Snowden storm stains US

There has been a growing disconnect between the inherent qualities of US citizens and the actions of their government. The election of Barack Obama to the Oval Office five years ago demonstrated the essentially liberal spirit of the American people. But the same cannot be said of the US governance structure, which very often pursues policies designed to help the few who are major contributors to political candidates than the millions who vote for them.

Because of the immense influence of powerful interest groups over the corporations that control much of the media in the US, the people of that country are seldom given an informed choice about events, especially those relating to foreign affairs.

To this day, many Americans believe that Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gadhafi supported al-Qaida leaders. The reality is, Saddam and Gadhafi both were targets of al-Qaida assassination plots for a long time because, whatever their other faults might have been, both subscribed to moderate theologies rather than the extreme version of Islam.