Our friend and occasional contributor Stefania Lapenna, who blogs at Free Thoughts, reports from Italy that the latest polling shows that Italians are regarding the recently defeated Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in a better light. Conservative Berlusconi was an outspoken ally of the United States, and unafraid to speak with clarity on the challenge of confronting the Islamists.

Fifty—three percent of the Italian public now supports the center—right coalition over the government of leftist EU enthusiast Romano Prodi. Moreover, calls for Berlusconi to take a harder line in opposing the Prodi government are increason.

Thomas Lifson 9 17 06