[mark-hertford]

I agree with Kathy and think it comes down to two things. First, regardless of whether the US is the greatest country in the world or not, the fact is America has the largest military and the largest economy. Therefore, during any crisis, the rest of the world always asks, 'will the US intervene?' America only has two choices, intervene or not intervene. With either option, half the world will criticize America. In many cases in which we intervene, like Kosovo, we are doing so strictly for humanitarian reasons. America got nothing tangible out of that mission and we knew it in advance. This crisis was in the EU's (second most powerful force on earth) back yard, but they were too weak and unprincipled to do anything. Much of the world begged the US to act and we did, appropriately. BTW, we stopped genocide against Muslims in that case, but there has been no outpouring of gratitude (nor was there in KLuwait or Somalia). Secondly, if you do the math (go by raw $'s or % of GDP), America is the most generous country in the world. Some surveys dispute this claim, but these surveys only count government funding, not private donations. Most of the world does not get the fact that most of the good things American citizens do happen without government involement. America occassionally makes mistakes, but it's motives are good. Yes, our uncommon status as a multi ethnic democracry means we will not yield the moral high ground to unelected dictators. Why should the US seek moral guidance from leaders who were not democratically elected?

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Name : mark-hertford, City : New York, State : NY Country : United States, 

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