Italy, unlike France and Germany, is a friend in deed

Italy remembers.
In September, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi met with Bush at Camp David to discuss Iraq. Later, Berlusconi underscored why his country stands firmly with America.
"The United States is a country to which my people bear a deep gratitude," he said. "We'll never forget that fact that about a half century ago through the sacrifice of so many young Americans, Italy and Europe were saved from totalitarianism. I'm here as a sincere ally."
Bush thanked him for his support. But Berlusconi wasn't finished.
"I would like to add one more thing: I consider the flag of the United States is not only a flag of a country but is a universal message of freedom and democracy. "

Berlusconi and Orianna Falaci - Italians for this moment in history.

Tony Blair is amazing with the severe criticism he is getting and it's too bad but Britain is certainly our biggest ally thanks to him and I hope the anti-Americanism isn't getting too bad over there.

The left is always less restrained and louder than the right here. Thus, it may seem like anti-Americanism is rampant - I assure, this is not the case. The average bloke in the street does not care if Saddam Hussein dies - in fact, he thinks it's a good idea.

The "Silent Majority", never polled, is with you.

Regards, Ivan

Who doesn't like to be on the winning team? It sounded like you were bashing Italy for abandoning the Nazi cause. Italy never wanted a war with America-millions of Italians live there. Italy had no taste for genocide- hundreds of thousands of Jews STILL live there. BTW Italy might never have become a fascist dictatorship if The Allies would have given Italy what they promised her before the war. Italy was left after WW 1 with high inflation, a million men dead, high unemployment and a League of Nations (UN) that lied to her about war spoils and reparations. France and England got German $ and coal, and acess to former German colonies. Italy got the finger.

I agree with you, Ivan, America has no better friend than Britain. Don't fault Italy too much. They have deployed the 3rd largest peacekeeping army in the world after Britain and the US. About 10,000-40,000 troops per year are assigned to help Bosnia,Kosovo, Croatia, Isreal, Afghanistan etc.The Italian military builds schools and hospitals in these places and creates enormous good will for the west. Italian bases were not bombed in Lebanon like the Brits and the US. Is it because Italians are not considered to be blood-thirsty imperialists even among fanatics who despise the west.? Italy, unlike Britain, has not been a big player in world politics for 2000 years and they are not accustomed to projecting power. Nor do they have a big offensive capacity, unlike Britain which harped for years to get US ballistic missile technology. This has changed tremendously in the past 15 years:

Italy has had an Antarctic research lab since 1987.
Italy has an aircraft carrier and is building a second.
Italy has built several components of Space Station Alpha.

Berlusconi intends to make Italy's voice stronger in Europe. Up till recently Italy was very content to let Paris and Berlin set European policies. Italy is trying to become more of an entreprenurial society but faces an uphill battle because of years of socialist government.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.