Hi Michael,

Congrutulations on your book. Great post and equally great question.

We cannot ignore the reality that if our foreign policy continues to be the way it has been in the past years; regardless of who becomes next president, we will continue to be "in the time of war" (may be for next 100 years)!!! And unless you are actively engaged in influencing what white house does, there are limited things that an individual can do about it

So then the question becomes, whether as individuals, when we are approached by other individuals ... do we take the approach of "you are with us or against us", start classifying them into "axis of evil" ... or do we respond otherwise. Luckily, as individuals, we DO have the luxury of making this choice.

If your research about them had resulted into anything questionable, then your assistance to them could have been questioned from patriotism angle. However, when the best and the largest government in the world is unable to determine reality without its large share of mistakes (think WMD), there are also limitations on what an individual can research and ascertain.

So in day to day situations, we can continue to treat other / different people with complete distrust who can be remotely linked by any strech of imagination to anything that can be even vaguely threatening ... or make best judgement call, after doing reasonable due diligence without having to worry about being painted as unpatriotic.

I guess, you made your own (and IMHO, appropriate) choice.

Regards,
- Manish