Does Bush Know Something We Don't?

"Analysts say Iraqis may be about to witness a new phase in the cycle of violence that has gripped the country since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 -- intra-Shi'ite bloodletting that could tear Iraq apart and more deeply embroil U.S. forces."

Sam Dagher writes in the Christian Science Monitor that analysts believe that "the widespread instances of surrender among the Iraqi forces and the seizure of their equipment and vehicles by the Mahdi Army shows that despite all the funding and training from the US, Iraq's soldiers remain greatly swayed by their sectarian and party loyalties and are incapable of standing up in a fight without US backing.

"The fighting has also firmly wedged the US in an intra-Shiite struggle that has been bubbling for some time and will probably only intensify. The battle has also spawned more popular anger and frustration, especially in places like eastern Baghdad, toward both US forces and Mr. Maliki's government, which already had been teetering on the verge of collapse."

Juan Cole writes for Salon: "The campaign was a predictable fiasco, another in a long line of strategic failures for the sickly and divided Iraqi government, which survives largely because it is propped up by the United States."

Meanwhile, on the Streets of Baghdad

Sudarsan Raghavan writes in The Washington Post: "Abdul Qader, his chest and leg wrapped in white bandages, began to cry -- not out of pain, but loss. He remembered seeing the American Humvees, then a hail of bullets. He remembered seeing his close friend and neighbor, Abbas Ramadan, shot as he clutched his 2-year-old granddaughter, blood oozing from her head. Abdul Qader ran and ran until he collapsed from the bullets that pierced his own body. . . .

"Abdul Qader's suffering is part of the human toll of the worst violence in months in Iraq. At least 400 people, from the southern city of Basra to the capital, Baghdad, were killed over six days, including many civilians, according to Iraqi police and other officials. Countless more were injured, joining thousands of Iraqis whose lives have been shattered by five years of conflict.

"On Saturday evening, Ramadan and his granddaughter Tabarik were mortally wounded as they sat outside their front door in Baghdad's Zafraniya neighborhood. Witnesses said U.S. troops fired in their direction toward a group of young men who the soldiers may have thought were militiamen. Abbas Fadhil, 25, a neighbor, was also killed as he bought a pack of cigarettes."

Opinion Watch

The Miami Herald editorial board writes: "To anyone who dared believe that 'the surge' had solved our problems in Iraq, the recent outbreak of violence must come as a painful awakening. The renewed intensity of combat means that Iraq's factional strife remains as big a problem as ever and that the ultimate U.S. goal of creating a unified, stable and democratic government in Iraq is as elusive as a mirage. . . .

"The surge that Mr. Bush so often touts has helped to reduce U.S. military casualties, but the underlying political and social divisions of Iraq remain a huge impediment to fulfillment of the U.S. mission. At best, the surge has been a tactical advance, not a permanent success. . . .

"Americans . . . are entitled to know . . . what it will take to get the job done. The administration is good at portraying failure in Iraq in the darkest terms. Now it should level with Americans about the costs of staying the course. Americans are war weary, but they're even more weary of spin and fabrication. They deserve honest answers."

Another Bush Legacy

Dana Hedgpeth writes in The Washington Post: "Government auditors issued a scathing review yesterday of dozens of the Pentagon's biggest weapons systems, saying ships, aircraft and satellites are billions of dollars over budget and years behind schedule.

"The Government Accountability Office found that 95 major systems have exceeded their original budgets by a total of $295 billion, bringing their total cost to $1.6 trillion, and are delivered almost two years late on average. In addition, none of the systems that the GAO looked at had met all of the standards for best management practices during their development stages. . . .