[pierrem15]

PRIME MINISTER ODDSSON: Well, I just -- on this, I must say I agree with the President about Iraq. The future of Iraq is -- the future of the world is much better because of the undertaking that the United States, United Kingdom and their alliances took there. And without that done, the situation in that area of the world would be much more dangerous than it is now. There's hope now. There was no hope before.

Unexpected (and eloquent) support from Iceland.

[Leifur]

Hardly unexpected as our foreign policy consists mostly of following and supporting the US and has done so for all of our 60 years of independence (wich you helped us to achiewe). And as our PM is a firm right winger who absolutely loats the EU it is not unexpected he follows that foreign policy gladly.

About the issue of continuing US protection of Iceland (under a special joint treaty between us about that and having protected us for over 60 years (actually from six months before Pearl Harbor) it was done because it was good for the people of the US. Icelands strategic position, both in the WW2 and Cold war helped the US greatly in the defence of America.

We just do not want to be tossed away like a used rag when there is lesser need (at least for the time beeing) for us so we would be forced to rejoin Europe (we are between Europe and N-America) behind the so called ever closer Union wich will eventually end as a undemocratic superstate, Euroland. We split away from Denmark because we wanted to be independent and free, but we counted on the US to be able to do that. So if I correct myself a little, our foreign policy is about two things, following the lead of the US (we can be described as a sad little YES-man) and supporting the trans-Atlantic bridge of cooperation and allience, wich we, as beeing in the middle, absolutly count on.

So I have a pretty good idea how much I and we will miss the US when and if it falls from beeing the worlds only superpower. I certeinly would not like to see a multipolar world, because it would mean that the democratic countries (like the two oldest ones, US and France) tear each others eyes out and China and other would use it to climb on top.

It is interesting how much sense of history lies behind the red and blue signs if it is true that this has been done in Texas for years, a little surprise in comparison to how relatively short your history is how well you try to preserve it. In Europe people are fast loosing their identity and sense of history, wich is so sad.

"I was interested to read about the priest being prime minister in Norway. I guess we're all the same fight...to preserve our christian past so we can have a hopeful future."

I am at least trying to participate in that fight, wich though seems to be allready lost. It will probably not be long until either a separation of our state and the national church or that the church will be forced to marry homosexuals or at least bless their union. And I am sadly convinced that Norway´s PM is way to socialdemocratic despite beeing a priest so the fight is mostly lost.