The Washington Times reports that Italians are turning out in force to protest Bush and coalition actions in Iraq. Let's have some fun with the Italians.

Tens of thousands of Italian anti-war demonstrators marched through central Rome amid tight security to protest President Bush's visit, many waving peace banners and calling for the pullout of Italian troops in Iraq.

Tens of thousands? Wow, doesn’t that sound like just a ton of Italians? Too bad that police estimates put the crowd at 25,000. That’d be 2 tens of thousands. Thanks, AP, for the hysterical headline.

Most Italians opposed the Iraq war. Berlusconi, however, insisted that the cause was just, and his government sent 3,000 troops to help rebuild Iraq after Saddam Hussein's ouster.

"The war in Iraq was launched on the basis of mistaken assumptions and it's useless that Italy, with its little contingent, be there at America's side," said Luca Galassi, a 33-year-old student with a rainbow-colored peace flag around his waist.

We’ll see how useless Galassi thinks it is when Islamofascist terrorists continue to go after low hanging fruit, i.e., terror targets in Spain, Italy, Greece, etc. Also, a 33-year old student? Isn’t it time to grow up and get a job honey?

Bush arrived Friday to mark the 60th anniversary of the Allied liberation of Rome and to meet with Italian leaders and Pope John Paul II. He was to leave Saturday for Paris.

Critics questioned whether Americans should still be called "liberators" decades after World War II.

"Their credit as liberators was lost in Vietnam," 40-year-old Mario Bucci said.

Hmmm…well, I personally question whether Italy should still be called a “liberated” country rather than a conquered one. I seem to recall some guy named Mussolini and that the Axis consisted of Germany, Japan and Italy.

So, yeah, Mario, don’t call us your liberators. Call us your conquerors. That has a much better ring to it anyway.

"It's difficult to forget that the world would be different if 60 years ago, this great international alliance of forces hadn't formed against Nazism," said Romano Prodi, the European Commission president and a top opposition Italian leader, who visited an Allied cemetery outside Bologna.

Really? Seems like lots of Europeans have no difficulty in forgetting. Nice way to put the emphasis on international alliance of forces. Keep in mind that U.S and UK forces accounted for 85% of the troops invading France on D-Day and so really, the US, UK and Soviet Union defeated these forces of evil. The coalition back then was no bigger than it is in Iraq now. Funny how few countries show up when the job gets tough, isn’t it?