Does Iraq directly affect the US?
Rob has a good point, in that this has become a pissing match, although its also more than that: the French electorate is firmly against a war, and French politicians even if they were sympathetic towards the US position have no intention of being a political martyr for American unilateralism like poor old Tony "I'm going to lose my job next election" Blair. Its hard to go against popular opinion, as Blair and Aznar are finding.
My take on the reactions to the exercise of a veto is this: when the US vetoes Israeli resolutions (including, shamefully, the one condemning Israel for shooting dead an unarmed UN worker, wearing his distinctive light blue UN vest, on the basis that they thought he was an armed Palestinian) is, muttering, "fucking typical". The US public reaction, on the other hand, to the threat of the veto is , yelling, "FUCKERS!!!!"
