It seems like the good old days when long hair and Vietnam split our country apart. Police met 3,000 anti-war protesters in Colorado Springs with riot gear and tear gas, arresting a dozen in the process.

Fault lines have spread to Europe where French President Jaques Chirac cautioned the 13 candidates for membership in the European Union against supporting President Bush. France and Germany have befouled our plans for Iraq both as members of the United Nations and as NATO allies.

I suppose anytime you gather so many different countries, with their own cultures and languages agreement becomes virtually impossible. The fact remains, however, that without U.S. military power, the French would speak German and the Germans would speak Russian. And while their ingratitude is galling, they might not be so pompous when they’re all speaking Arabic.