Don't tell the Greeks

Because they won't be surprised: the New York Times takes a critical look at Winston Churchill in light of his recent idolization by the American neoconservatives. Being married into a Greek family, I've been well aware of Churchill's shortcomings as a politician and statesman. His mania for restoring the Greek monarchy and his anticommunist zeal helped lay the groundwork for years of civil war after the brutal Nazi occupation, the scars of which still haven't quite healed more than half a century later.

Curiously, the NYT article doesn't mention the Greeks, although it does point out that we have Churchill to thank for the present sorry state of the Middle East, the present political landscape of which is almost entirely the result of British colonialism at its worst. And yet, amazingly, the man is lionized to this day. Funny how history works.