Europeans have learned from two wars, that is why they will do almost anything to avoid a war they are sure will gain nothing. Not saying necessarily support the European view or not. The argument here is that since Iraq Europeans feel that the world is a more dangerous place. On average about 60% of Europeans in 2003 believed the world was more dangerous after the Iraq war. Look at it from the view of Europeans, looks like neo-colonialism. The Europeans saw a problem but the did not buy into the US stand that Iraq was a threat to the world. This is why Res. 1441 has such an ambiguous paragraph stating
Quote:
13. Recalls, in that context, that the Council has repeatedly warned Iraq that it will face serious consequences as a result of its continued violations of its obligations
This is not, to Europeans, a clause for force.
On a side note my IR professor is going to meet with Bush and Rice and be part of the group from Washington visiting. 
