From Alan Bock
Once again Anne Applebaum comes up with key insights. She acknowledges that things are getting better in Iraq, at least for now, but suggests we look a bit wider. If we do, we’ll see that “the collateral damage inflicted by the war on America’s relationships with the rest of the world is a lot deeper and broader than most Americans have yet realized.” Our reputation for military and political competence will be a long time recovering.
Quick example: Britain, France and Germany are meeting with Iranian nuclear negotiators next week to try to dissuade them from enriching their own uranium. But after the Iraqi WMD debacle, none of them believe anything the Americans say about Iranian weapons or weapons plans. So the negotiations are somewhat less than serious.
Problems in Pakistan, Afghanistan and elsewhere have likewise been made worse by the Iraq war, and the diminished respect it has created for the U.S.
