the daily snivel

Of course, as we all know, one of the pettiest in a string of lows in US foreign policy happened in 2003, when the cafeterias in the US House of Representatives three office buildings deleted "french fries" from their menus and replaced them with "freedom fries." This was done in blustery outrage over France's refusal to support the proposed war of aggression liberation of Iraq. They remain on the menu to this day, a tribute to the infantile obstinacy of that once-great nation. But now, even the congressman who demanded the name change has decided the invasion was wrong:

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Walter Jones, the Republican congressman for North Carolina who was also the brains behind french toast becoming freedom toast in Capitol Hill restaurants, told a local newspaper the US went to war "with no justification."
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But the name change, still in force, made headlines around the world, both for what it said about US-French relations and its pettiness.
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Now Mr Jones appears to agree. Asked by a reporter for the North Carolina News and Observer about the name-change campaign - an idea Mr Jones said at the time came to him by a combination of God's hand and a constituent's request - he replied: "I wish it had never happened."

Although he voted for the war, he has since become one of its most vociferous opponents on Capitol Hill, where the hallway outside his office is lined with photographs of the "faces of the fallen"...

I admire those who have the courage and integrity to admit that they were wrong. But I have much more admiration for those with the courage and integrity to stand up for what was right in the first place, especially when faced with outraged bullies on the other side who demand they get their way.