A close friend of mine is living in Poland with a bunch of college students who just love bashing W. I recieved an email circulating that was highly critical of W and the US mostly for our actions in the MidEast. You could tell it was thunk uped by some genius who was either A) a European Snob, or B) an American trying to bed A above.
I sent a reply back through the chain stating plain facts as you stated above except I added that Egypt looks to be moving in that direction as has the Palestinians, as have the Lebanese and Don't forget that Libya has opened up 100% more than a couple years ago. I think the reason that Europeans and Liberals are so upset is because the United States in spite of our many blunders has succeeded where there was no hope.
In retrospect, the Europeans are the main cause for all of the mess that is God's Monkeyhouse to begin with. The Brits in SW Asia, the French in N. Africa and everybody in Lebannon. Now it must be a really bitter pill to swallow to see that the mess they created is getting fixed by us backwards, hillbilly types who can barely speak from the tobacco juices flowing from our lips.
I have a British Prof who was telling me that he thought the US should get the heck out of the Middle East as soon as the Iraqi Elections are over (this was back in November). He did plainly state that if Bush didn't and things went badly, then he'd be as despised as Nixon and that if he did stick around and succeed, that he would be remembered as one of the world's great leaders in our time.
He now believes the latter, and is awestruck at how W pulled it off.
To tell you the truth, I kinda wonder how he did it myself. It was an incredible gamble, costed us billions, and some very dear, precious lives of true heroes (See Gratitude Post). I am left wondering, is it God, Is it Bush or is it lucky?
