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The Wall Street Journal March 8, 2005 COMMENTARY Italy Is No Spain By DANIEL B. JOHNSON March 8, 2005 Will Italy follow in Spain's footsteps and abandon the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq? Many have speculated that the Berlusconi government might buckle under the strain after an Italian intelligence agent was accidentally shot last week by American forces near Baghdad airport in a bungled hostage-rescue operation. The entire Italian political establishment turned out for yesterday's state funeral of the agent, Nicola Calipari, which became the occasion for an outpouring of grief, rage and thinly veiled anti-Americanism. He died protecting a hostage, the journalist Giuliana Sgrena, who had just been ransomed from a monthlong captivity in the hands of Islamist insurgents and was also wounded in the incident. Ms. Sgrena apparently intends to exploit her celebrity not to denounce the terrorists who kidnapped her, but those to whom she owes her liberation. Her ordeal has made her a heroine of the left not only in Italy but across Europe, especially in Germany and France. She insists that the American troops were under orders to kill her, and fired hundreds of bullets. Even though the known facts do not support her conspiracy theory, which is anyway inherently implausible, it is an article of faith for the European left that the Bush administration is capable of anything. Many Italians would rather believe a heroine like Ms. Sgrena than their own government, let alone the White House's assurances that this was just a "horrible accident." It may be true that Silvio Berlusconi is under greater political pressure to pull Italian troops out of Iraq than ever before. Despite the Berlusconi clan's vaunted media influence, Italian public opinion remains skeptical of the prime minister's staunch support for President George W. Bush. The fissiparous nature of Italian coalition politics means that governments can easily fall apart, even if a strong leader refuses to bow to opinion polls. Yet Mr. Berlusconi can weather this storm, and the Italians will soldier on in Iraq. One reason for optimism is that, though such a charismatic prime minister inevitably dominates the Italian scene when viewed from abroad, in fact there is much more to the Berlusconi government than its head. The English-speaking world still tends to see Italian politics as a kind of opera buffa, and Mr. Berlusconi is made to fit the stereotype of a stage villain. Comparisons with Mussolini, monstrously unfair as they are, spring readily to the minds of British journalists, especially on the left. Yet in my recent encounters with Italian ministers and other supporters of the government, I have been struck by their steely resolve to see Iraqi democracy through its birth pangs, and to win the wider war on terror. That firm resolution is based on a genuinely warm Atlanticism that derives both from gratitude for America's past generosity and the aspiration to emulate American success. There is one fundamental reason Mr. Berlusconi will not abandon Washington in the shameful way that the Spanish capitulated in the face of the Madrid bombings. Italy's postwar experience was quite different from Spain's, because Mussolini could not overshadow Italian politics in the way that Franco could in Spain -- and to some extent still does. Having shaken off fascism, many Italians voted with their feet for the American lifestyle and embraced American culture with greater enthusiasm than any other nation. This meant that Italian conservatives usually supported NATO and the U.S. Meanwhile in isolated postwar Spain, Franco's autocratic rule was preserved for another generation, making it difficult for an Atlanticist, liberal Right to thrive even after the dictator's death. The Berlusconi government is confident that it will not be delegitimized by its support for President Bush, whereas the Spanish government of Jos� Mar�a Aznar was more vulnerable to anti-Americanism. A notable example of how the Italian-American connection has buttressed the policy on Iraq is the deployment of no fewer than 30,000 Italian troops abroad in Afghanistan, Iraq and the Balkans. Until recently, Italian public opinion (with traumatic memories of Mussolini's disastrous imperial adventures) would never have supported such far-flung and controversial missions. But when last year dozens of Italian troops were killed in a terrorist attack, the national mood was clear: These men had not died in vain, but for the same things for which Italy too had once fought: freedom, democracy and independence. Defense Minister Antonio Martino is an unlikely candidate to have presided over this unprecedented international projection of Italian power. A former pupil of Milton Friedman, this charming, witty professor of economics looks as if he would be more at home in the lecture hall than on the battlefield. Yet Mr. Martino is exactly what the sclerotic military bureaucracy needed: While reducing the total numbers of troops, he has hugely increased their mobility and effectiveness. It is obvious that he is entirely at ease in the Anglosphere, but he is diplomatic on the subject of European integration, especially where it affects the future of NATO. Mr. Martino does not want to hand over ultimate control of his forces to a committee in Brussels. The basic difference between NATO and the emerging European defense force is that NATO has always been an alliance of sovereign nation states, whereas the raison d'etre of the European Union is the gradual amalgamation of sovereignty and the absorption of the nation state into a European federation. Mr. Martino will jealously guard his government's right to take a different stance on Iraq from that of France and Germany, for example. But it is hard to see how such divergences would be possible, once national forces are fully integrated into a European army. * * * Italy has come full circle since it began to fight for unity more than 150 years ago. Then, most of the important decisions that affected Italians were taken in Vienna, Paris or London -- not in Rome. Once Italy attained nationhood and independence, it struggled for the next century to find a system of government that suited its unique history. After trying a one-party state without democracy (the Fascists), a one-party state with democracy (the Christian Democrats), the last decade has seen something approaching a constitutional settlement that satisfies almost everybody. Yet at this very moment of hope, Italy has just handed over the keys to her independence by ratifying the European Constitution after a parliamentary debate of a mere two hours. Whatever the other implications of this event, one consequence is certain: In the future the important decisions that affect Italians will be taken, once again, in Brussels, Paris, Berlin -- not in Rome. Having taken the brave and honorable decision to stand by their American, British and Polish allies in Iraq, Messrs. Berlusconi and Martino may find that if any similar emergency should arise again, their hands are tied by Europe. As for Giuliana Sgrena: While she is clearly enjoying the media circus, launching a new career as a symbol of anti-Americanism from her hospital bed, perhaps Italians will reflect that her reporting from Iraq and, indeed, her rescue were made possible by the presence of U.S. forces in the first place. And if she had been an American journalist, she would almost certainly have had her throat cut. The Signora doth protest too much. Mr. Johnson is a journalist based in London. -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED]> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Take a look at donorschoose.org, an excellent charitable web site for anyone who cares about public education! http://us.click.yahoo.com/_OLuKD/8WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? 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