Irony in Europe

Claude Salhani:

Talk about the irony of ironies, on his European tour U.S. President George W. Bush was met with protests in Christian countries and greeted as a liberator in Europe's largest Muslim nation.
During his recent tour last week of several European venues that included Rome, the Vatican, Prague, and the G8 summit in Germany, the president, an ardent Christian, was received at times by massive demonstrations staged mostly by youths protesting his presence -- and his policies -- in those very Christian cities and countries.
Yet it was Muslim Albania -- the largest Muslim country of Europe (not counting Eurasia's Turkey of course) -- that reserved the warmest welcome for the American president.
Dogged by protests for much of his tour, Mr. Bush received a warmer welcome Sunday in Albania, a former xenophobic Stalinist country now eager to show it remains one of the staunchest U.S. allies in Europe.
Albania transitioned from communist rule between 1990 and 1992, putting an end to 46 years of isolation and establishing a multiparty democracy. The transition to democracy was not easy. The country had to cope with political instability as successive governments tried to deal "with high unemployment, widespread corruption, a dilapidated physical infrastructure, powerful organized crime networks and combative political opponents," according to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.
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Those were not Christians rioting in the streets of Europe. There is an excellent chance they have never been inside a church. Attendance at church services in Europe is less than 10 percent in some countries.

While I am happy about the grand reception in Albania, it si a country prone to excess. Fortunately this time it is own our side. During the Cold War when it was ruled by communist it was the most repressive state in Europe. Perhaps the communist needed to do that to repress the democratic yearnings of the people. I am just glad that some Muslims have shown their gratitude for what we have done to save them in Europe. Perhaps someday that will also happen in the Middle East, unless the Democrats get their way and impose a defeat on us in Iraq.