Back to Iraq. John makes a good point that the peace can be lost in the early days and that if the Administration believes, as Condi Rice said, that "We are through the Iraq conflict," then there's really going to be trouble in the fertile crescent. I suspect that it was local politics, that the Administration wants to send the message at home that we kicked ass and won, but they need to realize that the Iraqis need to think that we are still engaged in getting things straight in greater Iraq. Condi sounded like we were finished. Christopher Hitchens argues about the nature of our engagement:
If the U.S. occupation authorities had been shooting down looters and Baathist mercenaries, they would have been portrayed as repressive and cruel. If they fail to do so, they are indicted for negligence. OK, that's what happens when you assume the responsibility for someone else's country. No self-pity is allowable on Washington's part, and it doesn't matter that much of the criticism is itself inconsistent, or uttered in bad faith. It's not as if the occupation came as a surprise to those who had planned it.That last sentence is key, and the Administration needs to do a better job.
