Last Chance Cafe

This is only an update, you can read the original post here. According to the Wall Street Journal today (subscribers), Paul Krugman was "taken for a ride," or more likely took us for a ride when he went off about Poland's lack of enthusiasm in Iraq. It seems like the French press, after badgering the Polish President in a news conference, took his quotes out of context in reporting them at home (which would be France), and then in the English translation spun them some more. It seems that the Poles were not actually misled by the Bush administration, they were misled by Saddam. As were we all. And Krugman was misled by himself, or was/is a liar. Take your pick.

The rest of the anti-Bush pack was no less tin-eared about the false translation. America's antiterror coalition was crumbling, they said, linking the misquote with an earlier -- unrelated -- comment by Mr. Kwasniewski that Poland's 2,400 troops might come home from Iraq a few months earlier than planned next year. So Spain goes soft, and now so does another American ally, Poland, their readers were asked to believe.

Somehow, no one bothered to ask, or report, what Mr. Kwasniewski really meant. Later, the president noted that Britain, Spain and, yes, America were misled, too -- by Saddam Hussein, who lied about his weapons programs for years. As for the troops in Iraq, they might get home earlier since the transition might be finished earlier. The Poles won't go home a day sooner than the job is done, Mr. Kwasniewski told President Bush by phone Friday. And in a jab at Spain's incoming prime minister, who does want to cut and run in Iraq, the Polish leader noted that "apparent weakness in the face of terror" threatens security of all Western democracies.

Other good news is that Spain is working overtime to catch the bastards that did the deed, and trust me; you don't want to be arrested in Spain. For all the whinging that goes on about Gitmo, these guys, and anyone else for that matter, can be held for up to four years on less evidence than it takes to get arrested in this country. As the new government will find out, just because it got elected on an appeasement policy, doesn't mean it can govern that way. It may well turn out that it will have to prove itself far more than did Aznar's.

Also, the EU is using serious pressure on member and proposed member states to adopt tough new anti-terrorism laws, which include trade sanctions and loss of financial aid. It is also sounding more belligerent militarily.

So, bottom line, Poland is solid, Spain is learning, the EU is showing some balls, France still wants to ban headscarves and Krugman is still a jerkoff. Oh yeah, and Israel has killed the leader of Hamas. All in all, not a bad week's work.