I find it remarkable how Americans refer to their government, their armed forces and their country in the first person."We have to support our president and our troops in Iraq. We have to win." Or equally, "We have to oppose our president's Iraq policy. We have to bring our troops home. We can't win."
The idea that the government belongs to the people is strongly enshrined in the American constitution. It probably seems natural then for Americans to speak of their state as "we" "us" and "my". This tendency is not unique to the US. I have a friend from the Third World who bitterly resents his country's government, and may never return to his homeland as a result. But still, he refers to his government in the first person, as in "our army is a joke" or "our president is an alcoholic."
But to me, it seems odd to speak in this way. I have never been able to speak of "my government" or "my army" and may never be able to. But for a few brief periods of local rule, Northern Ireland (NI) has for my lifetime been administered from London by a British secretary of state. These governors belong to political parties which do not organise in NI. They have not even a single vote as a mandate to rule.
As such, I feel I can legitimately claim that I have no government. While this is a problem in many ways, in one way at least, it is liberating. I have no government of which to be proud, but more pertinently, none of which to be ashamed either. An English person looking at the pictures of Britsih troops torturing Iraqi prisoners may feel shame and disgust. For me, it's just disgust. I can never be lectured by an Egyptian, or an Indian, or a Kenyan about the crimes of the British. "Hey, it's not my fault, pal. Go find an Englishman."
However I admire those who have a government and the will to oppose it. The slogan "not in my name" resonates with anger and refusal. One of the reasons that I enjoy reading Uri Avnery's cutting attacks on the Sharon government is because Avnery is himself an Israeli. His commentary fizzes with anger at what is being done in his name to the Palestinians. But still for Avnery, Israel is "our country" , the IDF simply "the army".
Those who speak against their own govenrnments always run the risk of being labelled treacherous by simple people who think simplistically. The charge of treason is not a pleasant one. Those who endure these sticks and stones are to be commended.
If "your" government is doing something immoral, don't be afraid to oppose it!