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Republicans like Dennis Hastert were ranting yesterday about the Spaniards. "Here's a country who stood against terrorism and had a huge terrorist act within their country," Mr. Hastert said, "and they chose to change their government to, in a sense, appease terrorists."
The Republicans prefer to paint our old ally as craven rather than accept the Spanish people's judgment — which most had held since before the war — that the Iraq takeover had nothing to do with the war on terror.
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During a photo-op with Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende of the Netherlands on Tuesday, Mr. Bush did his "Beavis and Butthead" snigger as a Dutch reporter noted that most of his countrymen want to withdraw Dutch troops from Iraq because they think the conflict "has little to do with the war against terrorism, and may actually encourage terrorism." (Uh-oh, looks like no tulips on the Capitol grounds this spring.)
"I would ask them," the president replied, "to think about the Iraqi citizens who don't want people to withdraw because they want to be free."
Now that he hasn't found any weapons, Mr. Bush says the war was worth it so Iraqis could experience democracy. But when our allies engage in democracy, some Republicans mock them as lily-livered.
The Republicans treat John Kerry as disdainfully as they do the European allies who have disappointed the White House, painting him as a French-looking dude who went to a Swiss boarding school, as an effete Brahmin who would rather cut intelligence and military spending than face down terrorists.
The election is shaping up as a contest between Pride and Prejudice.
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