The Norwegian blogger Jan Haugland has the right take on Schroeder's call to "take the military option off the table" when it comes to dealing with Iraq:

'"The Europeans and the Americans are united in this goal," he said. "Up to now we were also united in the way to pursue this."'

"Up to now"? Bush has not changed anything. He has consistently refused to rule out force, and simply reiterated that obvious position. Remember, "force" includes not only an invasion, it would also include airstrikes against nuclear facilities. Schroeder, by insisting that such options -- which ended Saddam's nuclear weapons programme -- are off the table, also weakens the negotiating hand of the EU-3. But, hey, it's election. So who cares if the Mullahs get nukes?

The fact that Iran just broke their agreement with Europe is ample evidence that European initiative in this regard is, once again, a failure.