The EU announced that it is now willing to help out in Iraq…
After Bush is gone.
Aswat Al-Iraq reported:
The Lebanese Daily Star on Saturday reported that the European Union is set to step up its engagement in Iraq once a new U.S. administration takes office, according to an internal paper by the French EU presidency.
“Our common interest is to contribute to the success of Iraq,” the document seen by The Daily Star says. “Therefore, the European Union intends to re-engage in the country without delay.”
According to the Daily Star, European countries like France and Germany were alienated from Washington in light of President George W. Bush’s decision to go to war against Iraq in 2003. When Spain’s socialist government withdrew its troops after a series of terror attacks, Madrid’s relations with the U.S. also soured. The desire to re-engage with the U.S. over policies in Iraq coincides with Bush’s designated successor Barack Obama’s preparations for taking office.
…Diplomats familiar with the talks insisted that any level of re-engagement was linked to the security situation in Iraq. “At the moment, the country is probably still too insecure. But we’re starting the discussion now. The better things get, the more we can do,” a European diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.
“We are certainly concerned and we are thinking of ways of how to help stabilize the country,” another diplomat said.