Terry:

Yes, we saw the interview with Robert J Kennedy about the environment. It is his assessment that Bush has put back environmental regulation about 30 years. This would have been a huge issue in Canada but barely resonated in the US election. Texas is the highest poluting state largely because of their high use of coal for electricity.

I also agree with you that there is a serious problem with education in the US. Jay Leno asked high school teachers to locate Japan on a map and they couldn't do it. Further, I do think there is a large segment of the population of the US that may be untrainable because of lack of intelligence. In spite of the extremely high intelligence levels of a say the top 3% of the population (which may be higher than other countries), I have the feeling that the average intelligence may be lower than most countries and it shows at election time.

The other issue is attitude. The British command in Iraq could not believe how the American command spoke about the Iraqis. The American Generals do not see the Iraqis as human beings. I think this was a huge factor in Abu Graib. I don't think Canadians or Europeans would be capable of this type of behaviour.

I am not sure if the Americans will pull out of this, their ambitions and outlooks are so perverted. I am predicting that the American presence in Iraq will go on for another 10 years and they will eventually withdraw with their tail between their legs like they did in Viet Nam (remember "Peace With Honour"). Many of the older generation that voted for George were around for the Viet Nam War but it seems to be forgotten now. One of the reasons they got out was they were running out of money. I think that piece of history will repeat itself.

Mike Smith