Josh,
Don't feel too bad. You've done something a lot of people honestly can't do, and that is admit that you're ignorant. Many people are simply too arrogant to admit it. Ignorance is widespread in this country because the U.S. public school system does a pathetic job of educating people. But admitting that you don't know as much as you thought you did is a good thing, because you realize that you need to learn. So, you can now begin that process.
Grandpa is right, the anger of the people in the forums is directed at our foreign policies. President Bush believes he is doing the right thing, but I don't agree with his actions (as you can probably tell from my other posts). I believe America should declare neutrality and not interfere in the affairs of other nations. Terrorism comes from our involvement in the Middle East, not because they blindly hate us.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask and I'll be glad to try and answer them. I'll give you three links--books on the internet that you can read for free--to help you understand why America is no longer truly free and why it has turned away from the principles it was founded on. I know you don't have a lot of free time, but when you can, try to spend some time reading from the following links:
http://www.buildfreedom.com/tl/rapecon.shtml
http://www.buildfreedom.com/tl/wuapref.shtml
http://www.ruwart.com/Healing/rutoc.html