MEMRI (my old employer) translated a lecture by a Saudi sheikh describing Italy's brutal rule over Libya under Mussolini. The sheikh describes Italian soldiers throwing local leaders out of airplaines and raping Libyan women. The lecture was broadcast on Saudi Arabia's Iqra TV.

Graziani. the Italian soldier who broke the Arab revolt, was certainly no sweetheart - in crushing the revolt he used tactics that would not play well on CNN, including herding civilians into camps and conducting harsh search and destroy missions. But, whatever the truth of the sheikh's specific accusations - this lecture is more than academic.

In the Middle East the past is very much part of the present. Events from centuries ago are frequently cited in political discourse, and 80 years ago is practically yesterday. The lecture is an incitement against Italy - which has been a prominent and outspoken supporter of the U.S. in Iraq and has sent troops there. The Jihadists hope to re-enact their success in Madrid and strike a vulnerable U.S. ally and where the contribution of troops is not particularly popular. Italy is a perfect target (Poland too - a strike against the U.K. that resulted in Blair's fall and or British withdrawal would be a grand slam.)

Italy has been hit before, such as last November when a suicide bomber killed 18 Italian MPs in Iraq. The Italian Embassy in Beirut was also targeted (Lebanese authorities broke up the cell). Most ominously, Italy hosts an extensive Islamist network, centered in Milan. One member of that network, Rabei Osman el Sayed Ahmed (aka Mohammed the Egyptian) was a key planner in the Madrid bombing and was recently extradited to Spain.

Hopefully Italian security is alert to this possibility.

The tsunamai that struck southeast Asia simply dwarfs, by far, the efforts of terrorists to kill and destroy and is a terrible and humbling reminder of humanity's fragile place in the universe.

Hopefully some good can come from this tragedy - although that will be small comfort to the innumerable people who have suffered in this tragedy.