Will our European allies help Kerry establish order in Iraq ?

[kentuck]

I personally doubt it. I think Kerry needs a backup strategy, in case that doesn't work. I cannot see any resaonable solution as long as Allawi is in power. He has killed too many of his own people, in concert with the Americans, and will never be able to reconcile the different factions. His only possible way to survive is to be a ruthless and powerful dictator, with the aid of his "friends".

I think a new leader could call for a summit or conference of the leaders of the different factions in Iraq to work out a solution to the impending civil war. George Bush does not have the will or the desire for such a solution. He prefers to wipe out the opposition. A simple solution to a very complex problem.

But, first of all, Allawi must be replaced. The leaders of the different factions would need to be responsible for the security of elections in each of their areas of influence. The US and/or UN would oversee the elections and the results would be accepted by the US as the legitimate will of the Iraqi people. The point being that all the factions in Iraq must have a voice and a representative in the new government. That should be our goal.

[Catt03]

1. Maybe that is a good campaign ad idea

Get all the heads of state in the countries not in the coalition to make a public service announcement ad that says they will give the US help if Bush is not re elected.

[JI7]

2. they will because it's about their own security also

the terrorists have come into iraq now and terrorism is a threat to europe also so they sure would not want to ignore it.

kerry will work with the international community on global environmental issues, especially alternative sources of energy to get off the foreign dependence of oil.

there should be a marshall program type thing where our european allies will also contribute.

and of course kerry will allow for fair competition of contracts .

[billbuckhead]

3. Iraq is on the border with Turkey which is joining the EU

It makes sense that Iraq will someday be part of the EU, probably why the anti-French propaganda.

[AP]

4. I think they will. They'll want a stable ME for their own reasons, and...

...they'll definitely want a government in the US to succeed which doesn't hate them, as Bush's surely does.

They will definitely help.

[Spazito]

5. I believe they will...

Kerry will immediately send someone, like Wes Clark, to Europe with a message regarding his policies on multilateralism, a new resolution to be put forward to the UN regarding Iraq, etc. It will not happen immediately because Kerry will have to act exactly as you have stated above but they will help in ways that have not for bush.

[madrchsod]

6. yes

they will be lining up at the presidents door-it`s all about the money..the French-Germans,Russians,and Chinese want the contracts to rebuild the oil fields they built for saddam...since they didn`t buy bush`s war they should meet less resistance to rebuilding the country...

[seabeyond]

7. i think they will. they all have a hand in stable iraq

stable middle east. and they all have interest in getting terrorism, and terrorism in their countries. i dont think they trust bush. and wont deal with bush. makes us the weakest of such a strong nation. i think they are waiting for this election so they can sit down and resolve, with a thinker, an educated man, a smart man, not a religious zealot that god told to go out and create war, or that is in saudi pocket, or consist simply of greed

[maine_raptor]

8. The "Unspoken Key" to Kerry's Iraq Plan

Is quite simple: He's NOT Bush.

A lot of European people will NOT allow their leaders to support ANY US plan to stabilize Iraq because Bush is the leader of this country.

Once Bush is gone, look for broad European public support for helping the US out of this mess.

[napi21]

9. I think they might! But they sure WON'T back shrub!

Shrub has manager to personaly pi** off almost every world leader and stated he didn't need their help. HE WAS GOING TO DO HIS AWR ALL BY HIMSELF! Well, when it turned our he did need them, they all said TS!

I think Kerry has a chance to go to them, apologize for the foolishness of his predacessor, and make friends again. I don't think they hate American, they just hate shrub!

He probably won't get the help from everyone, but he at least caqn get some, shrub can't get any.

[Nederland]

10. No

They don't want any part of this mess.

[wurzel]

11. Yes they will. Europeans hate Bush more than we do.

My belief is this. The people of Europe see Bush as a warmonger and a menace to World stability. He is the Neo-Ugly-American. Powell has lost all credibility. Kerry is someone the Europeans understand and can respect. As they did Clinton. Kerry will get immediate support for any reasonable approach. Mainly because the people of Europe will demand it of their own leadership. But we must lead the way by getting rid of Bush in the first place.

[DulceDecorum]

12. The Europeans already HAD empires

and they ALL failed.

Besides which, European birthrates have been declining for quite some time now. They are aging and need immigrants from other countries to play nursemaid.
No way they can help out, even if they wanted to.

Plus America is flat broke.
The US is borrowing money from Europe and Asia to pay for this war. The Europeans are not stupid enough to both finance and fight in a war of no benefit to them.
Only John Doe is that dumb.

[mmonk]

13. I think with a Kerry admin

they would come around if they felt we weren't trying to conquer and violently overthrow a series of countries. They are afraid of the neo-cons, plain and simple.

[spanone]

14. I bellieve they will at least reconsider. The bush* arrogance will be gone

[Southern Patriot]

15. Here's what I don't understand...

At some point I recall hearing that Iraqi oil under Hussein was a substantive part of the European supply. I recall reading that one reason that the Europeans were opposed to the war was the fear that their oil supply would be disrupted.

OK, now fast forward to the current mess of disrupted oil production. Obviously the Europeans have found other sources. Why wouldn't they be interested in pacifying Iraq quickly and getting back a stable source?

One reason could be that they worried about Bush's plans for invading Iran or Syria as soon as Iraq comes under control.

Eliminate Bush and the Europeans would seem to have A LOT of reasons to help out.

Kerry's weakness is that he seemingly can only offer a weak alternative to Bush's current policies in Iraq. The Repubs immediately reply that they've TRIED to involve the Europeans and that it's a hopeless pipedream of Kerry's.

[Zhade]

16. Not with continued Iraqi resistance. Why would they?

What government in their right minds would send soldiers, against the vast majority of their constituents' will, into that meat grinder?

Sadly, I think this will end just like Viet Nam.

[troublemaker]

17. Yes, they will. They know that the EU has a profound vested interest in

making Kerry a popular president.