The Foreign Service Journal, October 2004

nine in 10 Germans remain con- vinced that the invasion of Iraq and the deposing of dictator Saddam Hussein were wrong, unjustified and unnecessary. Almost everybody who opposed the invasion of Iraq in the first place is expecting a kind of apology for this “war of choice” that, in their perspec- tive, fueled terrorism instead of fight- ing it. But the president and the members of his “war cabinet” are far from being prepared to backpaddle. That is why, from a European perspective, the best apology for this wrong war would be a crushing defeat of George W. Bush at the ballot box on Nov. 2. Yes, most Europeans really are waiting for an apology — if not one presented by the current administration, then (per- haps even more appropriate) one given by the American people who, alongside the vast majority of their elected officials in Congress, backed an invasion of Iraq that was based on false premises. Europeans feel vindicated by the unfolding events in Iraq, with almost daily attacks on coalition forces, infighting between Shiite factions and, last but not least, the unsuccessful search for weapons of mass destruction: “We knew it from the beginning, and now it’s time for you to give in and to con- fess that you were wrong!” It is not by chance that recent polls in Europe show that the opinion of the U.S. is at a historic low point. More striking, these polls show that the U.S. is no longer regarded as a strong partner who is pro- tecting its allies against common threats, but, on the con- trary, is considered a growing threat to its own partners. The best protection against Islamist terrorism would be to disassociate from the U.S. instead of committing to the common fight or war against terrorism: That is the lesson many Europeans have drawn from the Madrid bombing F O C U S 18 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / O C T O B E R 2 0 0 4 No other U.S. president since Ronald Reagan has been so deeply disliked and mistrusted in Europe as George W. Bush.