I keep hearing criticism of Bush for "not obtaining international support" for the initial Iraqi effort, and that now it is Bush's own fault that he can't get help for rebuilding Iraq.

We have already apparently accepted the liberal definition that "international support" is defined as the support of France, Germany and Russia. Certainly this has always been the opinion of those countries. When it is pointed out that about fifty nations did support the invasion of Iraq, some asshole inevitably brings up Tonga. Apparently, Australia, Italy, Spain, Japan and Britain are just punk third world nations of no consequence.

That this "unilateral action with no international support" whopper still gets raised without objection still pisses me off.

Now, as for obtaining the support of the holdout nations and the U.N. as a whole:

There was no valid scenario under which a couple of key members of the U.N. Security Council were willing to support a military intervention in Iraq. None. Zero. No chance. Veto time.

Given this, I can see no route Bush could have taken, no deal Bush could have cut, no concession Bush could have made, that would have resulted in U.N. support for the removal of Saddam's regime.

So, I'm not sure why the constant criticism of Bush for "not obtaining U.N. support" for his course of action. It wasn't possible in the first place.

Now, if Bush had decided to simply leave Saddam alone, that would have received U.N. support. Keep the sanctions on, pull the military out and go home, and let the U.N. run around pretending to look for weapons evidence while Saddam pretends to cooperate. Meanwhile, the oil-for-food cash flows into U.N. coffers, and France enjoys billions of dollars worth of oil contracts. Everybody's a happy camper, and nobody has to stand up for anything at all.

So when we are talking about getting some help now, let's quit pretending that Bush would have an easier time of it if he had obtained support earlier. Had he earlier taken a course of action that the U.N. had supported, Saddam and his psychotic sons would still be lords of Iraq, and the whole issue of reconstruction would be moot.