"Punish France, ignore Germany, forgive Russia" was the famously pithy advice of Condoleezza Rice, America's national security adviser, after the rows over Iraq at the United Nations earlier this year. The successful American-led overthrow of Saddam Hussein seemed to give the Americans both the means and the motive to pursue such a strategy. France, which led the opposition at the UN, had particular cause to fear exclusion from juicy reconstruction contracts in Iraq, and the denial of influence in reshaping the Middle East. But now that the United States, alarmed by the rising cost of occupying Iraq, in blood and cash, has decided to return to the UN to seek a mandate for a broader military force, those Europeans who opposed the invasion of Iraq face their own version of Ms Rice's choice. Should they try to punish, forgive or ignore America?
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