NATO Head Says U.S. Right on Terrorism

Well, well, well. It didn't take long, did it, after the murder of Theo van Gogh, for a Dutchman, who happens to be SecGen of NATO, to admit that the United States is not only right but in the right on combatting international terrorism. In fact, according to the New York Times article quoted at Power Line, the SecGen actually spoke of "merging external and internal security." Actually, the Times article goes further: that European SecGen now admits that the Europeans did not even fully appreciate that the civilized world had a very serious problem until recently.

The Times describes the SecGen as one who has supported the Bush administration's position in the past and managed not to make too many enemies in Europe itself while doing it. So perhaps his comments are a collection of "I-told-you-so's"--all richly deserved, I might add. But that alone doesn't explain why he so openly stated that the Europeans must all but apologize to the United States for doubting either the seriousness of the problem or the rectitude of the American response to it.

I can explain it with one name: Theo van Gogh. The murder was bad enough. Seeing Den Haag, the vaunted "international city," the very seat of the International Court of Justice, turned into a shooting gallery must surely have been the final straw. Obviously this NATO SecGen is no fool. I predict with ninety-five-percent confidence that the Dutch will privately seethe at his remarks but will say nothing, because they know he's right.