>This is more a case of the media than anything else. When was the last time you heard that Spain and Italy were with us, as opposed to the last time you heard France was against us? The media would have you believe we are on our own. We are not.

I think that aspect has been fairly covered, if one listens objectively. I don't think that's an issue here. But you may have one good point - not about the various countries' official Iraq stances media coverage, but about the (at least IMO) "saturation coverage" of the anti-war protests a few weeks ago. It sounded like the entire world was in the streets protesting, by many media sources, when in fact there were merely a paltry but vocal group out in the streets. Certainly nothing like the old anti-Vietnam protests in their heyday. The Iraq-war protests just made for big news on a slow news day, was my impression, having been through the whole Vietnam thing.

>>Keep the focus on destroying these missiles (a legitimate war issue, I think), and we may be okay with our long-term world-standing.
>
>I agree.

Oops, now I'm gonna have to eat my words. Not too surprisingly, now that Hussein realized he was close to seeing more allies come aboard from the missile-issue, he just announced he will probably agree to destroy the missiles. On another front, Russia's Putin has now agreed to "look the other way" and not criticize US efforts anymore.

So, who knows where this will go next, with the missile issue apparently dead now. I still think the optimal solution is for Hussein simply to leave Iraq, and though that seems unlikely on the surface, you never know. He still might select that option over a certain death, if pressured hard enough, and allowed to go into a reasonable exile status. It's surely the best scenario for our planet, and still vaguely possible...