This is an interesting bit of news:  It's being reported that eight European nations have issued a joint declaration giving their support to military action against Iraq. These nations are Britain, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Hungary, Poland, Denmark and the Czech Republic.

The reason this is so interesting to me is, as you may know, most Europeans are very opposed to a US lead war in Iraq. In fact, France and Germany -- two of the European Union's most prominent players and members on the UN Security Council -- have joined together against the war.

Where is the EU's High representative on this issue of war with Iraq? The reason this is a good question is because Solana is the head of the EU's new 10-nation military wing.

It seems Solana is busy keeping the other little EU heads happy. According to a report in the Boston Glob,  Solana received loud applause from the EU Parliament when he declared "military action should be up to the United Nations, not Washington" (Read about it here). 

But, what Solana didn't say was the important thing. He didn't say he wouldn't support a war if and when it came. In fact, Solana was a former Foreign Minister from Spain. And, not only is Spain a member of Solana's 10-nation military alliance, Spain is one of the eight nations giving support to an Iraqi war.

This brings us to another intriguing individual -- Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. The reason this guy's place in all this strange political brew is important is because Berlusconi will hold the EU rotating presidency during the last half of 2003.  So, Berlusconi's presidency will be making all those most important decisions about the final shape the new, super EU.

How does Berlusconi stand on some of these important issues? Well, for one thing, he's in favor of  placing a religious clause in the new Constitution of Rome. This could become significant because the president of the EU Convention, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, is against such a clause. Giscard wants to copy the US constitutional model of separation of church and state (Read about it here).

So, what does this declaration of support for the US from these eight European nations mean? I believe it means a war with Iraq is now a sure thing. Why? Because the US desperately needed the support of her European allies. And eight is enough.

What does this bit of news about eight nations supporting the US mean regarding the ongoing battle for control of this emerging modern day Roman Empire? Your guess is as good as mine.

But, I tell you what  -- I can't wait to find out!

Stay tuned.