Dickey: U.S. Nationalism Run Amok - Newsweek Christopher Dickey - MSNBC.com

Okay, a pretty good comparison of nationalism vs. patriotism.  Basically, if I were to sum up the difference, it would be this:

• Patriotism: my country right or wrong, but my country nonetheless
• Nationalism: my country, right.  Your country, wrong.

I have a pretty good patriotism streak going.  Even though I am an opponent of the death penalty, I do not buy the notion that "because other countries don't have the death penalty, we shouldn't."  First off, they do; they just call it an "assasination".  Secondly, this is an American arguement; it's an arguement about morals, about proportionality and about ultimately wisdom, but it's an American arguement to have.
However, I do not believe in the rantings of national zealots who seem to blindly ignore the abuses at Abu Grahab, or those that dismiss the suicides at Guantanamo as "asymetric warfare".  Rush Limbaugh once referred to Abu Grahab as "no worse than a high school hazing", which tells you either he went to a very sick high school, or that he has no comprehension of the evils that were perpetrated.
Another form of this is the people that get on blindly and say "where's Amnesty International when our three soldiers were tortured and killed".  Actually they put out a treatise the day the story broke, but let's assume that didn't.  You're right, we don't treat our soldiers and the enemy as moral equivalents.  We don't expect Al Qaeda to act in a humanitarian manner.  We do expect our soldiers to behave that way, however, and when they don't, when they allegedly go into a house and rape then kill a woman and her family, we hold them as responsible for their behavior as we should.  The soldiers will get a fair trial, and they should, and if found guilty, they should be punished.
A nationalist will never say that.  To a nationalist, all actions, any actions, carried out by the troops must be for the common good, and any attack of those actions is akin to terrorism.  Same with the New York Times/Wall Street Journal/LA Times story about wiretapping bank accounts.  The calls for trials of sabotage are quite frankly, inane, and those that are calling for them should be ashamed of themselves.  They point to the fact that the story said that the actions were legal.  Well, maybe they were, but that still doesn't make them right.
But a nationalist will not see, will not even attempt to see the other side.  They betrayed the administration in power, they should hang.

"Opposition to tyranny is obiedience to God"