I agree with Jim...Every country has something to be ashamed of. Whether it is the behaviour of some Canadian soldiers in Somalia, the genocide (yes, genocide) committed against the indigenous populations of North America (by the British, French, Spanish, Canadains and Americans) and in Latin America by the Spanish and the Portugese, or slavery, or witchhunts of every kind etc. I don't think cheap shots are helpful to anyone, as Jim says.

I would, however, like to respond to a few things said here. Of course, I don't mean all Americans when I criticize the actions of it's government and I apologize if it seemed that way. I shall have to be more careful about the language I use in future. Generalization sof any kind are very dangerous. The world is not black and white but rather it's filled with infinite shades of gray. So when we talk about Iraq, it's true that most o fits citizens are Muslim. However, there is, or at least there used to be, fairly large Christian and Jewsih minorities. Yes, there are fanatics in this world who abuse religions in order to pursue their own twisted ends. However, by generalizing and treating all memebers of a faith as a monlolith, we drop down to teh level of the fanatics, just on the other side.

Veiled, it's not so much that people are pissed off at American lifestyle as they are pissed off at the politics of the current administration...Or put it this way, if they see the advancement of that lifestyle (in terms o fsay...oil etc) as violating their human rights...yeah, chances ar ethey are opposed to that. You mention human rights in reference to women wearing veils. As I understand, it is a part of thier religion. true, in some cases women would prefer not to wear them...Some women, however, choose to do so. personally, I think it should be a matter of personal choice. But there is also a human right not to be tortured (which is what water boarding is)...Yes, America has a right to defend itself but it doesn't have a right to violate human rights...I don't think anyone would deny their right not to be tortured.

Portabella and Ruddy, I agree that it's not fair to expect the US to solve all the world's problems and I also agree that the rich nations (Canada, Japan, Britiain, France etc.) should all pull their wieght more with regard to aid, combatting the HIV/AIDS crisis etc. At the same time, the US had the biggest economy and was the most able to provide that assistance. With great power comes great responsibility. I do think that with proper management of the economy the US, as well as the other countries, can afford to make lives better for their own citizens as well as help out internationally.

I also am perfectly ready to criticize my own government. personally, I beleive the people currently running things are not capable o frunning a country and they seem to be doing a lot of damage to Canada's reputation internationally. Oh and don't get me going on this Pope either.