Abu Ghraib. The right believes it was the actions of a few out-of-control soldiers and the Iraqis deserved it anyway. The left believes it started when the Geneva Convention was refuted and those particular actions weren't warranted.

However, some Muslim kid in Algeria, Indonesia, or Uzbekistan is going to know Saddam used that prison to torture people, and now the US did the same thing. That kid is going to grow up with a view of the US which isn't flattering, and he will have some reason for it.

In Iran, the US overthrew a government, installed the Shah, and taught the Savak to torture people. Those folks have memories. Their children have memories, their wives, and all their friends. We tend to forget that, and think they should, too.

Nope, the US is an active participant in world affairs on every level. And I'm not saying it shouldn't be. However, the US is not a completely benevolent, passive country doing it's best to help others and being attacked because people don't like the pure and innocent. The US is a victim, true, but not an innocent victim. (The people who get killed, such as in the WTC, ARE innocent victims, though.)

What goes around comes around.

Arf