Iraq Realities Force Bush to Respond

"The problem that the Americans have is legitimacy and credibility," Hartwell was quoted as saying. "I think if the Iraqi government [itself] was trying to carry out this sort of contacts, I think they would achieve [more] as they have their own contacts with the insurgent groups, they might stand more chances to success. I think the American problem is that they're not just wanted and anything that is done by them is immediately counterproductive."

But Yahia Said, a researcher on Iraq at the London School of Economics, said the current Shiite-led government also "suffers from 'a profound lack of legitimacy' and is seen by some as an American stooge. Many in Iraq are unhappy that the government did not ask the coalition forces to present a plan for the withdrawal of foreign troops as it has promised during the election campaign."

No small reason for the government's lack of credibility, says the Baghdad daily Azzaman, is that "almost everyday there is a new plan to combat corruption and a new military operation to restore security and order but the situation gets worse and worse."

"Iraq is in the midst of what is internationally now being described as 'the biggest corruption scandal in history,'" says another recent story in Azzaman.

"Iraqis wonder where the billions they hear about are going and whether the billions more their government is asking for will improve conditions in the violence-hit country."

The story blames the United States for the corruption.

"Corruption spiraled in the months the United States administered the country and went beyond control with the establishing of the Governing Council and the first interim government and there is no sign it will be ever contained."

Such stories are rife in the Iraqi press. A scathing commentary in the Baghdad daily Al-Mashriq says the country's oil ministry is incapable of halting "thieves" who sell petroleum on the black market. Al Bayan reports that the Baghdad provincial council, "heavily criticized for its poor services," has fired four director generals as part of its anti-corruption drive. The BBC concludes that, "There is massive corruption in most Iraqi government ministries."

The result, says another BBC story, is that "despite billions of dollars spent in Iraq, there is very little to show for it."

With persistent criticism in Iraq, ongoing violence and talks with insurgents so far yielding little results, President Bush has some explaining to do.