[Griff]

Well that's one way to interpret what he said. More charitably, I'd say that he sees scapegoating as a constant problem because individuals and societies refuse to take responsibility for their actions. Admittedly, it is a lot easier to take responsibility for actions at the level of the individual. That is why its so important to keep decision making as local as possible, something the Greens occasionally give a nod to.

When it comes to foreign policy, those societies we lack significant informal connections with seem the least likely to separate the individual American from his governments policy. The decent treatment of our Olympic athletes in Greece can be taken as evidence of this separation in the European mind. In the Arab world Americans are oilmen and soldiers so its easy to scapegoat us as a whole people. Our lack of consideration for Iraqi losses leads me to believe that our view of the Moslem world is similarly stilted, even if better informed.