As a Briton one thing confuses me about America. A lot of times you hear things stated such as "the troops are defending America" Or "they gave their life to defend America" but if a soldier in a foreign country dies, how are they "defending America"? I mean, America has not been invaded in the last hundred years, so it has not had to be "defended". Btw, In Britain we say "they died SERVING their country". - Mark

@Karlrove, eh?? Wow. - Roberto Bonini

Mark, that's cause the people who say that are idiots. - Dave Winer

@Mark: Because the people who say that usually classify things like 9/11 or Pancho Villa's trek to the US as full-scale invasions, comparable to the Germans in France in WW2. I've always used SERVING, as well. - Sean Quinn

Mark, I think it's a Cold War throwback. During Vietnam, "keeping us free" tied into the domino theory. But hawks never gave it up; saying you're for freedom is so nice and all-purpose. You'll regularly hear Palin and Fox news types claiming that fighting in Iraq protects everything from our right to free speech to our right to vote. - Amyloo

That would be a heck of an event if some terrorists in Iraq managed to overthrow the US government and repeal the Constitution of the USA. Hehe. - Mark