On the same day Tony Blair announces phased troop withdrawal from Iraq, Italian premier Romano Prodi is forced to resign over a devastating foreign policy defeat. Specifically, the defeat is related to the maintenance of Italian troops in Afghanistan.
Here's the story:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/...
It's interesting to watch, this crumbling of the Coalition of the Willing. It has become a huge, and growing huger, political issue in Europe. Last year, involvement in Bush's war(s) brought down Berlusconi. It has been the driving force behind the astonishing political collapse of the British Labour party - who'd have thought ten years ago that any Tory would have another shot at Downing Street for a very long time to come?
And in recent weeks, it has been in Italy that the tide has really turned. Anti-US sentiment has been at the forefront of huge demonstrations in cities like Vicenza. Italians are asking themselves: do we want permanent US military bases in our country any more? And the answer seems to be, in growing crescendo: No!
Apologies for the brevity of the diary, but I wanted to post it rapidly.
This has been a bad day for the Bush administration in terms of international politics.