> I think it's pretty obvious that when someone says "Iraq is evil" they do not mean that the country and its culture and history and people are an intrinsic abomination. What is meant is that the government running the country is evil.

Sorry for the late interruption here (darn my only-when-the-boss-is-away Internet access), but earlier in this thread, in your Patriotism post you said:

>I don't know how you define what your country is, but I certainly don't define it exclusively in terms of its government. A nation's government is a part of the nation but not all of it. Not even most of it.

To me, it seems like you have two situations there, one where you are saying "I love the United States." and one where someone is saying "Iraq is evil." Why is does each line involve a different definition of what that country's name encompasses, and how is an audience supposed to know which they mean?

Maz"not trying to be a jerk, just wanting clarification"er31