RRAAMJET, of course you are right about Milan! But many Italian airports are 3rd world standard and you expect trouble.
But on the other hand - I've never heard an Italian controller losing his head and abusing pilots on the airwaves like you do every day in the US. On the whole the Italians are pretty cool headed compared to the Yanks, and thats really saying something - they're Mediterraneans after all.
I agree with everything else you said. Infrastructurally US airports are pretty 3rd world too. You just tend to expect better from the richest, most powerful, most technologically advanced ENGLISH SPEAKING nation on earth.
Its dissapointing.