What happened to, "If you're not with us, you're against us"?

President Bush talked a good talk, right after the 9-11 terrorists attacks. But, when it comes right down to making good on his promises, he just makes excuses.

In particular, it was recently uncovered that the Italian Red Cross aided and abetted terrorists, behind the backs of the US and that they did so with the knowledge of the Italian government. Specifically, they hid four terrorists, who had been wounded by US soldiers, smuggled them through US checkpoints to a hospital and treated their injuries, in a deal to secure the return of two Italian aid workers. The Italian government agreed with the decision to keep the US in the dark.

Here we have a country and an organization who both aided and abetted terrorists. This is a perfect example of the "against us" that Dubya spoke of. But, what do we get from his administration, when asked about the situation? A State Department spokesman simply dodged the question and ended by saying that Rome and Washington were "close friends".

Both France and Germany have shown that they are also "against us" and with the terrorrists, but it has been primarily by their words and inaction, rather than their action, that they showed their true colors. In this case, Italy knew what the Italian Red Cross was doing and went along with it.

Italy has now positively demonstrated that they are "against us" and with the terrorists. So, when is Dubya going to make good on his implied threat?

I suggest that you don't hold your breath, while you wait. Dubya will talk the talk, but he won't walk the walk. He stumbled onto doing the right thing, when he attacked Iraq. He is more than willing to hold firm on his promise not to meet with a few leftist war protesters, but when we have a so-called ally, who turns out to be covertly aiding and abetting terrorists, he suddenly forgets his previous statements.

As for me, although I intend to send support to the victims of Hurricane Katrina, I will not send my donation via the Red Cross, (even the American Red Cross). That's because neither the American Red Cross nor the Intenational Red Cross have even issued a letter condemning the shameful actions of the Italian Red Cross. Instead, from now on, when I want to donate to help disaster victims, I will do so through one of the local churches that is sending aid independently. I suggest that you do the same, since the Red Cross has finally lost their last vestage of neutrality. Besides, more of your donation should reach the actual victims, if you donate through a local church.

Just remember that it's not just the Red Cross. It's the Italian government, too. But, don't expect Dubya to hold them accountable. He needs to change his slogan to, "If you're not with us, we don't care".