United We Stand
By David Holcberg (The Echo, February 12, 2003)

The signing by eight European leaders--with the shameful exception of Germany and France--of an open letter supporting a United States war against Iraq was an act of justice and courage.

It was an act of justice because, despite rampant anti-American sentiment, these leaders recognized that due "in large part to American bravery, generosity and farsightedness, Europe was set free from the two forms of tyranny that devastated our continent in the 20th century: Nazism and communism."

It was an act of courage because, in defiance of "world opinion," they committed to disarm Saddam Hussein and to defend the values of "individual freedom [and] human rights" which are a hallmark of Western Civilization.