Regardless of how the Iraq episode ultimately concludes, one thing is certain: both Europe and the United States will try to paper over their bitter dispute. The US needs Europe, especially in its quest to maintain a new Middle East stability, while Europeans have little to gain from prolonging the spat. France has accomplished what it always wanted – raising serious questions about the very survival of NATO. And the Germans, who have achieved a similar result by accident rather than design, will do their best to restore their link with Washington.