[monkeywrench]

You're absolutely right! It's the leftisits in all our midsts that are causing the dissension. We need to recognize that there are people with the same conservative values we hold dear in other countries, even if the media would say otherwise.

The media has been fanning the flames. Our President and the Italian govt. know this.

[familyop]

There was also the case of the anti-American "two Simonas." I wonder how much ransom money in total Italy has given so far.

"Rome denies it paid ransom"
BY DANIEL WILLIAMS / The Associated Press
Excerpt:
"Foreign Minister Franco Frattini attributed the release of Simona Pari and Simona Torretta to "all the good things Italy has done" in Iraq. But hours earlier, the head of parliament's foreign affairs committee and a member of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia party said flatly that money "was paid."

"It was right because the life of the two girls was more important than money," lawmaker Gustavo Selva told reporters. "In principle, we shouldn't give into blackmail, but this time we had to, although it's a dangerous path. I think it was paid by the intelligence services."

As corroborated in other reports: "Italian Officials Dispute Reports of Ransom Government Says It Didn't Pay to Free Aid Workers"
By Daniel Williams
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, September 30, 2004; Page A18