Nicholas Kristof surveys the wreckage:

So let's take stock of how our invasion of Iraq is going. The Western alliance is ferociously strained, NATO is paralyzed, America is resented by millions, the United Nations is in crisis, U.S. pals like Tony Blair are being skewered at home, North Korea has exploited our distraction to crank up plutonium production, oil prices have surged, and the world financial markets have sagged.

And the war hasn't even begun yet.

Also, we look like lunatics to people the world over; when Dubliners were asked who was the greater danger, they picked Dubya over Saddam Hussein by 60% to 39.

But we must press ahead regardless, say the liberal hawks; to do anything else would endanger our credibility.