In Italy this week Bush lost his staunchest European supporter ever with the defeat of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and his conservative Forza Italia to centrist Romano Prodi and his alliance of Catholics, leftists and communists.

Premier Berlusconi's often-controversial manner of ruling came to an abrupt end Monday after a tumultuous five years in power, placing the center-left back in control. The outcome of Italy's election was of great concern to Italy's trans-Atlantic ally, as the fate of the Italian contingent currently serving in Iraq as part of the U.S.-led coalition will be decided, depending on who wins.

Both candidates, Berlusconi and Prodi, had promised to pull Italian forces out of Iraq. Berlusconi, a close ally of Bush, with whom the Italian prime minister has established a robust working relationship, is considered by the Bush administration as one of the United States' most loyal allies in Europe. Berlusconi's Italy was part of the "new Europe" Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld referred to when he took a shot at the old Europe (France, Germany) at the start of the Iraq war three years ago.

Nevertheless, Berlusconi said he would start bringing Italian troops home by the end of 2006. Prodi had also promised to end Italy's participation in the U.S.-led coalition, but pledged to do so immediately. Prodi's victory would mean a major change in the country's foreign policy, with Rome distancing itself from Washington in favor of a rapprochement with Brussels and European Union policies.

Before Italy there was Spain. Another of Bush's strongest supporters in Europe, and among the first to suffer the after-effects of the Iraq war was Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar. The conservative prime minister lost to José Luís Rodriguez Zapatero of the Socialist Party in 2004. Many people blamed the loss to the socialists on the al-Qaida terrorist attacks on four commuter trains that killed scores of people just days before the Spaniards were due to go to the polling stations.

The blasts were carried out by al-Qaida and not ETA. In fact, Aznar was accused of manipulating the press following the murderous bombings that claimed 191 lives and wounded about 1,500 morning rush-hour commuters. According to Radio France International, Aznar personally telephoned editors of Spain's leading media outlets after the attacks to stress to them the need to spin the Basque separatist angle and blame ETA, hoping that would give his Popular Party the upper hand in the election.

Following his defeat in the polls by the Socialists Labor Party, many Spanish journalists were infuriated, accusing the prime minister of trying to "censure and manipulate" them. RFI claimed that Aznar had "crossed the line."

Independent polls carried out on the day before the bombings showed the Socialists ahead with a slight majority. And a poll conducted by Noxa Consulting on that Wednesday gave the Socialists less than a 2 percent margin, putting them, nevertheless, in the lead. A similar poll conducted Friday -- a day after the attacks -- gave the Socialists an even greater lead. The big difference -- and the clear reason of the Socialist victory -- was the nearly 3 million votes the Socialists added while Aznar's now not so Popular Party lost about 690,000 votes.

Aznar's unflagging support for President Bush and the war effort ended up costing him his job. He had stood side by side with Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair at a pre-war summit in the Azores.

After winning the elections, Zapatero wasted no time in letting his constituents know that he would withdraw Spain's 1,300 troops from Iraq, which he did. Zapatero also promised he would realign the country's foreign policy to lean more towards Europe -- "old Europe," that is -- backtracking on Aznar's staunchly pro-American stance.

It would be wrong to think that Spaniards capitulated to terrorism -- domestic or international -- as many pundits have professed. Instead, Spaniards had chosen to send a clear message to their elected leaders. The message was: "Stop lying to us."

And before Spain there was Portugal, whose Prime Minister José Manuel Durão Barroso, was another Bush ally and supporter of the U.S.-led invasion in Iraq. He too was pushed out by the electorate, who chose Pedro (Miguel de) Santana Lopes and later José Sócrates (Carvalho Pinto de Sousa).

Of the original "Coalition of the Willing," only British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Australia's John Howard remain. And both Blair, for his continued support for Bush, and Howard, for his alleged implication in the oil-for-food program with Saddam Hussein, are walking on very thin ice.