Global Left’s answer: retreat and surrender

Rinse, repeat.

Remember, the reason Nazi Germany was able to slice through Western Europe like a bayonet through a baby is that the Leftist/Socialist governments of Belgium, The Netherlands, Denmark, and France starved their military until it was too late and/or appeased evil – and as a byproduct fed and strengthened it – to the point that they could never overcome their predisposition to surrender. First, from "friends" in Italy breaking bread with Comrade Prodi in the NYT.

The roadside bomb that killed three Italian soldiers in Nassiriya, Iraq, today quickly caused problems for the government being formed by Romano Prodi.

"This tragedy hits all of Italy," the prime minister-designate said in a statement.

Politically, it refocused Italy's antipathy to the war, which is strong even as the outgoing prime minister Silvio Berlusconi slowly withdrew troops on duty in Iraq from a peak of 3,200, to about 2,600 now.

Some coalition partners of Mr. Prodi urged an immediate withdrawal of the remainder.

"The right is using this serious episode of terrorism to justify the Italian military presence in Iraq," said Paolo Cento, a leader of the Green Party which is part of Mr. Prodi's coalition, "and therefore it is that much more opportune to arrive at a rapid withdrawal of the Italian military, not by the end of 2006 but even earlier." Vladimir Luxuria of the Reformed Communist Party — another coalition partner — also called for an immediate withdrawal, although its party leader, Fausto Bertinotti, said only that the attack "is one more reason to be against the war and terrorism."

Then to my friends the Dutch.

Dutch Minister of Defence Henk Kamp has warned that if Afghanistan becomes too dangerous for Dutch troops deployed there to continue their work, they should return home.

That's iron-spined leadership! But the Dutch MoD is full of that type.

There are some strong Dutch politicians of the strain of The Battle of Mill in '40 and The Battle of The Hague.

Hans van Balen is a member of parliament for the conservative-liberal VVD party. Although he accepts that the threat from the Taliban and al-Qaeda within Afghanistan is growing, he doesn't see that as a reason for the Dutch to withdraw from this mission:

"If we don't have a stable environment in Afghanistan, al-Qaeda and the Taliban can rearm, reinforce and threaten us. So things are not going very well […] but it's a reason to stay longer or at least to take that option seriously."

You can hear an interview with him here. BTW, I know he sounds soft from an American perspective, but for The Netherlands - this is Ahnuld stuff.

Forgetting history is one thing, flaunting it is another. They need to remember what most of the Muslim world thinks of Europe. They ain't helping.

Buy Pounds, sell Euros. Dollars? Heck, I don’t know, ask the Chinese and Gulf Arabs; they own us.

Keep shopping at Wal-Mart. Keep opposing ANWAR, wind farms, natural gas off VA and FL. Shut up and pay your gas card when you fill up. You have it cheap. Me? I need a slice of rhubarb pie.