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If people are missing the point, it is because this is not made as clear in the films as it could have been, and because they themselves are so infected with stupidity and jingoism that they can no longer tell propaganda from epic fantasy.
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Absolutely true, Squatter. The film adaptations have done far too much to advance the cause of people who already thought that The Lord of the Rings was an oversimplified 'good vs evil' story. The role of men in Saruman's armies has been whittled away to almost nothing, and it seems as if evil is only applicable to horrible, deformed creatures like Orcs or Nazgūl, which can be destroyed without guilt. The presentation of a wholly just war unfortunately comes at a very difficult time, especially for the U.S. Which I am sure is why so many Americans have leaped to either attack or defend the idea of the movies as propaganda. I don't think that it is simply because there is a brain-dead minority there, as you say. Besides which, Americans are certainly not the only people willing to go to war against Iraq. You might be surprised at what some of your own countrymen think.
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Why on earth would a New Zealander twist his 50-year-old English source material to turn it into such a tasteless allegorical call to arms? It makes no logical sense, and what some brain-dead minority of Americans think about it doesn't change that.
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Admittedly, The Lord of the Rings was written by an Englishman, warped in film adaptation by a New Zealander, and misunderstood by some Americans (among many others). But if you think that your nationality alone gives you some kind of bragging rights, you're mistaken. I happen to come from Aotearoa/New Zealand. Does this mean I swell with pride whenever someone splits the atom, as Ernest Rutherford did, or do I mention the name Edmund Hillary whenever someone climbs Everest/Jomolungma? No. I would ask you to extend similar courtesy here.