We are such a peace loving nation we would never do anything like finance a coup in a oil rich nation so we can murder and imprison the democratically elected leaders of a country in order install a tyrant so that we can hand over ex-British petroleum fields to American corporations.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Iranian_coup_d'%C3%A9tat

Then later on we wouldn't do things like finance and arm both sides of a ethic war in the hope they would keep each other weak and easy for us to control.

http://whitenoiseinsanity.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/rum...

Our government wouldn't do terrible things like sell weapons to a enemy of Israel using the government of Israel in order to finance anti-democratic warlords in Central America, even though Congress specifically said supporting such groups was illegal without them approving it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%E2%80%93Contra_affair

When that failed we wouldn't do such things as import cocaine into the intercity and destroy the lifes of tens of thousands of poor black Americans in order to finance the warlords in a less discoverable manner.

And then murder the people we worked with.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegations_of_CIA_drug_traffic...

We didn't do things like smuggling heroin into the USA to finance the various assassinations, political coup, vote rigging, and terorrist training activities that we didn't secretly engage in from the 1950's through the 2000's.

http://www.corbettreport.com/the-cia-and-the-drug-trade-eyeo...

We would never do things like that. Because drugs are bad, M'Kay?. Because our US soldiers wouldn't being spending their time killing and dying in foreign lands, while protecting the drug trade and the primary source of income for their adversaries. And if they did that it would only be because we care sooo much for the farmers.

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/10/14066.html

Nope. The USA is innocent.

The secret activities that the USA government and their invasions of your privacy, if they even occure, are obviously for your benefit. And if the NSA or CIA or Obama hit squads ever grossly infringe on the constitution they will be very careful to only infringe on it when it's necessary for your own safety. Because, darn it, they just care so much.

So yep.

This must be it:

They hate us because our freedom.

As a non American, I take a perverse sort of comfort from that idea that it looks like the US government is as scared of its own people as it is foreigners. At least we foreigners and American citizens are in it together.

Truth is, we are enemies of US government behavior, not the United States of America or its fine people. We critical non Americans are actually arguing for America to be better, not worse. We want it stronger through fairness, justice and, well, just plain decent behavior. Not through cowardice, fear, and the bullying fist. Just imagine how powerful the US could be if the rest of the world actually liked and respected it, rather than feared it. People who fear you are not friends, they are people who will bite back the second they can.

However, what I'm not sure of is whether or not the US government is actually as the majority of Americans want it. It is a democracy after all. I realize that democracy is distorted by money and vested interests, but TBH, given what we know today about all that, surely the American voter cant use that as an excuse any more. All those nasty lying attack ad campaigns, the distortion of facts, etc.... we all know how that works. So, surely Americans cant be swayed by that sort of thing? Would it not be a bit daft to know you are being manipulated, but still go along with such manipulations? So, cant people vote smart?

I dunno.... Its all a bit of a mess.

Oh...... why so many enemies? Fear.