SI EL GOBIERNO ESPAÑOL tiene la ilusoria esperanza de que si Bush pierde las elecciones en Noviembre se van a recomponer las relaciones entre los dos países, muy maltrechas desde la espantá de Iraq, va dado:

After months of criticizing President Bush for failing to attract international support for the U.S. mission in Iraq, Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) shifted his tone yesterday, putting NATO nations on notice that the time has come for them to contribute military forces to help secure the country as a new government takes power.

Kerry did not absolve the administration of responsibility for other nations' reluctance to participate in the Iraq mission, but said it was long past time for them to withhold support, given shifts in U.S. policy that have brought a more active role by the United Nations.

"In light of the failed diplomacy of the Bush administration, that reluctance is not surprising," he said in a statement issued while campaigning in California. "But now is the time that our allies must join the effort to support Iraq's transition. The NATO summit is the perfect opportunity for them to demonstrate their commitment to the new U.N. resolution."

Y es que Kerry será todo lo flipfopero que se quiera, pero está a años luz de la irresponsabilidad de quienes parecen preferir que Iraq se suma en el caos antes de hacer lo que es necesario.

Kerry urged the administration to invite Iraq's interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi to the NATO summit in Istanbul next week as a way to put pressure on other nations to send troops to help secure Iraq's borders and safeguard the United Nations' mission.

He said Allawi's presence would challenge NATO countries to respond "to an appeal from the legitimate representative of the Iraqi people" and called the summit "a clear test of their [NATO's] resolve and a clear test of ours."

¿Que contestará Zapatero si Allawi pide a los países de la OTAN que envíen tropas al país? No, no vale decir que diga lo que diga el primer ministro lo que cuenta es lo que quieran los iraquíes; porque independientemente de los sentimientos de la población hacia las tropas de la coalición, el apoyo de ésta al nuevo gobierno provisional es absolutamente abrumador:

The first survey since the new government was announced by U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi about three weeks ago showed that 68 percent of Iraqis have confidence in their new leaders. The numbers are in stark contrast to widespread disillusionment with the previous Iraqi Governing Council, which was made up of 25 members picked by the United States and which served as the Iraqi partner to the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority. Only 28 percent of Iraqis backed the council when it was dissolved last month, according to a similar poll in May.

[...] There had been particular concern in Baghdad and Washington that Allawi's many years in exile before Hussein was ousted and his long-standing association with the CIA would undermine his credibility.

But 73 percent of Iraqis polled approved of Allawi to lead the new government, 84 percent approved of President Ghazi Yawar and almost two-thirds backed the new Cabinet. These impressive showings indicate that the new leaders have support spanning ethnic and religious groups, U.S. officials said.

"What comes across in the poll and what we've sensed for a while is that Iraqis remain open-minded about the new government," a senior coalition official in Baghdad said in an interview.

Four out of every five Iraqis expected that the new government will "make things better" for Iraq after the handover, with 10 percent expecting the situation to remain the same and 7 percent anticipating a decline, the poll shows.

[...] In a sign that Iraqis are more optimistic generally about their future after the occupation ends, two-thirds of Iraqis believed the first democratic elections for a new national assembly -- tentatively set for December or January -- will be free and fair, the survey shows.

Despite the growing number of attacks on Iraqi security forces, including several yesterday, public confidence in the new police and army has reached new highs, the poll shows. Seventy percent of Iraqis polled supported the new army, and 82 percent supported the police.