Albania stands with U.S. in Iraq

This is an article sure to turn the stomachs of leftists, terrorist supporters and appeasers and the rest of those that want to Iraqi democracy fail. Fatos Tarifa, the Albanian Ambassador to the US, tells why Albania stands with the US in Iraq. The good Ambassador reminds all that the US has always been on the side of freedom.

"Unlike people in other countries in Europe and elsewhere, the Albanian people have not forgotten what it is like to live under tyranny and repression. The Albanians for more than 40 years were held in thrall by the repressive forces of the communists, living like prisoners without rights in their own country. It was to the United States that freedom-loving Albanians looked for inspiration during those dark years, and the Americans have not let us down.

"We Albanians are a nation of freedom fighters who know something about living under oppression," Albanian Prime Minister Fatos Nano wrote in a letter to President Bush. "That is why we wholeheartedly support the American-led effort to free the people of Iraq. And though we are a small country with a small military, we are proud to stand side by side with our allies in the fight to end the reign of terror in Baghdad." "

Albania has sent some 120 of the Special Forces troops to Iraq. Remember that the population of Albania is something like 4 million. The Ambassador further reminds us that if it were not for the US, where would Europe be now?

"Although it is not fashionable to talk about it, the face of Europe would indeed be much different today were it not for the Americans who died storming the Normandy beaches.
Were it not for the Americans, there is a good chance there would be no France, nor a United Kingdom nor a Belgium, as we know them today. Were it not for the United States it also is very possible no Balkan countries would be free.

Upon committing Albania to the Coalition of the Willing, Prime Minister Nano urged his fellow European leaders to visit Normandy "to see for themselves what the United States has been willing to undertake in the name of freedom. We should all visit Normandy. We should pay homage to those brave Americans who stormed ashore at Omaha Beach and gave their lives for the freedom of others. The wonder of it is that the Americans are willing to do it again," Mr. Nano said.

And of course, it was the U.S.-led effort of NATO to rein in Serbian dictator Slobodan Milosevic and his ethnic cleansing campaign in Kosovo that proved to the world that, in the name of freedom, the United States was willing to fight for the freedom of the oppressed, regardless of religious belief."

It is refreshing to hear some one in Europe acknowlege that Europe would indeed be have had a much different future had the US decided not to come to the aid of Europe twice in the last century. Tarifa concludes with this:

"The difference between the United States and the Islamic terrorists is this: The terrorists export death. The Americans export freedom.

The surprise is not in Albania's decision to send more troops to fight for freedom in Iraq. The surprise would have been if Albania did not. "

If only more of our European allies understood this, they might be able to see past the Euros and understand that there is no cost too high to spread freedom to the people of this planet. - Sailor