Raoul,

The reason Americans so easily dismiss some foreign opinions about international law is its divorce from reality. International law that has been disregarded for 10 years is worse than useless. It is a false sense of action that breeds inaction. It has been well known that France and Russia tried to undermine the sanctions on Iraq for most of that period. Under the circumstances they had no credibility or moral authority. International law was undermined by their actions not the US. The US simply refused to play fiddle to a useless pretext any further. Putting a dying animal out of its misery is not the same as killing it.

US actions may in fact resemble more closely radical surgery. By refusing to allow France and Russia's underhanded games any further, international actions with the true force of law may become the norm rather than fiction. I don't know if Bush is even capable of true international cooperation and he may well have a fatal flaw there.
However, I fully support his dismissal of two faced weasels and refusal to put other nations self interest before that of the US and the world as a whole.

Regards,
Mark