QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I think the resistance is bigger than the US military in Iraq. I think the resistance is more than 200,000 people,” – General Muhammad Abdullah Shahwani, director of Iraq’s new intelligence services. I don’t think I’ve read a more depressing statement than that in long time. We may not have lost the war in Iraq yet, but there’s little doubt that we are currently losing it. Solutions? Juan Cole has an interesting post on why partitioning Iraq would not solve our problems. I’m trying hard to be optimistic about Iraq but the relentless murder and mayhem propagated by the enemy is difficult to ignore. The difficult truth is that these fanatics can strike almost at will, even in the heart of the capital. They have infiltrated the Iraqi forces, when they aren’t murdering them. A few months ago, I blogged my worries that the Green Zone was no longer secure. Those worries now seem, to use Gonzales’ description of parts of the Geneva Conventions, “quaint.” But do we postpone the elections? Almost certainly not. Do we watch as lines of voters are gunned down at voting places? Massive American presence around ballot boxes would be counter-productive. Infiltrated and terrified Iraqi security forces will be largely helpless. Is there some way through? Could the insurgents over-play their hand and help galvanize the electoral process? Will we somehow see the actual act of democracy achieve a change in public consciousness so that progress can be made? These are the hopes we have got to cling to. What else can we do?