Beside the effective destruction of the Iraqi state, these include the revitalising of militant Islamism and enhancement of the international appeal of the al-Qaida brand; the eruption for the first time in modern history of internecine war between Sunni and Shia - "a trend that reverberates in other states of mixed confessional composition"; the alienation of most sectors of Turkish politics from the west, and the stimulation of authoritarian nationalism there; the strengthening of a nuclear-hungry Iran; and a new regional rivalry, pitting the Islamic Republic of Iran and its allies, including Syria, Hizbullah and Hamas, against Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan.

For the US, the world is now, as a result, a more dangerous and hostile place.

At the end of 2002, what is sometimes tagged al-Qaida Central in Afghanistan had been virtually destroyed and there was no al-Qaida in Iraq. In 2007, there is an al-Qaida in Iraq; parts of the old are creeping back; there are al-Qaida emulator

A greater evil is more likely

Scary and true.

Another growing concern as "we" (using that term loosely) contemplate how to "get out of Iraq" is abandoning our Allies there to handle the rest of the mess "we" initiated.

It is a much more complicated issue. There is just no seamless way to up, jump and make a speedy exit now...

I did tonight find an interesting observation from a customer in the bar. A UK ex-pat now living in the states, his opinion is that the view of citizens around the world of the US is not as bad as many US citizens would believe.

This is only one man's opinion, of course, but it was one I had not heard voiced from other international patrons. I'll have to ask them about this in coming weeks.

As a people, we have let the world down. We have let ourselves down.