Blair's Pullout, Prodi's Fall Point to Bush's Growing Isolation

[rodeodance]

Blair's Pullout, Prodi's Fall Point to Bush's Growing Isolation

Ken Fireman Thu Feb 22, 12:16 AM ET

Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Britain's decision to withdraw some forces from
Iraq even as President George W. Bush sends more American troops demonstrates a growing U.S. isolation from its allies that is affecting other priorities, including in Afghanistan and Iran.

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Iraq also has reduced Bush's leverage as he seeks international support for pressuring Iran to give up its nuclear program -- a demand that Iran again rejected yesterday.

``One of the reasons a U.S. withdrawal is so essential from Iraq is that until we do that, even our best allies aren't going to help us out,'' said retired Army General William Odom, a former director of the National Security Agency.

In the face of U.S. pressure, ``the Europeans are saying, `Why are we going to go into Afghanistan and get mired in a quagmire?''' said former State Department policy-planning official Henri Barkey. ``People perceive that we don't have a long-term strategy in Afghanistan. So why do you want to put troops where they will be targeted by the Taliban?''............

http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/20070222/pl_bloomberg/acp4gemkt3yy_1