So you're saying the Bush should have never seeked UN approval because they would have just said no anyway?

And for the record, my "just say you're Canadian" tactic (which I've never actually used) was only thought of out of fear of being killed because I'm American (no matter how nice I am to people) not because I wanted to destroy a hotel room like a rock star and blame it on someone from Toronto. It might be hiding behind another flag, but it's not disgracing another country. I doubt many Canadians would mind.

I'm in a unique position. I'm actually from Dearborn, Michigan. Yes it's home to Ford Motor Company and a short drive to General Motors Headquarters and Chrysler's too (so we get a lot of international visitors), but it's an even shorter drive to Canada. I've known many Canadians in my life as either friends, co-workers or girlfriends.

My favorite topic to discuss when I meet someone new from abroad (even if it's just across the Detroit River) is politics and international affairs. But I've never really run into some of the opinions being expressed here. I guess Tony and I and a few others feel a bit backed into a corner or at least that our nation is a bit unappreciated even when we do admit our mistakes (all of us have fully admitted that our track record is less than perfect.) But some of you are also getting a bit frustrated that we "still aren't getting the point". I think because of the war and the events leading up to it, we are all a bit emotional and/or passionate about how we are expressing ourselves.

But it's great that we can have an informed debate here without any pot shots or name calling. Another thing that I've noticed is the lack of "politicising" the war discussion. I think Michael Moore lost all of his credibility during his speach at the Oscars when he basically said that Bush wasn't really elected. He just showed his true colors - he isn't against the war so much as against Bush.

One final thing, if any of you think that Dearborn, Michigan sounds familiar, it's because you may have heard of it in the news lately. Dearborn has the largest concentration of Arabic peoples (from many nations) outside of the Middle East. So due to that and the fact that quite a few arrests have been made here on terrorism charges, everytime you hear of "Arab-American viewspoints" it was most likely recorded a few miles from here. I've been lucky enough to talk about Bin Laden and Hussein with a few people from Yemen and Lebanon. Maybe they weren't being forthcoming with me, but they were a bit kinder than genixia!