Saturday Morning Scott Simon on NPR aired the Noel Coward song quoted above, and I do believe I recognized Sir Noel's voice as the singer.

There'll always be an England, and I mean that in a good way.

Regarding McGrath's clearly written response to my post re: the distinction between the Spanish people's reaction to the Madrid train bombings, and the English people's reaction, I believe that the details of his response are correct, but the point is missed:
Before the actual election, the truth came out that the bombings were the result of Arab terrorists, not Eta terrorists (so far as is known). The Spanish public thus had a chance to respond to Arab terrorism or the poor positioning of their own government. Since as McGrath correctly states, the opposition had stated that it would withdraw from the Coalition forces in Iraq, the Spanish public made the choice, as a response to overt terrorism, to vote for a party which they knew would withdraw. Whether this was primarilly out of reaction to the bombings, or a reaction to perceived governmental propaganda, it is sign of where their priorities lay.

Regarding Dianavan's laying the education and behavior of Osama Bin Laden at the doorstep of the United States, it is interesting to note that no one is laying anything to the doorstep of the Soviet Union, which tried to control its neighbor by political means, then by overt military means, thus spawning the most recent incarnation of mujahideen, who are by no means a new institution. Osama was at first a bankroller, then an outright combatant, and, finally, both of those and a leader besides. He has shown a gift for thinking ahead, charisma, planning, and a commitment to extremist ideals of his faith as he perceives it. One could liken him to an Islamic excursion of John Brown. The United States did not create him at all, and he certainly did not need funding, coming from one of the wealthiest families in the world. If he found a way to utilize anti-Soviet American aide, he certainly used it, along with a lot of other mujahideen.

Getting back to poor Afghanistan, the outcome of the Soviet Union's meddling with the government was to spawn a divided land of warlords, the Northern Alliance, and the Taliban. None of them were what we Westerners would call 'enlightened'. The Northern Alliance was undisciplined and committed what we would call 'war crimes' when they occupied territory. The Taliban was disciplined by comparison, less corrupt, and committed what we would think of as war crimes but they would call Islamic Law (which they got to define).

If you want an interesting insight into the era, the book "Kite-Runner" is set in that time and place.