ABSTRACT
THE ANGLO-AMERICAN ROMP through Iraq and its wearying after-math have clarified transatlantic relations considerably. But it is not a happy picture, and it does not promise any radiant future.
The administration of George W. Bush, swollen with hubris, acted as if it disdains all allies, even the loyal Tony Blair, whose government has been badly weakened by all this martial success. With gratuitous unilateralism, on issues both serious and utterly inconsequential, Bush threw away his chance to have his war and the backing of the Security Council, too. In the aftermath, with the grinding process of pacifying and rebuilding Iraq, Bush behaved grudgingly, with clear divisions in his own administration over the wisdom of seeking friendly help and advice. Now that Bush found himself in need of allies to share the pain of postwar Iraq he seemed astonished that so few were willing to helpand that some barely bothered to hide their hope that he lose his bid for reelection.
