Things were so much easier in the good old days. Back then our isolationism was voluntary.

With two oceans for protection, the United States followed George Washington?s advice to avoid foreign entanglements. In fact, we didn?t even sign a treaty of alliance with another nation until 1949, after we?d fought in two World Wars.

But today some claim our isolation isn?t voluntary. They say the rest of the world is forcing it on us, because they don?t like us. As John Kerry put it on NBC?s ?Meet the Press,? ?Never has the United States of America been held in as low a regard internationally -- and polls have shown this -- as we are today.  We?re not trusted and this administration is not liked.?

Kerry vows to change that.

?Within weeks of being inaugurated, I will return to the U.N. and I will literally, formally rejoin the community of nations and turn over a proud new chapter in America?s relationship with the world,? Kerry told Tim Russert.

But before we can heal the international divide, we must determine what?s causing it. According to Philip Gordon of the Brookings Institution, it?s mostly our Iraq policy.

?Iraq was the ?perfect storm? for America and Europe,? he wrote on April 19 in a Washingtonpost.com online chat. ?Fortunately, there aren?t too many issues likely to generate the degree of divergence that we saw there.?

Iraq divided us because, as President Bush announced at a recent news conference, he sees it as ?a theater in the war on terror.? Most Europeans, however, saw it as an unnecessary, even dangerous, war of choice. As Gordon put it, the prevailing European view was that ?no matter how bad Saddam was, we couldn?t necessarily ?fix? Iraq.? Thus, we shouldn?t try.

Luckily, not all Europeans see things this way. Just after he stepped down, former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar told Fox News, ?There are countries that prefer to think that they?re buying comfort at the cost of others, but I don?t think that?s the way you can act in this world. There are no neutral groups. Either you?re with us, or you?re with them.?

The rest of the world needs to realize that what Aznar says is true. We must fight all terrorists. That?s going to mean taking on Osama bin Laden, Hamas and, yes, Saddam Hussein. And everyone needs to decide whose side they?re on.

This isn?t a new concept. Continued...