Peoples peoples...yet another (can it be?) wonderful, inspiring, articulate Safire op-ed.
If i haven't gotten you hooked already, *wink, wink,* never fear...you have plenty of time. He writes Mondays and Thursdays...read it!

An excerpt:

Of course, it is France, once identified with "the rights of man," that is most eager to bestride the world stage in gleeful confrontation with the U.S., and led the defense of Saddam's dangerous despotism in the U.N. The majority of French people care not a whit for the consequences.

What cements strategic and economic alliances is public sentiment among peoples. Britain and the U.S. are strategic allies, but Brits and Yanks are also genuine friends --free to disagree and compete, but when wartime chips are down and alliance has a cost, tightly together. That, as Winston Churchill and Tony Blair understood, is what makes the relationship "special."

Peoples have memories that profoundly affect international ties. Those memories are being forged right now, and Americans won't forget our friends.