Now I have no problem with US citizens being proud of their troops (provided they don't do anything silly like commit war crimes'n'stuff - the troops that is, not the citizens). And if people want to give them a dig out by sending them pre-paid phone cards to call their loved ones Stateside, that's fine too......but Ireland is a neutral country* and a large number of our citizens are sensitive about certain alleged actions of the US government, things like extraordinary rendition. So you can imagine the indignation they would feel if they got one of these items in their mail**. A bit more cop-on on the part of the mailroom staff in Barnes and Noble probably wouldn't go amiss.
Regards,
djp
*Ireland was neutral during WWII, but we were "neutral" on the side of the Allies. That mindset is as much Joyceuitical as Jesuitical...:-)
** For the record, I'm not particularly bothered by this issue - I merely find it amusing that the US assumes that everyone who isn't against everything it stands for is actually in favour of everything it stands for. Some of us find sitting on the fence quite comfortable, once the initial splinters have been removed...:-)
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