Replies

It's interesting to contrast the reaction of German sailors on the destroyer Lutjens with Gerhard Shroeder. The former flew the American flag in a show of solidarity with us. The latter accused the President of using the Iraq war to divert attention from our struggling economy, as Hitler had done. Meanwhile he highlighted his Anti-American stance to get reelected while the German economy struggled with sluggish growth and double-digit unemployment. To whom would the Hitler analogy better apply?

France and Germany are not "allies", period. An ally stands by you when it's not in their immediate self interest. We stood by Britain in the Falklands (albeit not very enthusiastically) and they've stood by us repeatedly when it was unpopular. Same with Australia. They are allies.

At first it appeared France opposed removing Saddam just to spite the U.S. The bribes came to light later. Germany threw in with France and lost big-time. The US is opening bases in Poland and removing troops from Germany, an economic punch they really can't afford. These two countries, with their poodle Belgium are cast by the Left as "Europe" while Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and other European countries are ignored.

We need to adopt more quickly to the Post Cold War era. Our view is that we helped rebuild those countries after WWII and defended them against the USSR so they should be grateful and supportive of us. However, that kind of relationship over a long time breeds resentment, which has since been unleashed.

Our new policy to Western Europe should be based on the way things are today, not how they were at the end of WWII. We should support Japan and India becoming permanent members of the U.N. Security Council. The next time France snubs us, we should disinter and repatriate the remains of the Americans who died liberating France. If they want to ignore the past we shouldn't cling to it. Why should a young American have to fly to France to visit her grandfather's grave? If they want the Statue of Liberty back, fine. We can create something better to replace it.