What can we do in the face of such a profound lack
of honesty, morality or even decency? How can we
work constructively with those for whom evidence
only matters when it supports their prejudices?

What shall we make of those who would let millions
die at the hands of tyrantswhile accusing America
of aggression for opposing the killers?

The short answer is: Not much. In the longer term,
though, we must accept the fact that states such
as France and Germany have declined to the
mentality of yesteryear´s Mexico, blaming the
United States for all their failures and defining
themselves not in positive terms, but merely as
the anti-America.

We must accept, from today onward, that America
shall often need to act alone or with a handful of
courageous allies. Increasingly, we will need to
do that which we recognize as strategically and
morally necessary, disregarding those states, in
Europe and elsewhere, that weep so readily for the
dead while caring so little for the living.

We must accept the world´s jealousy as a given and
must not become distracted by attempts to placate
European racists who refuse to set high standards
for governance in developing states. Indeed,
nothing so abets tyranny and oppression today as
French and German condescension toward black,
brown or yellow populations - and their unspoken
conviction that nonwhites remain inferior.

When Robert Mugabe, the Stalin of Zimbabwe, is
welcome in Paris, while the French government
takes pains to insult Colin Powell, you have a
very clear illustration of the ethics of French
diplomacy. The current wave of jokes about the
French are ill-judged only in the sense that the
French impulse toward racial totalitarianism is no
laughing matter. Ask the populations of Ivory
Coast or Rwanda. Or Algeria. Or of the brown and
black suburbs of Paris.

Of course, sincere allies will always be welcome
in this new century of struggle between
post-modern freedoms and the bankrupt
sur-realpolitik of Paris and Berlin. And we must
distinguish, of course, between Europe´s
freedom-loving frontier states, either on the
Atlantic periphery or in the east, and the
twilight states of "Old Europe."

Our natural allies are those who either have
pioneered democracy, such as Britain, or who have
struggled long and hard for their freedom -
Poland, Hungary, Spain and so many others who
suffered under Communism or fascism.

Saddam looks very different to a Romanian or
Latvian than he does to a German or a Frenchman.
The Frenchman sees a tantalizing business
proposition, while, as a friend of mine serving in
the Gulf remarked, "The Germans can´t help loving
Saddam. He´s a dictator with a mustache . . ."

Beyond Europe, America´s efforts to face down
tyrants are resisted by -surprise! - tyrants. The
United Nations never had the strategic relevance
its partisans insist Washington´s liberation of
Iraq will destroy. We should not seek to harm the
U.N., but we cannot prevent it from slashing its
own wrists.

We Americans can expect neither gratitude,
understanding nor support from the baroque regimes
of France, Germany and their fellow travelers.
Chancellor Schroeder? Bill Clinton without the
moral fiber. President Chirac? The mouth of de
Gaulle, the soul of Petain, and the morals of a
pimp. Humanitarian Belgium? Yeah, just ask the
Congolese. The European anti-war movement?
Necrophiliacs licking the corpse of Josef Stalin.

Europeans will always be willing to weep over the
dead. The United Statesmust take a stand for the
living. In Iraq. And beyond.