A diplomatic clash between the United States (George W. Bush, Colin Powell, Donald Rumsfeld, Condoleezza Rice), the United Kingdom (Blair), Spain (Aznar), Australia, Japan, and Eastern European countries on one side, and France (Chirac), Russia (Putin), China, Germany (Schroeder), Belgium, and other countries on the other; the former want to disarm and overthrow the regime in Iraq by force, while the latter want to give UN weapons inspectors more time; the clash splits the UN and the Security Council, NATO, and the European Union, and sparks heated anti-American protests around the world.
