We told you so, but what now?

摘要

Amr moussa, the Arab League's secre-tary-general, famously gave warning that an American invasion of Iraq would "open the gates of hell". Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former president of Iran, predicted a quagmire. And on the streets of pre-war Baghdad, a Palestinian resident assured your correspondent that ordinary Iraqis would sit tight for the invasion, give the Americans six months' grace, and then start shooting them. Understandably, therefore, the region is chorusing "we told you so". But beyond the grim satisfaction of feeling themselves proved right, Iraq's neighbours differ greatly in appraising the mess, though they are all, by and large, worried.. None likes such untidiness next door.