A lovely holiday among our former allies

JWR ^ | 2-24-05 | Bob Tyrrell

[FlyLow]

Now, do you agree with me, Mr. President? Old Europe is a lovely place to visit. Yet one would not want to live there for any extended period of time. Any continent so given to long luncheons cannot be a very vigorous place. On holiday, the civilized thing to do is to dine apolaustically, to take in the theater and museums. In fact, Old Europe is one grand museum. That is why I am always happy there, but then I visit solely for holiday. When it is time to be productive, I head home.

From all the news reports, it sounds as though the president had a lovely holiday among our former allies. They even seemed to greet him cordially when he reiterated that liberating Iraq was the right thing to do. They even seem to accept that democracy — of one kind or another — may be established in Iraq. Said the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, "Statements like, 'You can't export democracy through war,' are no longer fashionable." Of course, Italy has shown itself to be an ally, so maybe the paper was only talking about Italian fashion.

[wmileo]

Continental Europe is like a Theme Park. You take photos , spend money and then go home with pleasant memories and trinkets. They are happy because they took your money and you are happy because you came home. There is also this to consider. Europe is also a place in the world whose people owe their very existence and relative prosperity to a country ( USA) which is populated by people whose ancestors hated living in Europe so much that they left and came her. Now I don't know about you but it seems to me that has to be a burden.

[An Old Marine]

[refusal to support the US] is no demonstration of principle or prudence by Old Europe, but rather a sign of Old Europe's laziness about meeting its responsibilities. We witnessed the same laziness in the 1930s and for that matter during the Cold War, when Old Europe never met its NATO defense commitments. It relied on us to defend its citizens in the Cold War, and it relies on us now to defend them in the war against terror, which, contrary to Old Europe's blah, was furthered nicely by the fall of Saddam.

The author os incorrect in his analysis. The French, Germans, Belgians and some other Europeans are not just lazy. They have actively, though ineffectively, sided with the terrorists in hopes that the Islamo-facists will let them live in peace. This is, of course, a pipe dream. You cannot get into bed with rattlesnakes and not expect to get bitten

from Australia comes news that the doughty Aussies are sending 450 troops to Iraq

God bless the Aussies - Note to France: This is what an ally does!

[ladiesview61]

You're absolutely right, Europe is a great place to visit...but there is nothing like coming back home to the good ol' USA.

[wmileo]

You are correct. I once went back to Italy about 25 years ago and looked up my distant relative. Just one hour listening to there Communist B.S. was enough to convince me that the short end of the gene pool stayed in the Old World.