Since you're "clear that the problem isn't biotechnology in itself," you're an optimist of sorts.
But I'm more interested in the political than the scientific aspect of this controversy right now. As those Sunday NY Times articles suggested, the US Trade Representative's office must be sweating bullets about this rapidly escalating GM foods controversy. Not since Milo Minderbinder threatened to make his air squadron eat chocolate-covered cotton -- due to Minderbinder Enterprises' excessive holdings of commodity cotton -- has agribusiness appeared in a less-savory light than it does with GM foods. The European public apparently sees GM technology for what it is at present -- a power grab by multinational corporations at the expense of the public and traditional farmers -- and as yesterday's NY Times suggests, the American public is beginning to, well, cotton on also. This is all to the good.
Carl