Tony Blair writes in The Observer on the current situation in Iraq:
They know it is a historic struggle. They know their victory would do far more than defeat America or Britain. It would defeat civilisation and democracy everywhere. They know it, but do we? The truth is, faced with this struggle, on which our own fate hangs, a significant part of Western opinion is sitting back, if not half-hoping we fail, certainly replete with schadenfreude at the difficulty we find.
I would like to thank Blair for making the situation worse. Because I personally think that the only way for larger parts of the Western world to participate would be for the US and UK to, if not admit that they were wrong, to admit that “Old Europe” was right. Because helping out in Iraq now would be legitimizing the entire campaign, something I can’t believe Germany, France et al would do, or should do.
Yet still Blair characterizes the struggle in Iraq as being between the forces of democracy and the forces of totalitarianism and chaos, the result being that not winning will be a defeat for democratic nations everywhere, despite at least half being opposed to the action in the first place.
I would be outraged if the US pulled out, and I can’t believe they will, but I think it would be the best for Iraqis to have the entire democratic world united behind them, which will not happen as long as the coalition keeps to its shroud of righteousness in all things.