This is from a Bob Herbert op/ed piece in the NY Times today.
How long is it going to take for us to recognize that the war we so foolishly started in Iraq is a fiasco — tragic, deeply dehumanizing and ultimately unwinnable? How much time and how much money and how many wasted lives is it going to take?
At the United Nations yesterday, grieving diplomats spoke bitterly, but not for attribution, about the U.S.-led invasion and occupation. They said it has not only resulted in the violent deaths of close and highly respected colleagues, but has also galvanized the most radical elements of Islam.
"This is a dream for the jihad," said one high-ranking U.N. official. "The resistance will only grow. The American occupation is now the focal point, drawing people from all over Islam into an eye-to-eye confrontation with the hated Americans.
http://nytimes.com/2003/08/21/opinion/21HERB.htmlFrance & Germany in particular and the UN in general aren't going to suddenly come around and play ball with the U.S. The attitude seems to be, "It's your mess, you clean it up."