I am not in the least bit surprised that the Americans are furious and bewildered by the churlish actions of France and Germany which are now threatening to destroy Nato. As has been pointed out, not only did hundreds of thousands of US servicemen, many of them little more than boys, die liberating Western Europe in the second world war, but American support for Nato during the Cold War and up till the present day has bestowed upon its beneficiaries a great deal more than a mere defence system.
Consider the vast amount of money America has poured into Europe. This has saved European governments from having to spend more themselves, thus freeing them up to give their peoples a better quality of life. In some respects, one could argue, that without America, Britain would not possess the massive tentacled National Health Service it has today. Perhaps in some ways this might not be such a bad thing, but for those members of the liberal intelligentsia who now so viciously attack Mr Bush, the NHS is a sacred cow whose existence without reform they savagely protect.
Having recently spent some time in America, I can also understand why its President and people feel betrayed and misunderstood. There is a general view in Europe that the President’s attitude towards the war is one of gung-ho irresponsibility, as if he were playing in a John Wayne movie with the Iraqis as the baddies, or trying to prove to dad what a hero he is.
Nothing could be further from the truth. If anything, Mr Bush has behaved with extreme caution – perhaps he has even delayed too long, giving the Muslims more time to train-up gullible young fanatics and suicide bombers. Although roughly 77 per cent or more of Americans favour war, they regard it as a moral necessity, not as an opportunity to show off to the world their butchness.
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