LONDON -- Directly after the horror of 9/11 there was a moment when America held the good will of almost the entire world in the palm of its hand.

And it was more than just a matter of routine words of regret. Promises of positive cooperation flowed from numerous capitals in rounding up the organizers of 9/11, eliminating Osama bin Laden and his henchmen, crushing the terrorism-friendly Taliban in Afghanistan and bringing peace, democracy and freedom to an autocratic and unsettled Middle East, the apparent hothouse of alienation and violence, as well as the repository of two-thirds of the world's oil reserves.

Five years later not one of these objectives has been achieved. Blood-soaked Iraq is more infested with terrorists than ever. Iranian influence and power to make trouble has been enlarged. Peace between Israel and Palestine is as remote as ever. Extremist groups have multiplied and grown more violent. Support for Hezbollah and Hamas is stronger than ever. Meanwhile, rogue regimes elsewhere have grown more, not less, defiant.