(sigh)
I was really trying not to get into a long discussion about....well, about anything, but it seems I just cannot learn.
I come from a country where terrorism was so rampant I actually have memories of ducking bullets on my way home from the store, blackouts and kidnappings were things that happened daily. People lost ears, toes, homes, jobs... It's also a place that has seen the rise and fall of many world powers over thousands of years, with a crappy government and economy, true, but also a rich cultural history and people that live life every day to the fullest. We've learned to adjust emotionally, and we hope and work towards social adjustment in the face of all we have endured as a nation. Terrorism is a fact of life.
I know people from New York that have problems imagining that there are people actually living in Arkansas, so I don't think that before this they worried too much about foreign relations. 9/11 brought to our front door (I say our because I live in the DC area) the possibility that we did not (in my case) and maybe can not outrun extremism, and no country is immune. September 11th was awful, horrible, but it's one in a long line of atrocities that, (should the opinions about American Indians transfer over)will continue to happen as power grows and shifts. No empire is forever, not even ours. That doesn't mean we don't support our troops, mourn our dead, etc. But people have to go on living, and doing the best they can. You make a mental change in gears and go on. I think asking the average American to weigh on on this must be truly overwhelming. It had been a pretty idyllic place to be, until 9/11.
As far as the whole war goes, I think GB senior summed it up best when he said "I will never apologize for the United States. I don't care what the facts are."
Arundhati Roy actually gave a good speech about foreign opinion of the United States, etc, very long, but very illustrative...