Wednesday, November 01, 2006

The Abyss at the End of the Tunnel

Patrick Cockburn reporting for the British Independent newspaper has done some of the best reporting from Iraq. His latest dispatch portrays the throes of Iraq's disintergration. Sunni tribes have cut the roads out of Baghdad and are fighting Shia militia for control of villages around the city. Baghdad, outside of the green zone, is mostly under Shia control. Not wanting to be cut down in the crossfire, American troops have apparently adopted a stand back policy. Maliki's "police force" is useless, being composed mostly of Shia militia. Mixed units are starting to dissolve along sectarian lines. Upwards of a thousand Iraqis are dying in the fighting each week.
This humanitarian disaster, in which an entire society will be destroyed in violent upheaval, is the result of the insane hubris of one man, George W. Bush. No amount of twisting of another politician's words will alter that historical fact.

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