In an email regarding yesterday's post, one reader made the valid point that European leaders have really backed off Wolfowitz to preserve their own unspoken right to appoint the IMF head.

This is certainly part of the story, and a concern I should have mentioned. But I still think there's a fair amount of structural stuff at play too. Otherwise I don't know how else to answer the following question: if Europe really believes in the absolute immorality of torture, then why aren't they taking advantage of the one chance they have to do something about the widespread use of torture by the American military? On its own the IMF argument doesn't cut it. There were a few Democrats in the U.S. who flirted with breaking a similar unspoken rule regarding cabinet appointments by threatening to veto Gonzalez, as well as several others who gave Gonzalez a hard time in his nomination hearings. Why have European leaders not done the same for Wolfowitz?