There are some leading American conservatives for whom a quick victory in Iraq will only validate their belief that the UN has become a broken-backed irrelevance. They want to recast a framework of international treaties and alliances. For them, as was confirmed by a breakfast briefing of conservative hawks in Washington on Friday, the next targets are not only radical reform of the UN, but also regime change in Iran and Syria and political "containment" of Germany and France on the world stage.
Britain's choice will be acute. For the future, it must maintain constructive links with fellow Europeans whose multilateralist approach to international governance they fundamentally share. It would be a disaster if two camps emerge with an unbridgeable divide about how to approach establishing international order, one led by American conservatives and the other by European internationalists, with Britain caught as piggy in the middle.
Not only would it be fundamentally damaging to Britain's business and financial interests in Europe, but it would also signal the death knell of any constructive relationship with the EU. Britain would simply be left playing second fiddle to Washington.
To this end, Blair himself and the government in general should now drop their criticisms of France, however bruised they may feel. Britain needs to build bridges with Europe, not tear them down. When the time comes, Iraqi reconstruction must be achieved under the banner of the UN. It must not be run by the US with lucrative contracts going only to American companies. Above all, Britain needs to be clear that Saddam Hussein was an exceptionally intractable threat. The current conflict cannot just be the first of many serving as precursor to a new international order in which American might is always right.
Blair is planning a major reshuffle of his cabinet after the war, intending firmly to re-establish control of his party. It is not improper that such "domestic" considerations should concern him while he also fights this war. On the contrary, it is fundamental that he learns the right lessons from what has happened.
The Observer has supported, as a very last resort, taking military action in order to enforce the resolutions of the UN. And we have always argued for it to be framed legitimately. These concerns must help shape the peace and reconstruction that should now be a vital priority in Iraq.
Even Blair's most bitter political enemies, some, as so often, in his own party, acknowledge the near-heroism with which he has conducted himself in recent weeks.
He is still to be further tested. While fighting this war, he needs constantly also to look to the future, understanding the risks that might irretrievably endanger our national interest. Much more than the fate of Saddam is now at stake.
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