THESE ARE THE YEARS THAT WERE HARD FOUGHT AND WON
And how about that John Howard sweeping to victory in Australia despite his support for President Bush's Iraq policy. Funny how news reports before the election warned that he was in trouble because Australia was in the unilateral, go-it-alone-coalition with the United States. After his victory, we are told Iraq wasn't that big a deal in Australia. And Peter Garrett was elected to the Australian parliament. As Peter once said, "We can dive into distant amoebas, Our wings could melt in the sun."

And, finally free elections in Afghanistan, the Vietnam-like quagmire the left warned us about before we took Khandahar. The United States and it's coalition partners (yes, even "old Europe") made it work. Let's hope it continues to do so. Gotta keep enjoying those hats and capes.