I read an article in the Buenos Aires newspaper Clarin by an expert on modern European politics (Timothy Garton Ash) which was translated from the original english version.

The theme of Si Kerry cumple, Europa sonreirá (Let's rock the boat) regards John Kerry's desire to take America in a different direction.

I'll start off by saying that it's funny how the Argentine newspaper has a totally different headline. Theirs translates to "If Kerry Wins, Europe Will Smile". The subheading of "Let's Rock the Boat" is Europeans should be cautious recruits to a President Kerry's war on terrorism. The Clarin version of course cuts out the first several paragraphs of the article which sets the tone for the original, including a the words of a son comforting his father who thinks he's about to die aboard United flight 175.

What I found most intriguing about the article though, was the following:

All American leaders think we are at war; most European leaders think we are still at peace.

If Europe has any wisdom at all, we should start thinking now about how we answer this Democratic challenge. Our answer should be, "Yes, so long as _ " Yes, so long as you rededicate yourself to a peace process between Israel and Palestine. So long as you recognise that Iraq has to be embedded into a much larger project of reform and development in the broader Middle East, which America and Europe can only achieve together. So long as you deliver on your promises to develop alternative energy technologies, address your own excessive carbon dioxide emissions, come back to the international treaties and institutions that the Bush administration abrogated and scorned.

We're all in the same boat, too, and we want to be. However, before skipper Kerry pulls the throttle, we have to agree not just the rules of engagement but who exactly the enemy is and what creek we're up.

Kerry voters, if you think that Europe is going to bend over backwards for him and send their sons to their deaths just becuase he's not Bush, you've got another thing coming. Remember these are the same lovely people that cheer the free Afghanis and Iraqis at the Olympics and temper their cheers for the people that freed them....and cheer the athletes of the non-existent Palestine, while ignoring the Israelis whose athletes were murdered by Palestinians at the same Olympic Games not 30 years ago.