As the war finally started yesterday with a "decapitation attack" aimed at the Iraqi leadership, President Arroyo confirmed that her administration had indeed expressed support for the use of force to disarm Iraq. Again she fell short of calling for the ouster of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. But regime change is clearly as big an objective of the US-led coalition as the destruction of the weapons of mass destruction that Saddam is believed to have developed. And while the Americans called the military campaign "Operation: Iraqi Freedom," that freedom obviously hinged on the departure of Saddam.
President Arroyo was not alone in finally voicing her support for the war. Other governments that had hedged in their support also started coming out yesterday to express their backing for the US-led campaign. Markets also continued to indicate approval for the use of force in Iraq, rising with the news that the war had finally started.
Global approval, however, is fleeting. The goodwill that the coalition is starting to generate could evaporate and market jitters could return if the war turns out to be protracted. Support could waver with the first photographs or video footage of civilians, especially children, dying in the streets of Baghdad.
Because of the circumstances under which this war was launched, the US led coalition – more than during the first Gulf War – is under pressure to finish what it set out to do in Iraq as quickly and with as little pain as possible. This could be a tall order even for the world’s lone superpower. But meeting the world’s high expectations is the price of ignoring the voice of the international community. The world is starting to give the coalition its grudging support, with the expectation of a victorious outcome.