"You fight, we fight."

Last night my colleague and I went out with some of the people from the consulate. We started out in a beer garden next to the consulate. Then one of the folks from the consulate got a call from an Aussie friend, Dave, inviting us to meet up with some people at a bar in the Central Business District (CBD).

The bar we went to, the Deanery, was very much a meeting place for the professional set. Dave and his partner, Linda, are both attorneys. Two of their friends, Deborah and Victoria, are financial planners.

We embarked on the classic "pub crawl", having a drink at each spot before pressing on. Two or three bars later, we found ourselves in La La Land. The bar, not the mental state. It was a nice place, full of comfy couches and chairs.

Dave and I started to talk about the War on Terror. Now, as many of you know, I strongly support George Bush and the War on Terror. Dave does, too. I remarked how most Americans don't seem to realize how staunch an ally Australia is, fighting alongside us in every major conflict since WWII.

Dave said something that really stuck with me:

"You fight, we fight. We know that we're in this together."

Would that our European "allies" had such clarity of thought!