The Iraq Sprial

Just weeks after a national government and a major effort to pacify Baghdad, Iraq is witnessing sectarian massacres on a new and terrifying scale. 150 dead in three days. One recent massacre was by Sunni militias wearing Iraq national army uniform. The great danger of such unfathomable savagery is that, fueled by revenge killings and the lack of any credible government authority, it feeds on itself. This is why sufficient troops were such an important factor in the post-invasion plan. And why we – and thousands of murdered innocents – are now paying so brutally for Don Rumsfeld’s pride.