Screw You, Too

Here’s what our allies think of us, from the Financial Times:

A majority of Europeans think that US foreign policy is partially to blame for the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.

A survey of American and European attitudes towards foreign relations found that 55 per cent of respondents from six European countries agreed that US policy had contributed to the attacks.

This site has argued time and again, that President Bush needs to go to Congress for a fresh authorization to topple Saddam Hussein. But ask Paris, Berlin, or Brussels?

No, hell no, and hell no, again.

Fifty years of American indulgence kept Western Europe fat, free, and (apparently) very, very stupid. Our every policy they decried, but in the end, we prevailed over Soviet Communism. Whether we wanted to go tit for tat with medium range ballistic nukes, pressure the Soviets over human rights, or push back in Central America and Afghanistan, our allies gave us little but grief.

But if we could endure the threat of the Third Shock Army, certainly we could endure some slings and barbs from our friends.

No more. The threat today isn’t some remote possibility of WWIII breaking out in the heart of Germany. The threat today is the very real likelihood of more craters in the heart of Manhattan, another biological attack somewhere unexpected, or a primitive nuke anywhere at all.

Our land. Our cities. Our citizen’s lives. Nothing can excuse terror against civilians. There is no justification to be found in the decisions of our Government or the actions of our military, for turning civilian jets into cruise missiles.

We weren’t “asking for it” then — and we have no need to ask permission to act now.

We’ll do what we need to, without asking permission from Paris, approval from Brussels, or forgiveness from Berlin. We will not do the EU appeasement dance, nor ask for another vote from NATO.

Why should Brussels, a city with imperial authority across half of Europe, keep us from extending our reach? Why should France, with her history of appeasing Nazis, Communists, and terrorists, get a say in how we fight? Why should we believe Germany, murderer of six million Jews, when they tell us we deserved what we got?

Europe has become our moralistic uncle with a drinking problem and no pension. He’s family, so we can’t kick him out. But we should hardly live by his example, or take his little tantrums too seriously.