The past is past

摘要

Would the Swedes rally to George Bush's war on terrorists? It may not have looked likely. For a start, they have long called themselves a neutral country. Second, for most of the past half-century, their left-leaning governments have readily criticised America's "imperialism" and its use of force, from Vietnam to Iraq. Yet Goran Persson and his cabinet have not only fiercely denounced the atrocities of September nth-"an attack on us all"-but they have pledged almost unreserved support for any retaliation.