[Krsqk]

I feel the U.S.A has found itself between a rock and a hard place.

It gambled that it would get U.N. support and lost.

No, it was more like giving the UN a chance to save face and enforce its own demands.

It gambled that it would get a number of nations on-board with it and lost.
-snip-
They said they would go ahead with or without a U.N. resolution and now they have to make good on it. I don't think they really reckoned on going it alone, but as a coalition, albeit a small one.

They have a coalition, even if it is a small one. Something like 45 nations.

To not go ahead would mean some loss of face. Some nations may revise their opinion that the U.S. is a paper tiger which couldn't be further from the truth.

To not go ahead would mean the US's word would be relegated to the same worth as the UN's word--worthless. It's meaningless to use the threat of force if you're not willing to make good on it.

Major expense was incurred to no avail if they do not go ahead.

Major expense would have already been incurred if Saddam had gone ahead and done what was demanded months ago. Threatening force still costs a significant portion of what using force does. Still, having gotten to this point, not going in would be a huge misuse of our funds.

Will the U.S. win the coming battle of Iraq? I feel confident they will.

Will they win handily? Probably.

But they have lost the war of world opinion and confidence.

This is the same world which gives out Nobel Peace Prizes for saying "Shape up or else we'll tell you to shape up again!"--it'd be nice if they liked us, but it's not really vital.

Since they are committed, IMO their only hope of salvaging what is left of their good name is to win the battle in Iraq, reconstruct Iraq quickly and then get out.

Or to uncover evidence of French and German complicity in Iraq's lack of cooperation and/or participation in oil/weapons transactions beyond what is allowed under sanctions.

To do it they may have to hand Iraq to the U.N. who will finish the reconstruction.

Heaven forbid the UN gets its hands on Iraq. They've done such a great job in Bosnia, and Rwanda, and everywhere else they've gone. To top it off, they'll drag out the process indefinitely. Who's going to provide the peacekeeping troops and the money for the next 20 years? The US. If we're going to fund this and protect this, we might as well be in charge of it.

The fait accompli coupled with proving a lie to those who claim the USA wants Iraq oil will go a long way to restoring world opinion and confidence in the USA.

Sure, but again, their opinion is just an opinion. They'll hate us if we go in, and they'll laugh at us and hate us if we don't. The next time someone threatens them, they'll be more than happy for us to come help them out.