American Voters Speak, and the World Talks Back
Nov. 8, 2006 — -- Throughout the world, there is a widespread view, even a sense of glee, that the Bush administration woke up to a breakfast of force-fed humility Wednesday.
From Iraq to Britain to Denmark to Italy to Iraq, ABC News has monitored world reaction to the U.S. midterm elections.
In Germany, Juergen Trittin, former minister of the environment and deputy head of the opposition Green parliamentary group, said, "The results of the congressional elections will put a strong damper on the one-sided and dogmatic policies of George W. Bush. This was the bill to the White House for their disaster in Iraq."
Hundreds of millions of people digested the election results along with their breakfasts, and for the most part, seemed to taste a vague promise of change in U.S. foreign policy.
In Denmark, Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said," I hope that the president and Congress under these new conditions find a common line regarding Iraq and Afghanistan. The world needs an active United States. It's too early to say what this will mean for U.S. policy in Iraq. But after an election where voters have sent a clear signal, politicians will listen."
Toby Helm, the chief political correspondent for London's Daily Telegraph and a frequent "Worldview" guest on ABC News Now, said, "I think it will put [Prime Minister] Tony Blair under serious new strains to rethink his policy in Iraq. It will put pressure on him to formulate some sort of strategy for the withdrawing of the troops, and is bound to have an effect on the main countries backing the war."
Helm also told ABC News that "it will embolden the Conservative Party and give an opportunity for the Labor Party to distance itself from Tony Blair."
Blair did not immediately comment on the results of the U.S. midterm election.
Politicians hoping to succeed Blair when he steps down next year had some outspoken thoughts.
"The message of the American people is clear. There needs to be a major change of direction on Iraq," said John McDonnell, a Labor Party lawmaker and candidate for the party's leadership next year. "These election results have not only damaged Bush, they mean that Blair is now totally isolated in the international community."
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Muslim Shiite whose testy relations with Washington over control and tactics of Iraq's Shiite-dominated security forces have often spilled into public clashes, told the BBC that he did not believe a shift in Congress would bring any noticeable change in U.S. policy on Iraq.
"I understand that America will always work for America's interest in its foreign policy. The relationship will not experience any major or dramatic change if new opinions surface after the elections," he said.
Related Stories
ABC News Live