Will we ever be able to handle control of Iraq over to its
troops? More importantly will be if we can pass the torch to them and be
somewhat assured that they will not turn to the same tyrannical leadership
styles Saddam followed.

NEW YORK In a remarkable report published widely Thursday, Tom Lasseter,
longtime Knight Ridder correspondent in its Baghdad bureau, reveals what he
learned as possibly the first American journalist to embed with an all-Iraqi
military operation in the war — and it isn’t pretty.

Lasseter writes that “a week spent eating, sleeping and going on patrol
with a crack unit of the Iraqi army” (the 4,500-member 1st Brigade of the
6th Iraqi Division) suggests that the Bush exit strategy of turning over
military control to the Iraqis “is in serious trouble. Instead of rising
above the ethnic tension that’s tearing their nation apart, the mostly
Shiite troops are preparing for, if not already fighting, a civil war
against the minority Sunni population.”

Indeed, the soldiers he traveled with are “seeking revenge against the
Sunnis who oppressed them during Saddam Hussein’s rule.”

American commanders often refer to the 1st Brigade as a template for the
future of Iraq’s military, and sometimes they operate on their own, other
times with American firepower taking the lead. But Lasseter notes that
increasingly “they look and operate less like an Iraqi national army unit
and more like a Shiite militia.”

View complete article at

Editor and Publisher.

Reports like this make the story of what is going on in Iraq sound more like
we did not get rid of Saddam, just transferred his power and ways of thinking to
a different group. The next couple days will be extremely interesting to watch
as Iraq votes on its constitution

According to a report in the Independent today, Iraq has already descended
into anarchy..

Most of Iraq is in a state of anarchy, with insurgents controlling parts
of Baghdad just half a mile from the so-called Green Zone, an Independent
debate was told last night.

Robert Fisk, Middle East correspondent for The Independent, whose new
book The Great War for Civilisation: the Conquest of the Middle East has
just been published by 4th Estate, painted a picture of deepening chaos and
misery in Iraq more than two years after Saddam Hussein was toppled.

He said that the “constant, intensive involvement” in the Middle East by
the West was a recurring pattern over centuries and was the reason why “so
many Muslims in the Middle East hate us”. He added: ” We can close doors on
history. They can’t.”

Fisk doubted the sincerity of Western leaders’ commitment to bringing
democracy to Iraq and said a lasting settlement in the country was
impossible while foreign troops remained. “In the Middle East, they would
like some of our democracy, they would like a couple of boxes off the
supermarket shelves of human rights as well. But I think they would also
like freedom from us.”

View the complete article
here.

This all leaded to an extra heated press gaggle today at the White House
which parts can be viewed at
Crooks and Liars.
Scott McLellan quickly stooped to typical administration levels by telling Helen
Thomas she is against the war on terror since she opposes the Iraq invasion.
Helen did get out though that Saddam had nothing to do with 9/11 – something the
administration wishes we would all forget.