Bad.

"Given that we invaded Iraq, an invasion I didn’t support for different reasons than yours, how are we doing?"

Bad. And it could get even worse. The Bush team which you don't want to hold accountable is upping the aggression towards Iran and it looks like they want to commit another war crime by bombing Iran. This has to be stopped. And a question that should be asked is are we a nation of laws or aren't we? Shouldn't wrong doers be held accountable even if they are powerful? Just because you get yourself into our government doesn't make you above the law.

The press plays along with state power and doesn't question violations of international law.
The press only concerns itself with if the crimes are carried out efficiently, not if they are wrong.

Kat doesn't respect the concept of democracy. When confronted with the reality that the administration was not "up front" with the American people, she blames the American people for being "pretty weak and self-centered," "not very worldly or well-traveled," and "pretty ignorant and spoiled, on the whole." She had more criticisms for the American people than the politicians who violated their oaths of office and lied us into an illegal, immoral unnecessary and dangerous war! Kat makes excuses for the Bush administration's lying to the American people by blaming the American people, we have to be lied to because of our defects. Kat is an apologist for undemocratic leaders.

And if you are concerned about the threat posed by the kinds of terrorists who attacked us on 9/11, attacking Iraq IS THE LAST THING YOU WOULD DO! This whole thing is an dishonest and reckless endeavor.

Kat, like mainstream media, is "dissing" "the execution of the whole affair, not on the direction." This is all to common of apologists for state power, they want the actions carried out efficiently no doubt and they don't question if the actions are actually correct in the first place.

Kat doesn't speak for me when she writes "about a world that up to 9/11 we were all pretty well happy to ignore." I knew plenty about it before 9/11 and I know even more now. Kat clearly does not. The first thing Bush did was lie to us about why we were attacked. He was more concerned about the special interests he serves than the American people. Bush lied when he said we were attacked because of our freedoms. Bush has said "the Commander-in-Chief ought to listen to what the enemy says." What they say is crystal clear, they attack "in order to liberate the al-Aqsa Mosque [in Jerusalem] and the holy mosque [in Mecca] from their grip, and in order for their armies to move out of all the lands of Islam, defeated and unable to threaten any Muslim." And they have been talking about he same issues for years. In 1993 the terrorists who bombed the WTC said, "This action was done in response for the American political, economical, and military support to Israel the state of terrorism and to the rest of the dictator countries in the region." In 2001, bin Laden said, "We swore that America wouldn't live in security until we live it truly in Palestine . This showed the reality of America, which puts Israel's interest above its own people's interest. America won't get out of this crisis until it gets out of the Arabian Peninsula , and until it stops its support of Israel."

How can anyone take seriously claims by this administration and previous ones about concerns about human rights and democracy? Take the example of US support of Israel. Israel is a system of discrimination against those who are not of the privileged religion. This is not an American ideal. The majority of Jews in Israel don't think non-Jews should have full equal rights. Imagine for a minute even asking whites in America if they thought blacks should have full equal rights, the question itself is offensive! Yet the majority of Jews in Israel have no problem being racist and the US backs this injustice. And it is worse that n that, Israel targets and kills civilians and the US continues its support. This is a specific example of what people around the world are talking about when they talk about US hypocrisy. It is central to the so called "war on terror" because US support for Israel was the prime motive for the attacks!

Kat thinks we are being attacked because of "full blown envy" which turns "into hatred." To put it bluntly, that is ignorant. We are being attacked because of what our politicians have done to people in the Middle East. The track record speaks for itself but the mainstream media almost always sweeps it under the rug. Take what Kat referred to. What "freedom" was US policy makers offering when they SUPPORTED "those who butcher and murder in the name of religion?" The CIA was supporting people like Gulbuddin Hekmatyar who was known for throwing acid in the faces of women who refused to wear the veil, etc. The US was literally shipping Korans and weapons and encouraging Jihad, to kill in the name of religion. The target? The government of Afghanistan which was instituting social and economic reforms, where girls were going to school and big advancements were being made. That isn't my opinion, the US State Department knew what they were doing, "despite whatever setbacks this might mean for future social and economic reforms in Afghanistan." And these Sate Department thugs were doing it to send a message the way the Mafia would. In order to "show the rest of the world, particularly the Third World" that they should not get it into their heads o enact similar social and economic reforms. Remember, although mainstream media does not point it out, the US support of the Islamists was BEFORE the Soviets invaded Afghanistan. The US used the very same people they self-righteously denounce today to destroy the Afghanistan government as a demonstration to others to achieve political goals. Truly ugly acts and violations of what the average American thinks of as an American ideal. Callimachus mocks Americans that want their government to respect virtues they hold dear. "If you don’t like it, go to divinity school," says Callimachus.