the United States has paid a terrific price in credibility due its failure to find any weapons of mass destruction....If the United States needs to act against a threat in a future, it will find it much harder to gain support. I do not worry so much about the lack of future support from our European allies. The United States is so powerful that it can act alone if necessary. I am more concerned with the lack of credibility of the current administration with the American people. The false nature of Bush's past claims means that he will find it much harder to rally and unite the American people against a future threat. And just because Iraq turned out to be a red herring does not mean that we will not need to take military action against some future threat.
David Lublin in the Gadflyer
http://gadflyer.com/