It is one of the costs of democracy, that the actions of the elected government can be held to be the responsibility of the people that put it into office. Until about 1914, that concept had not developed strongly because democracy was not understood fully. By 1918, the crimes and misdemeanours of elected governments were commonly held against their electorates in all newspapers in Europe and North America. Adolf Hitler, in his book "Mein Kampf" blamed the French population for the actions of the French army and government both during the war and for the reparations imposed by the Treaty of Versailles.
Hitler was elected Chancellor of Germany in 1933. By the time WW2 started, it was normal for British and American newspapers to ascribe his actions to the wishes of the people of Germany. That is why Allied armies and air forces felt little sympathy for German civilians, whether they got caught up in land battles or were bombed from the air. The attitude was, "They put Hitler in place: they brought it on themselves." The separation of armed forces and civilians all but disappeared and that explains the bombing of Dresden and Pforzheim, and the atom bombs on Japan.
This attitude also explains the hatred of all Americans that is detectable in Arab countries, in parts of Central America and recently in Europe. After all, "...they put George Bush in the White House, so all Americans are to blame..." So long as the USA leads an international army that kills and insults civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan, the actions of the Commander in Chief [the President] will be held against all Americans. I'm not sure that Obama realises this yet. I've heard it said, "...you attack our civilians, so we shall attack Americans wherever and whenever we can..."
Behind all this lies the "democratic" principle that elected governments can do as they wish until the next election. In UK, governments of all types have behaved this way for about 90 years and still present themselves as democratic. If the civilian population, who are also the electorate, wish to be insulated from the crimes of their government, then democracy needs to be redefined. Governments must be forced to behave according to the wishes of the people, not only according to a party manifesto. There seems to be possibility of this happening, ever. Politicians control the army and the police, and maybe the courts. Stated crudely, the government has the guns. The people have only an occasional vote.
Disappointing, isn't it?
