EMPIREWATCH: I found Fareed Zakaria's critique of the Bush administration diplomacy on Iraq - " Arrogant Empire " - to be more or less a venture in hairsplitting. No amount of sweet charm or handholding by Colin Powell will get another nation to react positively to an American challenge to it's national interests though such finesse is helpful with tertiary and marginal disagreements.

France has staked all its chips upon becoming the leader of an anti-American adversarial bloc and Chirac sees forcing America to accept continuing and accelerated nuclear proliferation as key to a strategy of containing the hyperpowerful hegemon. Bush is bent upon rolling back the coming nuclear anarchy in the Third World starting with Iraq, Iran and North Korea. Nations that profit from proliferation - Russia and China- will be unhappy at their unsavory business dealings being revealed to the world. Diplomatic friction and Euro-pouting is a small price for securing major security objectives. It is also inevitable.  ¶ 10:06 AM