well, in conjunction of d-day, i wonder how many ppl know its existence.. anyways from what i heard, the french loved the america of the past towards the end of ww2, but hate the america of today, most importantly the bush regime, so they justify their anti-american feelings by "seperating bush from america".
so what i wanna ask is, what you think of america of the past and america of today. events from each period are notably world war 2 and the recent iraqi war. both fought in the name of freedom and liberation, both won the battle, both stayed on to rebuild and establish stability in the region, etc.
just something to think about.
America's interference in other countries' affairs post WW2 has certainly pissed a lot of people off. A poll carried out by BBC recently shows that hatred towards America by europeans is on the rise. Here are some websites about american hegemony :
www.isp.nwu.edu/~fprefect/politics/timeline.html
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4078.htm
United States today is quite very different from the United States of 1945. Becoming the sole superpower from has its effects, and the US feels that it needs to protect its interests. It usually gets its way or will force it through anyhow. World War II differs from Iraqi Freedom, because US was forced to enter WW II after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in '41. However there was no apparent cause for US invading Iraq. The case of Weapons of Mass Destruction was the main cause presented by Iraq, however nothing substantial has been found yet.
There is another difference, if you read about the account of people in Europe after the invasion from d-day and their encounters with the American soldiers, you would see quite clearly.
Almost all the stories I heard were, when the people saw American soldiers, they welcomed them with joy and the soldiers shared their limited rations with the people, so even up to this day, those people that went through WW2 have unquestionable gratitude for their saviours. One of the account says that when looters attacked the local establishments, the author when he was young, ran towards the American soldiers in their bases, and they gladly returned to chase those looters away, till today, he still remember that with happiness. Another accounts when his family were running in the forests during the war, he ran towards an American tank, and that was the happiest thing he saw for dunnoe how long, the American soldiers were obviously freaked out and ordered him down, after a brief search, the American soldiers were very friendly and nice, and today he still remember it vividly.
All these sparks a very distinct difference between what we see in Iraq today, although they both fought in the same name. Although more blood were spilled than any wars fought in Iraq, the ideas of democracy, and freedom were far expressed better than today. People treasured their lives, their freedom and what they had far more than people of today, most probably from their experience in WW2.
Isn't all these make d day something worth remembering for, even if we're not in Europe or technically have anything to do with us?
Rather than questioning the American pysche, I think it would be far more rewarding and informative to discuss about the different mindsets and policies of the US executive administration and how those factors charted the US course of history.