NEW DELHI -- As U.S. President George W. Bush readies a war on Iraq without any direct provocation, the United States faces international opprobrium and isolation. Rarely before has the U.S. risked its future international role and image on a huge strategic gamble untied to the protection of its vital interests.
Such is the size of this gamble that its outcome is likely to have worldwide consequences, determining the shape of international relations and the future of the United Nations, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and America's place in the world.
Even before the invasion of Iraq has begun, the U.S. has shed its cultivated image as a benevolent superpower in the eyes of much of the world.