Guardian: Europe and the US Are Now Adrift

[kskiska]

The US and Britain now find themselves that bit more isolated. Spain's exit from the ranks of supporters of the Iraq war may have been surprising, but hardly unexpected. Its government, in its support of the invasion, defied not simply half the population, as in the case of Britain, but the overwhelming majority. Clearly there was a price to pay, which has been paid by the Aznar government, though only following a horrific and tragic event. Inevitably, it poses the question as to whether other governments which have defied the will of the people in such a flagrant manner might pay a similar price. There was barely a democratic country in the world where, at the time of the invasion, the majority of the people supported it - barring the obvious exception of the US.

It is hardly novel for governments to disregard public opinion. Democratic governments ignore the will of the people on major issues all the time: that is the difference between government by election and government by referendum. But if the issue is big enough, persistent enough, extraordinary enough, then one day the government may have to pick up the tab for its defiance. Iraq is just that kind of issue. It is one of those rare historical moments that change the world and leave nothing quite the same afterwards.

Britain is a case in point. It was not unreasonable for Tony Blair to have assumed that this most bellicose of nations, which has for long believed that the true test of its virility lies in going to war, would support its closest ally in bringing to book a recalcitrant and despicable despot. In the event, it was a most serious miscalculation. The prime minister is now desperately trying to concentrate the mind of the nation on domestic matters. Yet Iraq will not go away. It will continue to haunt him until he leaves office; and probably for the rest of his life.

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http://politics.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,9115,1171017,00.html

[rfkrocks]

1. thanks for the outstanding post

the points that Europe is torn from the USA not because of a desire for nationalistic independence but due to alienation is heartbreaking to me-How we went from the tears and a united western world against a medieval terror in 9/11 to the present situation is hard for me to comprehend- iremember the berlin wall falling and i thought we were heading for a much happier future-i find the Iraq war perhaps the greatest blunder in the last 2 centuries of American foreign policy/ we were able to overcome Vietnam because of the soviet union-that will not happen now-the real question to me is can a change of administration repair the rift? I can pray it will-another 4 years of Bushco will leave the US an even bigger leper.