U.S. confronts reality of Iraq in 2006

[ProSense]

U.S. confronts reality of Iraq in 2006

By ROBERT H. REID, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 41 minutes ago

BAGHDAD, Iraq - After years of optimistic claims from Washington, Iraq is ending 2006 with the American strategy in shambles and a politically weakened Bush administration struggling for a way out of the impasse.

Sectarian slaughter rages in Baghdad and religiously mixed areas, carried out by shadowy militias and death squads believed linked to Shiite and Sunni politicians and clerics. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has done little to curb the militias — some linked to his fellow Shiite allies.

In the dusty towns of Anbar province, Sunni Arab insurgents ambush American and Iraqi forces daily. An estimated 100,000 Iraqis flee the country every month to escape the violence, according to the Washington-based Refugees International. The U.S. death toll neared 3,000 in December.
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The Samarra blast triggered a wave of sectarian reprisal killings that has led many scholars and political analysts to conclude that the country is now in a low-intensity civil war — with the 140,000 U.S. troops caught in the middle.

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But the crackdown faltered, forcing the U.S. command to send thousands of American soldiers into the streets, some from flashpoints in the insurgent-ridden Anbar province. That led to a spike in U.S. casualties — more than 100 dead in October alone — but failed to stop the violence.

U.S. soldiers complained that the Iraqi troops weren't motivated. Privately, Americans complained that they simply didn't have enough troops of their own to quell the violence.

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"The U.S. effectively sent a bull in to liberate the china shop," former Pentagon analyst Anthony Cordesman said. "And the study group now called upon the U.S. to threaten to remove the bull if the shop doesn't fix the china."

So it was about liberation?