[PowerDiplomacy]

Erm... that's like saying that it's still ok for a Christian to kill a heretic or jew, because they're damned to hell to begin with. Their extremists see things in black and white, but we don't exactly come from a religious background that lets us accuse another of being inherently violent, because ours is the only major one left that often says to go out an conquer. Oh, it says other more pleasant things, but so does the quoran, so who's counting?

As for your tagline... they only seemed to show interest in us when we got all in their affairs. We alienated Iran, alienated Palestine, and generally started taking sides and playing power games. Big deal, all the western powers did, it comes with the territory. They resent us the way every weaker country resents a foreign power muscling in on them. If we just left them alone, they would leave us alone. Problem is, if we just left them alone, everyone would accuse us of being selfish (oh joy), and we could easily end up with a much bigger threat down the line.

I'll agree with at least that one statement HM made... the world is not black and white, it's just easier for people to see it that way. Every single foreign issue we're dealing with right now is the direct result of past actions of ours. We can't just crush all opposition, because that usually causes more problems than it solves if not applied well (and it's usually not)... and we can't hand everybody the olive branch, because the world does not work that way except in a hippie fantasy.

If everything's black and white, then tell me why we're in Iraq in a simple plain non-jingoist answer. I know why I supported it and still do, and it has nothing to do with WMD's, a perceived threat, or any other excuse that was made... but you don't sound like you have a clear reason yourself.