CENTRAL VIEW for Monday, April 5, 2004

An Open Letter to the "Old Europe."

The following letter illustrates why it would never do for this observer to serve as President of the United States. This is what I would write to certain leaders of the “Old Europe.”

Dear Sirs or Madam:

It case you haven’t noticed, World War III is now in full swing. Young American men and women are fighting against the forces of darkness and evil that are determined to destroy Western Civilization. Thus far, we Americans have endured and continue to endure more than our fair share of losses.

So now, I think it is time for you to step up and shoulder your responsibilities in the War against Terror. Frankly, I thought when you witnessed the loss of over 3,000 lives on September 11, 2001, that you would get the picture. Evidently, some of you are still clueless as to the danger that Western Civilization faces at the dawn of the 21st Century.

But let’s review some 20th Century European history. In 1914, when a Serbian assassin killed the heir to the Austrian throne, you Europeans let a war mobilization race spin out of control resulting in World War I. Your folly managed to kill off an entire generation – mostly young Brits and Germans. Only when we Americans came to your rescue was the fighting ended. That war cost us 320,710 killed and wounded.

If you European leaders had shown any testicular fortitude (AKA cojones), you could have called Hitler’s bluff when he invaded the Sudetenland in 1938. That could have avoided World War II and the murder of over 6 million Jews. World War II cost America 1,079,162 killed and wounded.

Following World War II, much of Europe, to include the Balkan and Baltic nations, ended up under Soviet communist dictatorship. Once again, it fell to the United States to stand tall against the USSR’s announced goal of world domination. The Korean War cost us 140,200 killed and wounded, and the Vietnam War another 211,556. The Cold War lasted until President Ronald Reagan engineered the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet economy.

But wait, there’s more. After the Cold War, you once again let the situation in the Balkans (the former Yugoslavia) get out of hand with ethic groups waging genocide upon each other. And, once again, America and its largely U.S-funded NATO allies had to impose a fragile peace on the Balkans. The U.N. was of zero help. Ironically, the Muslims we saved thanked us by cheering when Muslim extremists killed over 3,000 Americans on September 11, 2001. Our troops are still in Kosovo and Bosnia.

So, why do we still carry most of the burden? Because we have no other choice. You think making nice-nice with the terrorists will make them leave you alone. Hello. You tried to appease Adolph Hitler and look what that got you.

We know retreating to a Fortress America will not provide the security we need. We are a maritime trading nation that must have freedom of the seas, freedom of the air and the freedom to move safely throughout the world if we are to maintain the standard of living that is the envy of the world.

Our strategy is to root to out the terrorist in places where you are too chicken to root them out yourselves. Sometimes, we wonder if your vaunted culture is worth saving. Other than some good beer and wine about all you have going for you are some art works left over from the Renaissance. Actually, if you had stood up to the Barbarians in the first place, you wouldn’t have been plunged into the Dark Ages and needed to have a Renaissance.

But don’t worry. We’ll save your sorry backsides again. Not because we want to. But because we have no other choice.

(signed) The President of the United States

[Casualty figures are from the 2004 World Almanac and Book of Facts.]

William Hamilton, a nationally syndicated columnist and featured commentator for USA Today, is the co-author of The Grand Conspiracy and The Panama Conspiracy – novels about terrorist attacks on Colorado’s water supply and on the Panama Canal, respectively.

©2004. William Hamilton.

Dr. Hamilton can be contacted at:

Email: william@central-view.com