Quotable: "Please Occupy Us!"

In a cheekily written and widely cited story that ran in Saturday's New York Times, reporter Craig S. Smith quoted a newspaper headline reading "Please Occupy Us!" as evidence of Albania's astonishing pro-U.S. bent. 

It's true that Albania is remarkably friendly to the United States, a phenomenon that began under the Clinton administration as a result of its actions to protect ethnic Albanians in Kosovo. The photograph in today's Morning Brief showing U.S. President George W. Bush getting love rubs on the head attests to the fact that Albanians remain extremely grateful.

But in the particular case of the newspaper headline, it appears that Smith may be missing some sarcasm:

As part of preparations, [Albania's] parliament on Thursday approved an act that allows more than 500 combat-ready U.S. troops entry into the country, and sanctions their use of "force proportionate to any possible threat". [...]

"Please Occupy Us", ran a headline in the top-selling Korrieri above an article saying the decision meant Albanians were "unworthy of being masters of their own house".