FOR THE LAST three years, the Bush administration has pursued a policy of wishful thinking in Iraq, operating under the hope that some deus ex machina–either elections or the capture of insurgent leaders–would salvage a deteriorating situation. Well, Iraq has now had three successful nationwide ballots. Saddam Hussein has been captured. Abu Musab Zarqawi has been killed. And still violence continues to intensify in Baghdad and the Sunni provinces to the west and north.
The situation is particularly dire in Iraq’s capital. In May, according to the Los Angeles Times, 2,155 homicides occurred in Baghdad, 85 percent of the national total. “The situation has worsened considerably in the last couple of months,” blogger Alaa wrote at messopotamian.blogspot.com on June 16. A week later, the New York Times reported that the chaos was spreading even to the Mansour district, Baghdad’s Beverly Hills. “It’s falling to the terrorists,” said one resident. “They are coming nearer to us now. No one is stopping them.”
