[PornoDoggy]

I can see the point you are trying to make, but I don't agree with it. First of all, I go back to what you seem to consider my "fairness" doctrine. The U.S. would probably NOT find such an assurance acceptable coming from the French or Germans. The U.S. would consider that a thinly-disguised way of saying "once we get our people in place to put pressure on the Iraqis we'll negotiate the deals in our favor." And rather than "the epitome of imperialist action", I think it merely guarantees the continuity of Iraqi sovereignty.

If we're willing to spend 30 billion to buy off Turkey, this seems like a small price to pay to buy the support of France and Germany. As a matter of fact, this is better than the Turkey deal - with this deal we're "spending" money we (or our grandchildren) don't even have to raise later.