The Intl. Herald Tribune has a
good analysis
on the reaction and perception of Europeans, and especially our NATO allies in Europe, to the prisoner abuse scandal. According to a NATO official asked to speak his mind:
"It's the worst blow to American credibility in 25 years," he said. "People in Europe," he added, are telling the Americans "they've lost their moral authority. It is impossible to underestimate the problem."
Nevertheless, and even in "Old Europe", the official response has been restrained, "because they were most concerned with the immeasurable damage to the West that a U.S. collapse in Iraq would bring. He said he knew of no European nation that thought otherwise."
The French and Germans are signalling that, while they won't support further NATO involvement, they also won't "get in the way" - defining their role as doing "nothing that would help George Bush get re-elected." And while Dubya is clearly hoping for some fresh support from NATO after their summit in June:
Now, diplomats and politicians suggest, it is uncertain whether the alliance will have regrouped with enough strength by the summit meeting to provide a nameplate for an international force at the request of the United Nations and a transitional Iraqi government. As for NATO members providing new troops, that appeared a dim perspective.
The single biggest determining factor, it seems, for NATO members in deciding whether (and to what extent) to continue support in Iraq is "how well and how honestly" the Americans were seen to confront the abuse issue.