he wanted to annex their territory then use them even more, which is why he was supporting terrorism there included his giving suicide bomber families $25,000 US dollars each for each child sacrificed. But the world fights back against that sort of thing. In time even the Palestinians will see what Saddam was doing to them.
Also, consider this. The average people of the US would not know a darn thing about the Muslim world if it were not for this war because we tend to be isolationists when things are going well. And Muslims would not really get a chance to know the US for what it really represents if it were left up to somewhat isolationist leaders. Very few on that side understand NATO (alliance of countries that share bases in case one is attacked) and the alliances that on a map looks like a giant empire. And we are in a Muslim forum, sharing ideas and interests, much of that in response to this war too. It has brought us together in a very unique way. We will argue and debate until we become friends. :argue: It happens to almost everyone caught in a conflict like this. So everyone here, in this very forum, has more power to bring peace to a very hostile world than they ever imagined. Not many associate this way, we are kinda rubbing elbows with what other think of as "the enemy" so were like way-cool to others in that respect. With a healthy attitude and respect for all, we can change everything for the better.
And look at the list of coalition forces in Iraq.
United States: 250,000 invasion--168,000 current (9/07)
United Kingdom: 45,000 invasion--5,500 current (5/07)
Poland: 194 invasion--2,500 peak--900 current (2/07)
Australia: 2,000 invasion--638 current (2/07)
South Korea: 3,600 peak – 1,200 current (5/07; deployed 5/03)
Romania: 730 peak – 405 current (5/07; deployed 7/03)
Georgia: 500 troops – 300 current (2/07)
El Salvador: 380 peak – 300 current (8/07; deployed 08/03)
Czech Republic: 300 peak--89 current (5/07)
Azerbaijan: 250 troops (2/07)
Denmark: 430 peak - 55 current (9/07, deployed 04/03)
Latvia: 136 peak--2 current (8/07; deployed 4/04)
Mongolia: 180 peak--100 current (2/07; deployed 8/03)
Albania: 120 troops (2/07)
Lithuania: 120 peak--53 current (2/07)
Armenia: 46 current (2/07; deployed 1/05)
Bosnia and Herzegovina: 36 troops (2/07; deployed 6/05)
Estonia: 35 current (2/07; deployed 6/05)
Macedonia: 33 troops (2/07; deployed 7/03)
Kazakhstan: 29 troops (2/07; deployed 9/03)
Moldova: 24 peak--12 current (2/07; deployed 9/03)
Bulgaria: 485 peak--155 current (2/07; deployed 5/03)
It's a giant when countries that are helping in other ways are included.
I know that it may look like everything is going bad. But there is a whole lot of things going on that are good most don't even see happening because it's not something that gets reported in the news or people really stop to think about. And what happened to all the "Death To America" rallies that were once in the news all the time? The warmongers who were trying to trigger a war that would get us to kill each other are not as proud as they once were, or are simply gone for good. It's our turn to decide the future, not theirs, and all we need, to be a big part of that miracle, is a warm heart, strong mind, and a keyboard that takes us to any place in the world that we want to go.
:beard: :muslimah: