I will agree though. Americans, as a whole, are by far the most ignorant of international issues in the civilized world. That's why I think international travel is the best education you can get. It shows you that people as individuals all want basically the same thing almost everywhere. They love to laugh and want the best for their family. You see that they don't necessarily agree with the actions of their own govts, and you see how they often assume that you as a foreigner agree with the actions of your own which helps you see the flaw in yourself. You see the huge gap between govts and the thoughts and feelings of the people.

I was in Geneva on a bus when we were bombing Serbia and I asked a guy what stop was closest to the airport. He said he'd show me. We talked for a few minutes and I asked where he was from. He said Serbia. That made me feel a little uneasy. Then when he told me the right place to get off the bus I was a little embarassed at myself.

I was in Moscow and saw the US embassy on 9/14, a year and 3 days after 9/11 and it was surounded with flowers people had left there. I was speachless and just looked at it for a few minutes then I figured I had to get a pic to show everybody back home. I pulled out my camera and a soldier immediately shouldered his weapon and pointed it through my chest. STRESS! hehe He didn't speak english and seemed really agitated. I pulled out my US passport really slowly and showed it to him, and Alina talked to him for a minute and explained my side to him and then his side to me. She said they don't allow pictures because people use them to plan attacks. He let me keep my digital camera and the photo. I couldn't believe they showed so much sympathy in such a supposedly anti-american place, and at the same time I respected that they are serious about enforcement. They have much more frequent attacks(though admittedly on a smaller scale) but they are much more aggressive inside their borders about doing something about it.

I'm pretty sure this is my longest post to date but its something I feel very strongly about and I think especially the younger people on the forum can learn from. Get out and see the world before you make assumptions about how you think it is. You might even learn some things about America that you didn't know. Hats off to our allies around the globe! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />