Berlusconi vows to stay the course

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy said Wednesday that his mind was unchanged and his determination unshaken: Italian forces belonged and would stay in Iraq, despite the deaths of 18 Italians in a suicide bombing there. But as Italians absorbed the horror of that bloodshed, it was clear that Berlusconi's commitment to helping the United States would come under newly intense scrutiny - and perhaps newly intense opposition - in Italy. Italian public opinion ran strongly against the war in Iraq, and that has long been at odds with Berlusconi's deeply entrenched desire to please the United States. What happened on Wednesday threatened to sharpen the tension, potentially causing serious political trouble for an ardent American ally. While a sizable majority of Italian lawmakers, including many of Berlusconi's political opponents, authorized an Italian military presence in Iraq, that authorization expires at the end of the year. The issue is expected to come to another vote in Parliament in December.