One thing which is not being talked about is who bells the cat? Which fortunate country will suppy the peacekeepers to keep Hitzbolah from the Israeli throat, and (inevitably) Israel from the Hitzbolah throat in response to too many missles.

The US is right out - for several reasons. Not only are US forces overly committed in Iraq and probably unpopular in south Lebanon - those are the obvious reasons.

There is something else going on as well. There has been a backlash in the US against the international system as it now exists; you can forget about US peacekeepers for a generation.

US Columnist Gerald Baker of the London Times wrote a column this spring titled 'Be careful what you ask for - You may get it!' which showed the problem. After the rage anti-US passion and overripe rhetoric which we have seen since 2001 from European and other circles, any US president would have to be an utter fool to get involved. Why take a risk with your soldiers lives (and inevitably be compared with Hitler and other forms of abuse) when you can just sit back and do nothing?

You think Bush is disengaged with Europe and the UN? Just watch. The EU controls the EU in the sense that little happens in the EU which the major EU powers don't approve of. You think the lesson has been lost on any potential US president? Think again. None of the major US contenders (McCain, Clinton, Mark Warner, Rudy Guliani, or the others) is a fool.

Bush isn't a fool either, but the European elites have repeated their stale Bush jokes so often they can't think any other way.

Anyway - the lesson for these non-fools is that only a fool can assume that European support for any action will last for more than a week or two. Figaro and Der Speigel will gin up the propoanda mill, covers will appear showing the Prez in cowboy boots and that will be that. Been there, done that, won't do it again. Don't need the Hitler comparisons, you know?

As Joerg wrote earlier in response to some US commenters - it's a serious thing calling someone a fascist in Germany. No shit?!!! It's a serious thing in the US also! But you did it anyway! By you I mean the 'clever ones' in the UK/France/Germany/Spain etc.

Want a patsy for Lebanon? Or Rwanda? Send Germans or Belgians.

You think the Dems will give you another Gore or Kerry as a nominee? Fat chance. They may do (they learn slowly sometimes) but the Republican will surely win in that case. Al and Big Jawn were the two most 'European' nominees you will see in your lifetime. Hilary Clinton is more likely - and she is one hard-headed woman.

If you want the US truly engaged in the UN - give up some of your monopoly on power at the UN. We've seen what a 'democracy of nations' means. It means the US gets a vote & Fidel (Ok, Raul) gets a vote. It means the US gets a vote - and the EU gets 15 (and now 25) votes.

The lesson has been driven home; the UN (or is that EN?) is where US Presidents go to get screwed. So they won't be going there for much of substance, just to follow empty forms. The real work will get done elsewhere....

"However, I thought the main lesson of 9/11 was that the US can't hide behind the Atlantic and the Pacific. You got to deal with international problems, whether the EU gives you a hard time or not. There is not time for whining."

Is that the lesson? There is plenty of time for whining - you see it every damn day. Endless whining about Guantamano Bay from the usual suspects in the EU and the UN - but I repeat myself!

There are plenty of lessons from 9/11. Lesson #1 is that when a Frenchman writes 'Today we are all Americans': that is precisely what he means. Today. Not tomorrow.

Lesson #2 is that the Germans behave similarly - just not as eloquently.

Lesson #3: Goethe, Zola, and Victor Huga are dead. Looonnnnggg dead, and dead not only in body but in spirit.

Lesson 4: The Europeans will obstruct in every way they possibly can while confessing their amazing nobility of soul all the while.

Lesson 5: Yankees are war criminals. There is no way out. Your choices are war criminal by commission (Afghanistan & Iraq), war criminal by omission (Rwanda), or both (Kosovo).