The wisdom of President Bush (news - web sites)'s upcoming war against Iraq (news - web sites) is arguable. So may be some of his anti-terrorism tactics. But there should be no argument about condemning these two turncoat countries whose governments are thumbing their noses at us over those two issues:
* France, which threatens to use its veto in the United Nations (news - web sites) Security Council over Iraq. That veto power is undeserved, because France was a World War II wimp.
* The Philippines, which refuses to let our combat troops in to hunt down the terrorists it is harboring. That despite this week's bombing at a Philippine airport that killed 21, including a missionary from the U.S.
Muscle-flexing over the Iraq debate by once-superpower Russia and wannabe-superpower China is no surprise. Both pine to be power brokers. We simply need to understand from whence they came and where they want to go and especially that they helped us win World War II.
But France and the Philippines now telling us to shove it? A history lesson is in order.
France laid down its arms just 44 days after Hitler's invasion in 1940. We and our allies freed them four years later. The cost included 30,426 U.S. WWII troops buried under small white crosses on French soil.
The Philippines fell within six months of the Japanese invasion in 1941. We freed the country three years later. The cost included 17,206 U.S. servicemen and servicewomen buried in Manila's American Cemetery. Nearby, marbled walls carry rows of names of 36,280 U.S. troops missing in action in that area.
This nose-thumbing by the French and Filipinos may have many of my buddies in our 86th Infantry Division, which served in both Europe and the Pacific in WWII, returning the gesture from their graves.
-Al Neuharth
