GI Joe - no longer a US soldier? Might not be such a bad idea.

GI Joe may now stand for "Global Integrated Joint Operating Entity", with its star representing a vague multinational force.

Hasbro's character may no longer be cast as American. Hasbro has backed away from the "Great American Hero" tagline since, not surprisingly, a film showing the character as an American soldier would not play well pretty much anywhere abroad.

It's a big patriotic issue in the US where, also unsurprisingly, the average guy on the street has no idea what a horrible image our country has in the rest of the world.

If only the US-based supporters of GI Joe would come out in support of the withdrawal of real-life GI Joe's from the Iraq quagmire. So much ado about a doll that's made in China.