I remember years ago, a famous historian of World War II., Steven Ambrose I think, said on TV that during that war, residents of towns were always happy when it was American troops who entered their neighborhoods. They had misgivings about troops from other countries, but they were happy to see Americans.

That’s one important thing that made America exceptional. With the torture (e.g. Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo) of the George W. Bush years, we’ve lost some of that. Hopefully we’ll regain it soon.