with Saddam out of power and the Taliban out of Afghanistan? I don't know- it is so early in the process I don't know how it will all fall out. It would also assume that what is good for the US is good for the world ( I know you are not making that connection). Best case senerio- Iraq becomes a secular, western alligned nation in the Middle East. Israel has one less enemy on its border. Syria is further isolated. Iran is put on notice and possibly seeks to negotiate and normalize relations with the US. The US can move military bases from Saudi Arabia to Iraq. Iraq can be used as a counter to OPEC pressures on oil prices. The ME becomes more stable. All of this could be good for the US. I think you are also alluding to how the war began. I think most people would agree that the UN does not do military action well (there is so much disagreement in the world for the UN to ever be an effective military leading option). What the UN does best is keep the peace, coordinate aid, and other international functions involving health and so on. To expect more from the UN is just not being realistic. US realtions with European allies- as usual the UK is alligned with the US. The problem is France, Germany, and Russia. My personal beleif is that these three countries are so weak economically and militarily that they simply could not match US moves in Iraq. To avoid embarrassment they acted in thier own interest to block the US. Does the US have a compelling reason to invade Iraq? This is of course the tough question. Bush stumbled over it for months (links to 9/11, regime change, WMD were all reasons given). The goal really is stability in the ME, secular governments in the region, and the isolation of terrorists from sponsering states. Taken to the extreme the US could invade and insist on regime changes all over the ME. Would the world be better? I don't know. Does the US need...I think the term being used is "old Europe" to do this? Should the US even be worried about declining European powers? Should the US seek new allies?- India, China, the ME. Clearly these nations will be of more consequence in this century. All are tough questions. I think it comes down to the fact that the US was attacked. Maybe a nation- state did not do the attacking but the fact remains Americans were killed. It was an attack on the US nation, western ideas, and progress and technology. Germany and Japan are democracies today- if you asked people in the 1930s did they see that future for those two countries the answer would be no way. I think the US can be a force for positive change in the world- even with Bush as president. The ideals of the US and the goodness of the people are stronger than one man.