Some American leaders then tried to de-legitimize the UN and called for an alternative alliance of democracies. But they missed the point: Iraq policy had divided allied democracies, and, with its universal membership, the UN remained an important source of legitimacy in the eyes of most of the world.
一些美国领导人后来试图否定联合国的合法性而另外组织一个民主国家的联盟。但是他们忽略了一点：伊拉克政策已经分化了原本联合的民主国家，而因为联合国是一个由所有国家参与的组织，在全世界绝大部分人的心目中它依然是合法性的一个重要来源。