Frida Ghitis, writing in the Miami Herald, reports on the widespread good will toward the United States she has found in Italy. In my experience, Italians do indeed appreciate the United States far more than most other Western Europeans (however, many of the Eastern Europeans outdo even the Italians, in this regard).

From one end of Italy to another, I have heard little more than positive feelings for Americans. The warmth clearly does not extend to America's government or to much of its foreign policy, but the personal feelings show a yearning for renewed closeness.

In conversations cobbled together from the rudimentary English of the Amalfitanos and the distinctly inferior Italian skills of this particular traveler, what came across was a sense of the power that America still holds on the imagination of the Old World. In many ways, America remains an ideal, a dream. Young people and old had the same glint in their eye when they talked about America with a broad smile on their face.

Andreas Pellegrino drives the coastal bus route that simply refuses to believe in gravity. As I gazed in barely contained terror at that 90—degree drop leading straight to the rocky sea far below, Andreas continued our conversation, excitedly telling everyone on the bus that I came from America.

Maneuvering a huge steering wheel while seated under the large sign ''please do not talk to driver,'' he told me about his visit to Texas. The considered opinion of a man living on one of the most beautiful spots on earth: ''Dallas? Bellissima!'' He described to the older lady on the bus the large cowboy hats he saw and the strange Tex—Mex food he ate. Joining our chat, the lady turned to me and said, ``Nuova York é bellissima a Natale, no?'' Yes, New York is beautiful during Christmas.

Today only a few of the many anti—war rainbow flags with the word Pace (peace) still adorn the windows of Italian homes. During a visit a couple of years ago, I saw them everywhere. Although the Italian government is one of Washington's staunchest supporters in the war, millions here still believe that the war was a mistake.

History will note that acrimony over the Iraq war marked the beginning of a new relationship between Europe and the United States. The two sides of the Atlantic will not always walk in lockstep, but their paths will not diverge very far. Today's disagreements have nerve endings beyond politics, bringing pain to the people on both sides, like a quarrel between relatives. There's a reason for that.

Not far from the Duomo Sant'Andrea, a statue at the entrance to Amalfi honors Flavio Gioia, the local adventurer credited here with inventing the mariners' compass, which made it possible, as the nearby plaque says, to discover America. American culture is still, to a large degree, European culture. And America, to many Europeans, remains a young member of the family.

I suspect her location in Amalfi has something to do with it. A friend's daughter who is studying at the University of Bologna (Bologna has been a Communist stronghold for decades) encounters the pervasive belief that Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 911 (which vitually everyone there has seen) perfectly describes the reality of American policy.

Of course, Italians are so charming that even those who are left wing moonbats do not seem as abrasive as Moore or Katrina ven den Heuvel.

Thomas Lifson  12 22 04