Belgium (along with France) can "Piss Off"

Weekly Standard writer Paul Belien has an article about Beligium's latest anti-American salvo. In the offices of Belgium's Vice Prime Minister, the urinals are decorated with stickers that show an American flag and the head of George W. Bush saying, "Go ahead. Piss on me."

While I typically care less about the lives of Belgians than I do about the lives of dust mites, I think this is an obvious slap in the face to both our President and the U.S. as a whole. It's unfortunate that Bush didn't drop his drawers while speaking in Belgium and piss on Prime Minister Verhofstadt.

Or, instead of his speech, Bush should have read the following letter (thanks to Powerline for posting it) from Stephen Ambrose's "Band of Brothers." The letter is written by Corporal Walter Gordon, who was paralyzed in brutal front-line combat at Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge. Gordon wrote the letter to the Mayor of Eindhoven in 1991 upon reading that the Eindhoven mayor refused to meet with General Schwarzkopf because, as general of the forces that participated in the Gulf War, Schwarzkopf "had too much blood on his hands."

Gordon's letter is as follows:

"On September 17, 1944 I participated in the large airborne operation which was conducted to liberate your country. As a member of company E, 506th PIR [parachute infantry regiment], I landed near the small town of Son. The following day we moved south and liberated Eindhoven. While carrying out our assignment, we suffered casualties. That is war talk for bleeding. We occupied various defense positions for over two months. Like animals, we lived in holes, barns, and as best we could. The weather was cold and wet. In spite of the adverse conditions, we held the ground we had fought so hard to capture.

The citizens of Holland at that time did not share your aversion to bloodshed when the blood being shed was that of the German ocupiers of your city. How soon we forget. History has proven more than once that Holland could again be conquered if your neighbor, the Germans, are having a dull weekend and the golf links are crowded.

Please don't allow your country to be swallowed up by Liechtenstein or the Vatican as I don't plan to return. As of now, you are on your own."

In addition to Belgium, I can think of a few other countries that would do well to be reminded of that message also.