Consequences
The view of US actions in Iraq from the rest of the world seems increasingly hostile. A recent BBC poll documents the extent of the hostility. The failure to find weapons of mass destruction fuels the fires of animosity and misunderstanding. We have wasted the 'leadership position' of the to US to motivate the rest of the world in a positive manner and put ourselves in a position of increasing reliance on unilateral force.
This hostility toward, and perhaps fear of, the US by other countries increases the motivation for even erstwhile allies to create a countervailing force and even for some countries to develop nuclear weapons. Iran presents an immediate example. President Bush has included Iran in the 'axis of evil'. Clearly, they are far ahead of Iraq in terms of nuclear capability and have an active program which they claim is for peaceful purposes. North Korea doesn't need much discussion. A short piece in Time discusses this 'worrying development for the Bush administration'.
On a more mundane level, the resistance is likely to spill over into the commercial world. We may be faced with subtle and not so subtle measures that impair US business operations in the global economy.
US soldiers continue to be killed in Iraq as the result of a steady stream of ambush attacks. This increases the hositlity between US forces and Iraqi citizens and probably foments conditions that make further attacks increasingly likely. Another soldier was killed today and two Iraqis were shot during a protest (Yahoo report). Is it worth all this if, in fact, Iraq presented no real and substantial threat to the US?
10:45:16 AM 
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