Maybe its a naive notion, but I'm hoping that we will eventually be out of the middle east entirely. One of the reasons Osama has so much sway in the region is because he goes off about the american presence. So I'm hoping that now that Saddam is being hunted down and with friendly governments in Iraq, Afgan, Pakistan, Saudi and so forth, and we get the Israeli's to calm down and back up, then we don't need to be over there so much and in the end have less threats of terrorist attacks. That is what I mean in doing something about Saddam. Otherwise, containment guarantees a foriegn presence and that is exactly what pisses everybody off over there. I would be pissed too if Sacramento was patrolled by Saudi jet fighters and armed troops in order to make sure Gray Davis didn't raise taxes. Or if the Pakistani's had a huge military base in Renton. It is a form of occupation if you ask me.

As for world opinion, I get the feeling that it is not so much anti-amricanism, as it is anti-Bush. I think if we got somebody in there who doesn't turn everything into a holy crusade, didn't address the world with contempt and engaged the world as a community of equals, there would be much flag-waving.