Provided by Joe Galloway, author of We Were Soldiers and is an item of
possible interest.

This one is definitely NOT tongue in cheek. Sig, the author, was a
teen-aged Marine who marched an fought as a rifleman to and from the
Chosin reservoir in Korea in 1950. He switched to the Army, and served
as a Special Forces officer in Vietnam. After Vietnam he joined the CIA,
and went back to Korea.

He's been there, done that, and has some specific thoughts on countries
that don't "like" us.
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If you aren't interested in the ramblings of an old man, please delete
now. If you're still there, pull up a chair and listen.

Is there anyone else out there who's sick and tired of all the polls
being taken in foreign countries as to whether or not they "like" us?
The last time I looked, the word "like" had nothing to do with foreign
policy. I prefer 'respect' or 'fear'. They worked for Rome, which
civilized and kept the peace in the known world a hell of a lot longer
than our puny two centuries-plus.

I see a left-wing German got elected to office recently by campaigning
against the foreign policy of the United States. Yeah, that's what I
want, to be lectured about war and being a "good neighbor" by a German.
Their head honcho said they wouldn't take part in a war against Iraq.
Kind of nice, to see them taking a pass on a war once in while. Perhaps
we needed to have the word "World" in front of War. I think it's time
to bring our boys home from Germany. Outside of the money we'd save,
we'd make the Germans "like" us a lot more, after they started paying
the bills for their own defense.

Last time I checked, France isn't too fond of us either. They sort of
liked us back on June 6th, 1944, though, didn't they? If you don't think
so, see how nicely they take care of the enormous American cemeteries up
above the Normandy beaches. For those of you who've studied history, we
also have a few cemeteries in places like Belleau Woods and Chateau
Thierry also.

For those of you who haven't studied it, that was from World War One,
the first time Europe screwed up and we bailed out the French. That's
where the US Marines got the title 'Devil Dogs' or, if you still care
about what the Germans think, "Teufelhunde". I hope I spelled that
right; sure wouldn't want to offend anyone, least of all a German.

Come to think of it, when Europe couldn't take care of their Bosnian
problem recently, guess who had to help out there also. Last time I
checked, our kids are still there. I sort of remember they said they
would be out in a year. Gee, how time flies when you're having fun.

Now we hear that the South Koreans aren't too happy with us either. They
"liked" us a lot better, of course, in June, 1950. It took more than
50,000 Americans killed in Korea to help give them the lifestyle they
currently enjoy, but then who's counting? I think it's also time to
bring the boys home from there.

There are about 37,000 young Americans on the DMZ separating the South
Koreans from their "brothers" up North. Maybe if we leave, they can
begin to participate in the "good life" that North Korea currently
enjoys. Uh huh. Sure.

I also understand that a good portion of the Arab/Moslem world now
doesn't "like" us either. Did anyone ever sit down and determine what we
would have to do to get them to like us? Ask them what they would like
us to do. Die?.

Commit ritual suicide? Bend over? Maybe we should follow the advice of
our dimwitted, dullest knife in the drawer, Senator Patty Murray, and
build more roads, hospitals, day care centers, and orphanages like Osama
bin Laden does.

What with all the orphans Osama has created, the least he can do is
build some places to put them. Senator Stupid says if we would only
"emulate" Osama, the Arab world would love us.

Sorry Patty; in addition to the fact that we already do all of those
things around the world and have been doing them for over sixty years, I
don't take public transportation, and I certainly wouldn't take it with
a bomb strapped to the guy next to me.

Don't get me wrong: I'm not in favor of going to war. Been there, done
that. Several times, in fact. But I think we ought to have some polls in
this country about other countries, and see if we "like" THEM. Problem
is, if you listed the countries, not only wouldn't the average American
know if he liked them or not, he wouldn't be able to find them. If we're
supposed to worry about them, how about them worrying about us?

We were nice to the North Koreans in 1994, as we followed the policies
of Neville Clinton. And it seemed to work; they didn't re-start nuclear
weapons program for a whole year or so. In the meantime, we fed them
when they were starving, and put oil in their stoves when they were
freezing.

In a recent visit to Norway, I engaged in a really fun debate with my
cousin's son, a student at a Norwegian University. I was lectured to by
this thankless squirt about the American "Empire", and scolded about
dropping the atomic bomb on the Japanese. I reminded him that empires
usually keep the stuff they take; we don't, and back in 1945 most
Norwegians thought dropping ANY kind of bomb on Germany or Japan was a
good idea. I also reminded him that my uncle, his grandfather, and
others in our family spent a significant time in Sachsenhausen
concentration camp, courtesy of the Germans, and they didn't all
survive. I further reminded him that if it wasn't for the "American
Empire" he would probably be speaking German or Russian.

Sorry about the rambling, but I just took an unofficial poll here at our
house, and we don't seem to like anyone.