Bush can only stall for so long before Iraqi quagmire drags him down: "the president of the United States seemed to be stalling for time, apparently under the illusion that standing still is a substitute for building the necessary support for a workable plan that might salvage the situation ­ and quite possibly his chances of winning a second term in office... A more cynical view would see the speech as evidence that the White House is still refusing to recognize the hopelessness of going it alone and is waiting for the French and the Germans to start feeling guilty about not helping to extricate their old ally from an increasingly sticky morass. There is a fleeting window of opportunity to reverse the downward spiral, and Bush has yet to demonstrate an understanding of how it might be put to good use... Countries like France and Germany do not want America to fail, but nor do they want to be part of a disaster that they rightly see as being perfectly preventable. Their involvement might come with a heavy political price tag, but their continuing estrangement will be even more expensive."

Bush can only stall for so long before Iraqi quagmire drags him down: "the president of the United States seemed to be stalling for time, apparently under the illusion that standing still is a substitute for building the necessary support for a workable plan that might salvage the situation ­ and quite possibly his chances of winning a second term in office... A more cynical view would see the speech as evidence that the White House is still refusing to recognize the hopelessness of going it alone and is waiting for the French and the Germans to start feeling guilty about not helping to extricate their old ally from an increasingly sticky morass. There is a fleeting window of opportunity to reverse the downward spiral, and Bush has yet to demonstrate an understanding of how it might be put to good use... Countries like France and Germany do not want America to fail, but nor do they want to be part of a disaster that they rightly see as being perfectly preventable. Their involvement might come with a heavy political price tag, but their continuing estrangement will be even more expensive."