It looks like some of the media are starting to actually do some homework. Not much, mind you, but even a little intelligence on their part is nice to see. The BBC states that Europe is split down the middle on Iraq with the UK, Spain, Italy, Denmark, and the Netherlands supporting the forcible removal of Saddam Hussein and Germany, France, Russia, and Greece supporting appeasement and delay. It is notable that the BBC includes Russia in their tally even though they are not a member of the EU. The inclusion of Russia makes the omission of the candidate countries to the EU is glaring. Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, and Romania are strong supporters of the U.S. position.

The Times of India has an interesting piece that puts the French and German appeasement policies in a generous light. It may indeed explain this perspective, but then the Times starts painting with a very broad brush.

[F]ormer Soviet bloc countries, squirms with eagerness to take the American dollar and go to war.

While I’m sure these countries will reimbursed for any help they provide, attributing their desire to participate to greed is unkind and unfair. The fact that they are now free nations who spent several decades under the control of Soviet dictators has given them an education of what freedom truly means and they understand the responsibility of free nations to remove tyrants when possible.

In addition the Times of India concludes:

But all that proves is the main faultline on the continent lies between NATO's "older" European members and its seven new ones. NATO, not the EU, is faced with the generation gap.

Again, an overly simplistic opinion that ignores the “older” European nations such as the UK and Spain which oppose the Franco-German mindset. Even Italy has suggested an Italian-Spanish-British axis to rival the Franco-German axis.

At least some media outlets are starting to look past the myth of a monolithic
Europe and do a little homework. The advent of blogs has been good for the established media. Sure, they’ve lost many viewers to blogs, but in the face of competition more of them are actually thinking again.