I used to think the US was the Greatest Satan; Here is why I don't anymore

I am a 30-year-old Turkish man living in Istanbul. I grew up watching Turkish news channels show horrific pictures of US bombings in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan. Day and night, bombs were dropped, and innocent people were hauled from their houses in the middle of the night; husbands were often arrested or killed in front of their families. WikiLeaks published videos showing US soldiers joyfully firing at journalists and other innocent people from an attack helicopter. I saw horrific pictures of Muslim prisoners being tortured in Abu Ghraib prison.

Then, a huge flow of immigrants started coming to Türkiye—millions of them, with more arriving after the war in Ukraine. Housing, shopping, and everything else became incredibly expensive. Young people started having a terrible time finding jobs. The beautiful, hospitable Turkish culture shifted, replaced by immense racism and hatred towards refugees. This was all due to the large number of refugees coming from countries the US had destroyed. As a result, I hated the US's guts.

Later in life, I started learning English due to my strong interest in software engineering. I became accustomed to American media and the daily lives of its people, and I started realizing how invaded the US itself was and how the entire establishment was hijacked by and served a small group of people. Recently, the war propaganda in the US regarding Iran shifted my view entirely. The American population seemed to be against another deadly war in the Middle East. I started watching US war veterans on YouTube and X and reading their blogs; almost without exception, they were against the war. Despite that, the huge propaganda machine started up in favor of it, and I finally realized who was behind it all along: who was behind all of these wars, who was controlling the entire US political realm, who was pushing for wars and regime change operations in the Middle East, who was squeezing everyday Americans, serving them the worst healthcare system in the world, the junkiest food, and the worst social security system, all while completely brainwashing them every day via the huge media establishment, Hollywood, and social media companies.

I used to think, "It's the CIA, the NSA, Big Brother," or "It's the Pentagon, the commies, the Chicoms, the military-industrial complex." Especially after watching a podcast of an ex-CIA spy on YouTube, I realized none of them were the head of the snake. Sure, there will always be some officials in a military establishment who want war, but I realized they were not the primary driving force behind all this warmongering. And the American people? They seem almost completely oblivious to how their tax money is being spent. I realized they were as screwed as the people of those invaded countries. They are screwed by a handful of people whose names I can't even mention here; that's how powerful they are.

This is why I don't hate the US anymore. I hate those who screw them over, treating them like useful idiots, just like the rest of us.