And guess what? These guys will not pony up troops to go to Iraq in the future, either. Public opinion in those countries is totally against any kind of troops committment. And forget about Bush's poll numbers, Chirac in France and Schroeder in Germany are hugely unpopular at home. Even if they wanted to help they couldn't risk being pummelled in elections like the Partido Popular was in Spain.
"Solving" the terrorist problem in the Muslim world is really not for us to do. We can fight terrorists, but fighting terorism is a war for hearts and minds. It is the job of Muslim societies to offer their young people a different vision than the terrorists. The Mulsim world is in the middle of a Reformation, an internal battle over ideology that the rest of the world can only watch from the outside. We can play an important role by helping Iraqis build a stable and free country as a model for the Arab world and a counterbalance to the influence of Syria, Iran, and Saudi Arabia.
> > > France, Germany and Russia all had a vested interest in keeping Saddam
> >
> > This is speculation and not very keen - keep in mind 1441 was agreed
> > to by all.
>
> After Powell gave them no other option than to do so.
>
> As for the "speculation" that the tie on the Oil-for-Food Farce, even
> the Washington Post documented the following:
> "The Times of London calculated that French and Russian companies
> received $11 billion worth of business from Oil for Food between 1996
> and 2003."
>
> The article from the Post can be found at:
> http://www.washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20040321-101405-2593r.htm
>
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