Most of us have watched the Oscar winning film of yesteryears-Saving Private Ryan. The protagonist, Tom Hanks, plays the role of a troop leader who is in hot pursuit of Ryan-an army man in the midst of the World War 2-the only child left in the family due to the death of his other siblings. The group wants to save Ryan as he is the only one left in the family. The film follows the search of this elusive person. Years following on, we are in the midst of an economic situation whereby European leaders are working to save the Euro Zone from complete exhaustion.

The Greek Tragedy is grabbing the headlines once again, as everyone eagerly awaits the results of the longest debt negotiations in the history of mankind. At least it feels that way. At stake is the 130 billion euro package that Greece needs to keep afloat, although that’s another truck load of money to be added to the already piled up debt. By some estimates, Greek’s GDP contracted in 2011 and unemployment is around 20%, yet there’s an expectation that the money being furnished to the country’s coffers will be paid in the future.

Everything in Greece is already going wrong, because one can only cut back so much without turning the country upside down. This is not a defense of how Greece got here but rather an acceptance of the current condition. Yes, we can agree on the facts that contributed to Greece’s economic demise, but trying to squeeze every cent from a virtually destitute population will not end well.

The damage is certainly done. It’s time to swallow the bitter pill, and move on while keeping in mind the valuable lessons learned. Thus, the focus of this second bailout is well defined, and according to economists, Merkel and Sarkozy have proposed separate account for bailout money. Certainly the money will find its way to Greece, one way or another, and the much dreaded eventual default will be postponed for as long as possible. If necessary, Merkel and Sarkozy will pull out their desired checkbooks and pay the bondholders.

The idea proposed by Merkel and Sarkozy emphasize that the process is designed to save Europe, not Greece. Merkel and Sarkozy are playing the lead role as protagonists in saving Europe vis-à-vis Tom Hanks in Saving Private Ryan. But will they be able to save Europe as Hanks saved Ryan?