They have just been told that the US is not at war with Iraq but rather, in the surreal phrase of Thomas Pickering, the US undersecretary of state for political affairs, in a "state of animosity" with Baghdad.
"I believe there is nothing more important than having Iran as our ally," he said, "because if we fell into a state of animosity with Iran, the whole of Central Asia could be lost to the influence of the Islamic world".
It is also a reminder that Pakistan is itself a declared nuclear power, in a perpetual state of animosity with India, and has not renounced first use of the bomb.Nevertheless, in a sign of Pakistan's continued importance to America, Paul O'Neill, the Treasury secretary, was in Islamabad this week, holding out the prospect of the cancellation of $1 billion of Pakistani debts.
It is also a reminder that Pakistan is itself a declared nuclear power, in a perpetual state of animosity with India.Nevertheless, in a sign of Pakistan's continued importance to America, Paul O'Neill, the treasury secretary, was in Islamabad this week, holding out the prospect of the cancellation of $1 billion of Pakistani debts.
"This Divided State" may ring with death threats and heave with animosity, but its final message is a hopeful one: in one of the most conservative states in the country, there are at least as many open minds as closed ones.
Lewis Ludlow, 27, of Rochester, Kent, a former Royal Mail worker, said he was filled with "animosity and hatred" when he swore allegiance to Islamic State, the Old Bailey heard.
"Racism is a war on reason, so in my state of animosity I wrote Skid Row," Ferraro explains.
Meaning with a lack of proper respect, or with animosity?
At the mosque, they regarded Haitham Bundakji with animosity, Olson told me.
Flavoring the competition with animosity fosters a rivalry, too, and that happened in the ninth inning.
But after a devastating recession and with animosity toward bankers still running high, Iceland's electorate was not swayed.
