Quote Originally Posted by Lady's Human
The meeting of Non-aligned nations has at least three, possibly more nations that have either nuclear weapons (India, Pakistan, North Korea), Chemical weapons (Syria, Iran) or advanced Nulear weapons research programs (Iran, South Africa(possible live nukes), Saudi Arabia).

NORAD still exists. The HQ's for NORAD is Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado. While NORAD until recently did not have any ABM capability, NORAD was in charge of warnings and communications in case of a nuclear strike. NORAD no longer has a strong alert force (budget cuts), but is still very much an active multi-service US and Canadian organisation.

The email taps are an NSA program called ECHELON, which has been in existence for at least a decade. It is not a creation of the Bush administration. When it was implemented, there was much protest, but the protest went away until recently.

The hatred of the United States in the world is not a new phenomenon. Want to get elected in South America? Run on a platform of hatred for the US. This is a legacy from US meddling in SA affairs that started over 100 years ago. Any nation that has the power the US does is going to be hated, it doesn't matter whether the country acts like a lamb or a lion. France has long had mistrust for the US. The same goes for Germany, but with the specter of the USSR looming over the horizon it wasn't safe to openly voice that mistrust. While France is a titular member of NATO, it has not participated in NATO in any meaningful way in a long, long time.
Very good post LH.

I learned somethings and got a better perspective on some of these issues!

Can't say I knew those things!!!