So, French and German government officials say they will not significantly increase military assistance in Iraq even if John Kerry is elected.

This is a surprise???

While Kerry continues to insult the nations that support the U.S. led coalition in Iraq, and in fact insult the interim Iraqi president himself, even his "staunchest" allies prove that he has nothing to offer.

John Kerry is a disturbing phenomenon. He only won the nomination because the Democratic Party ran scared, after Howard Dean's internet campaign took off. Faced with the possibility of a Dean nomination, the party went for "electability".

What a mistake that was. As much as I thought Dean was a weak candidate, at least he was true to his liberal beliefs.

And what of Al Gore? Here's a guy who may well have been elected. With Bush's popularity waning, Gore should have been able to capitalize on this opportunity. He was clearly admired enough to win the 2000 popular vote.

But true to the recent history of the Democratic Party, Gore destroyed his own chances by taking the low road in the aftermath of the election. Gore's meltdown took him from his party's penthouse to it's outhouse. The most that can be said of Gore now is that his timing really stinks. From the disaster that was the Dean endorsement to his New York speech about global warming - on the coldest day in many years - he emulates the description Abba Eban said about Yasir Arafat, that "he never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity."

Now the Dems are stuck with John Kerry.

If even the French won't help him, why should anyone else?