Yup.

The stronger China gets, the more it is in the interest of the nations near China to have good relations with the US.

The next big 'surprise' will probably be India deciding it wants better relations with the US.

Japanese, Schmapanese! Japan isn't The World. Neither is Australia.

The World consists only the portions where Bush's popularity rating in 10% or lower....

France, Germany, Belgium, etc....

"Nations act in their own interests. Germany and France and Russia currently think it's in their interest to try to stymie us in Iraq."

The question is, "Are they right?" Is it in the national interest of Germany, France and Russia to have the US fail in Iraq? Is it in the Russian national interest to back Iran's drive to become a nuclear power? France and Russia especially are more threatened by jihad than the US. Americans just have a far lower tolerance for having their people slaughtered by mad dog idiots.

So does that mean we ought to have a higher tolerance for the slaughter of our own people??

It's in the interest of Germany and France for us to fail in Iraq to the extent that it is in their interest the US fails anywhere at anytime. They aren't interested in Iran, but in constraining the US. They regard us as the enemy and the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

WWII brought together Churchill and Stalin. Chirac and Saddam is peanut butter and jelly by comparison.

Say, how exactly are we "stymiing" you in Iraq?

I know that the Russians are selling mssiles to Syria, and nuclear reactors to Iran, but what has this to do with France and Germany? It's not as if we were running guns to the Baathists.

Ralf,

1: You certainly were running guns to the Baathists when Saddam was in power. The money provided by the bribes and kickbacks that the "Oil For Food" program generated is still funding the Baathists today. Your government helped make those bribes possible, fought to keep them going for as long as possible, and is working to cover up the bribes now. A full accounting would make it easier to hunt down any left over money and keepit from the terrorists. Your government opposes that.

In Iran, your government is playing footsie with the mullahs, rather than telling them "end your attempts to get nuclear weapons, or else we will end you." Justice would be for France or Germany to be the first country that lost s city to the nukes that Iran is trying to create. It is too bad there is little justice in the world.

Greg,

no we didn't run guns to him, at least not after Gulf War I. And Germany had nothing to do with the oil-for-food scandal

As to Iran: Russia is selling the whole reactors, which enables the Mullah's to develop nukes in the first place, so you might wan to talk to Putin about that. And besides, Britain is talking to Iran, too.