Italy Keeps Troops in Iraq

Fire of Liberty

While the MSM (mainstream media) and the left squawked on and on about President Bush's Coalition of the Willing failing apart with Italy announcing a withdrawal of its 3,000 troops from Iraq, they failed to notice that Prime Minister Berlusconi had been misunderstood in the press. According to this piece in The Times, the PM-in the same manner as most members of the coalition in Iraq have expressed-hoped that the situation in Iraq would improve to the point that the forces could withdrawal by September but pointed out that their was no set date for the Italian forces to leave Iraq. Such a retraction has wrought a considerable amount of flak from the opposition left and the Italian press, who have either accused him of playing political games or just indecisive.

Could it just be that the PM realized that a show of a national resolve is a more powerful tool in combating Islamic terror/extremism and that a true leader performs at his best when he acts on principle. Maybe Signor Berlusconi and his staff read this scathing Leader in The Times and had a change of heart which put some steel into Italy's resolve. Whatever the reason, I'm glad that the Italian forces have decided to stay and fight the good fight.