[Eric]

I think that when considering if an apology is appropriate or not, one has to consider "incidents" on a case by case basis. In the case of bloody sunday, I don't think that an apology is appropriate. There was no government policy that led to the incident, which can appropriately be termed "isolated". The British public, whom the government represents, had no involvement. Compare it to what happened in Europe under the Nazis; the whole apparatus of government and the majority of the population combined to give the world the horrors of mass extermination of Jews, Poles, Russian civilians and POWs, Gypsies, etc., etc. And from what I see of the Krauts, they don't seem to be all that abjectedly apologetic for causing the deaths of tens, maybe hundreds of millions. A quote from Marlowe would be appropriate here, but I'll spare you the pedantry. However, quite rightly, the Government of Canada has apologised to First Nations people for the abuses in the residential schools. The government did not intend that children in residential schools be abused, but it was their policies, aimed at erradicating First Nations' culture that put the children at risk.

But I do think that this whole apology fad has gone way too far. It's a convenient and popular bandwagon which gives the PC crowd the opportunity to feel good about themselves, and pat themselves on the back for being holier than me and you.