Word: iraq
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...criticism for everything from its lack of action on global warming to its faith in unfettered capitalism, which has lately led to the spread of economic contagion from American banks to the rest of the world. But most damaging to America's global reputation has been the invasion of Iraq, which many Europeans viewed as a dangerous misadventure from the start. "There's concern that America goes its own way rather than listening to its allies or seeking international approval," says Andrew Kohut, president of the Washington-based Pew Research Center. "The war in Iraq is the poster child...
...million more Americans to work, rebuilding our crumbling roads and schools and bridges," he said last Thursday in Ohio. For those wondering how Washington can afford it, he has an answer that pleases his base, if not his budget-balancers: "If we can spend $10 billion a month in Iraq, we can spend $10 billion right here in the United States, rebuilding America...
...effusive and stubbornly loyal Berlusconi has stuck with Bush despite the American President's abiding unpopularity in Italy. More than 80% of Italians were opposed to the war in Iraq, but their controversial Prime Minister helped spearhead the so-called "Letter of Eight" public declaration of support from some European leaders for Bush's Iraq policy in the weeks before the invasion. Following the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, Berlusconi sent 3,000 Italian peacekeeping troops to southern Iraq. During Bush's June 2004 visit to Rome, the two leaders were the target of a massive anti-war rally. But Berlusconi...
Berlusconi's failed reelection bid in 2006 meant a two-year parenthesis of somewhat cooler Washington-Rome relations, as center-left Prime Minister Romano Prodi, an opponent of Bush's Iraq policy, came to power in Italy. By the time Prodi's government collapsed and Berlusconi returned to power last spring, Bush was already registering dismal approval ratings, and heading toward the lower rungs in the historians' presidential ratings game...
...telling hiccup in the history of this personal and political alliance was a Berlusconi interview as he began his unsuccessful run for reelection in 2006, in the face of mounting criticism of Italy's part in the Iraq conflict. "I tried repeatedly to convince the American president not to go to war," Berlusconi told an Italian television station. "I was never convinced that war was the best system to achieve democracy in a country that had to emerge from a bloody dictatorship. I maintained that military action should be avoided." That he'd provided Bush with key political cover...