I was appalled at President George W. Bush's comment, "That doesn't sound like my America," when he heard about the abuse in Iraq. It sure sounds like my America!

What does he call the attacks on our homeless? City officials in Los Angeles bulldozed a homeless encampment last December. Activist, Ted Hayes, tried to stop it carrying an American flag, but he was no match for the bulldozer. The city official's excuse for the dozing was they were "cleaning up the city." There was no thought to the fact that they were crushing their shelter.

A respectful government would have taken those people to safety, not destroy their only protection. Homeless people are not gang members, murderers, or menaces to society. On the outside they look grubby and tattered but they are just like you and me without a home, and they are most likely starving and sick. People are afraid of them because they don't look like everyone else.

Sure there are shelters that have available space, but according to a homeless woman I interviewed in the Los Angeles area, they're more dangerous than the streets. She feels safer hiding somewhere on the street than lying asleep next to strangers.

So the next time you hear our president declare that there is no abuse in America, think about how we treat our homeless. We are no better than Iraq when we repeatedly abuse our innocent.