I was really sad that Spain elected a communist socialist government. I mean, hasn't the failure of the socialist system been more than amply proven? Seriously, name a socialist country that isn't bankrupt or rife with monetary problems.

Perhaps more apropos to America's interests, it also means that Spain will be pulling out from the Coalition of the Willing unless we turn over control of Iraq to the UN. As that's remarkably akin to turning over a gas pump to a pyromaniac I seriously doubt that Dubya is going to go that route.

Spain pulling out of the only organized anti-terrorist coalition in the world really struck me as bad. I mean, the terrorists are definitely going to be looking at this as a win. They blew up some trains, murdered a whole bunch of people and scared the Spaniards enough that they elected the Appeasement Party. Al Qaeda and the rest of those scum are going to look at this as proof that their terror tactics work.

Then I started thinking about Spain. How bad is it really that they are withdrawing from the Coalition? They've got about 1,400 troops in Iraq. That's a nice gesture and it's appreciated. It's likely quite a large percentage of their armed forces. But in the long run does that really matter? 1,400 is not a hell of a lot when you're talking about forces as large as the American and British armies.

I guess it could be argued that they were valuable while the Coalition was forming. Europe as a whole is so into appeasement that it was a welcome and refreshing event to have Spain side with us. But were they really valuable even then? Did they bring anybody to the table? The rest of Old Europe didn't seem impressed by their choice and it's highly doubtful that Spain had any sort of influence with our East European supporters.

Okay, let's face it here. Spain is about as close to a non-entity as you can get in a nominally democratic state. What comes out of Spain? Do they even have an export? I can't recall ever seeing a "Made in Spain" label. The only thing I know for sure that has come out of Spain since WWI is Antonio Banderas. So okay, Spain's a nice place to vacation but that gives it as much world influence as the Bahamas.

So losing Spain really isn't such a big deal. In fact, the only country that would actually be a big loss would be Britain. Not only because they are providing military support that would be difficult for us to replace but because they are the only other Coalition member who's a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

Intermission:

Why the hell is France a permanent member of the UN Security Council anyway? They've been a military and economic non-entity since the end of the 1800's. Was this the consolation prize for getting their asses handed to them in successive European wars? Were we just sick of pulling their immobile carcass out of Germany's slavering maw and figured this would allow them to finally defend themselves?

I'm just saying...

Not that the UN is actually useful in any reasonable context any longer. It's sad. Very sad. Remember the League of Nations? It proved to be a fundamentally flawed organization that became untennable and was disbanded. The UN has proved to be likewise fundamentally flawed. The problem is its inclusive nature. We let anybody in. The most vile dictators and repressive regimes have equal standing with the world's most upstanding democracies. How can an organization that places Syria on their Security Council be anything more than a joke?

It's time to put the UN to rest and start up a new organization. We'll call it the League of Rational Nations. Founding members will be the USA, Britain, Australia, Israel and Japan. Others will be welcome but there's actually criteria to meet. If your citizens (all of them) don't enjoy the very basic freedoms due to humanity then you can't play. And if you become a member and some time in the future you have a bloody revolution and become a repressive dictatorship we'll kick your ass out. We'll boot you if you look to be a terrorist appeaser too.

Oh, yeah...one more basic item: You have to swear that your primary reason for being a member of the LRN isn't to pass resolutions against Israel.