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From personal experience, the younger generation of Europeans "hated" America for nothing more than the political role we play. A hate that was evident as a 12 year old almost 20 years ago. Don't fool yourselves into thinking that we were loved up untill the Iraq war. The current situation has provided a catalyst for ligitimacy to their hatred that is motivated by politcal envy. Granted there is alot more to it, but in a nutshell...they hate us as a political power, and the more power we excert, it would make sense the more antagonistic they will feel. Their feeling's about America are not limited to Bush (or whoever the current president), they are motivated by years of politcal envy.
As for your other point, sure we manipulated parts of the world for what we believed to be the greater good, and sure things have come back to bite us in the ass. But are you suggesting that because of actions we took in the past for reasons that were historically relevant, that we alleviated our responsibilites to solve the problems that arise in the future. I would think we are even more so for that very fact.
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